Giving Up Territory Would Reward Terrorism By Michael Freund The Chicago Sun-Times June 26, 2002 http://www.suntimes.com/output/otherviews/cst-edt-ref26.html If you live in Chicago, it is probably difficult at times to appreciate what the fuss is all about over land in the Middle East. Indeed, for the past twenty months, Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians have been waging a relentless terror campaign against Israel, sending suicide bombers to blow up passenger buses and gunmen to open fire at Israeli motorists on their way to work. Arafat says he wants Israel to turn over territory it captured in the 1967 Middle East War. Why, then, won't Israel simply yield to his demands? The answer to this question, oddly enough, can be found on the shores of Lake Michigan, of all places. Consider the following: the total area of the lake's water surface is 22,300 square miles. By contrast, all of Israel - including Judea, Samaria and Gaza, the areas captured in 1967 - is just 10,840 square miles in area, or less than half the size of the lake. Were Israel to agree to Arafat's demands, and turn over the territories to full Palestinian control, it would mean shrinking the Jewish state still further, reducing it to a vulnerable and indefensible size. Prior to the 1967 war, Israel was just nine miles wide at its narrowest point. That is less than the distance between Chicago's downtown area and the Brookfield Zoo. A smaller Israel would make for an even more tempting target for continued Palestinian aggression. Ever since the State of Israel was founded, back in 1948, its neighbors have repeatedly sought to wipe it off the map. And that is precisely the motivation that lies behind the current Palestinian terror campaign. A poll released on June 11 by a Palestinian organization called the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center found that a majority of Palestinians - 51% - said they want to eliminate the Jewish state. No country in the world would even consider turning over territory to those who seek its destruction, and neither should Israel. This past Monday, President George W. Bush made an important policy statement on the Middle East, one in which he rightly noted that Yasser Arafat's dictatorial and corrupt Palestinian regime needs to be removed from power. But the President also stated that once the Palestinians implement wide-ranging democratic reforms, he would eventually be willing to support the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Bush's statement marks a positive shift in American policy, particularly when compared with the Clinton administration's approach, for it will finally force the Palestinians to choose, once and for all: either violence and despotism or peace and democracy. Unfortunately, though, the very act of offering the Palestinians an eventual state now, even as they continue to perpetrate attacks against Israel, unwittingly rewards terrorism with a concrete diplomatic gain. Rather than appeasing Palestinian demands, it might possibly fuel them further, for terrorists may interpret the President's proposal as a sign that violence against innocent people ultimately pays off. Moreover, the creation of a Palestinian state would endanger Israel, America's long-time ally and the only democracy in the region. It would undoubtedly create yet another entity hostile to American and Western interests, one that harbors Muslim fundamentalist terror groups and sees rogue states such as Iran and Iraq as its natural allies. That is hardly a recipe for stabilizing the Middle East. Rather, what America and its allies need to do is to stand by Israel in its war on terror, giving the Jewish state the diplomatic backing and moral support it needs to finally eliminate the terrorist threat once and for all. Just as America valiantly rose up to confront Osama Bin-Laden and refused to cower in fear, so too has Israel been standing up to Bin-Laden's Palestinian colleagues, fighting to defend itself against a gang of terrorists bent on its destruction. Last week, on June 19, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at a bus stop in northern Jerusalem, killing 7 Israelis and wounding 52 others. Among the victims were a five-year old girl and her grandmother, both of whom were returning from a party at the child's kindergarten. It was but the latest in a string of Palestinian terror attacks that have killed over 500 Israelis in the past two years. But as much as this senseless carnage depresses us, it also instills us with added determination not to give in to terror or its practitioners. Guided by our faith in G-d and the justness of our cause, we know that we will eventually emerge triumphant. The road may be long, and at times it may be difficult, but Israel will nevertheless persevere. After all, this land belongs to us, and we have no intention of letting others take it away. ------------ Michael Freund served as Deputy Director of Policy Planning & Communications under former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He is currently an Editorial Writer and Syndicated Columnist for The Jerusalem Post.