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Palestinian Arabs

UN envoy forfeits most favorite PLO-partner status


By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
July 14, 2004

Yasser Arafat's gang of terrorists this week declared the top UN envoy to the Middle East and long-time proponent of the Palestinian Arab cause against Israel persona non grata after he dared to criticize their hallowed leader.

Terje Roed-Larsen, who has been described as one of the Jewish state's most dangerous political foes, earned the PA's ire after he finally concurred with what other Arafat-critics have been charging for years - that the terror-chief has made no effort at all to try and curb violence against Israel.

Since 1993, Arafat has signed numerous agreements with Israeli leaders pledging to put a stop to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement. As a result, he has been permitted to establish his authority in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, has been accorded head of state status by the international community, and in 1994, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

Instead of fulfilling his obligations, Arafat has been discovered actively promoting and funding the waves of terrorism that have robbed over 1,000 Israelis of their lives, and left thousands more maimed and wounded.

But despite verifiable proof of these crimes, Larsen and other western leaders have refused to censor the aging PLO chairman, insisting that the Israelis deal with him even as they bury those he has had killed.

Larsen's confessions after his hitherto unblemished record of turning a blind eye to the PA's offenses while never missing an opportunity to condemn Israel adds exceptional weight to the Bush administration's position that Arafat is primarily responsible for the failure of the land-for-peace process.

Most nations, however, continue to blame Israel.



Loyal ally

The PA has long regarded Oslo-architect and United Nations Special envoy to the Middle East, Terje Roed-Larsen, as a strong ally in their quest to establish a State of Palestine on historic Jewish lands.

Larsen was a major mover behind the negotiations that led to the 1993 signing of the Declaration of Principles between Israel and the PLO - the so called Oslo Agreement. He worked tirelessly since then to get Israel to agree to give up its claim to those lands, and to relinquish them to those who to this day remain committed to Israel's removal from the Middle East.

While he also maintained that he had secured a written PLO commitment to stop terrorism and incitement against Israel, Larsen refused to publicly insist that the Arabs abide by those provisions, and instead tried for years to push Israel into moving ahead with the process despite the increasing terrorism.

Broadside

The cover-up came to an end this week when, as reported in The Jerusalem Post , a disillusioned and clearly frustrated Larsen finally unleashed a broadside of harsh criticism at his erstwhile friends.

"The PA, despite consistent promises by its leadership, has made no progress on its core obligation to take immediate action on the ground to end violence and combat terror and to reform and reorganize the Palestinian Authority," the envoy said in his monthly report to the Security Council.

"All those who yearn for peace have already and repeatedly argued President Arafat, in public and in private, [must] take immediate action to restore this diminished credibility. Unfortunately there is - so far - no sign of any of those measures being taken."

Larsen said "progress on the implementation of Palestinian reform continues to be slow, and cannot be explained except by the lack of political will to advance along that road."

Biting the hand that strokes them

The PA's response was typically furious.

"Terje Roed-Larsen's statement is not objective. As of today he is an unwelcome person in Palestinian territories," Nabil Abu Rudeineh told Reuters, while PA UN ambassador Nasser al-Kidwa lashed out at Larsen for presenting "a completely distorted picture on the political front."

"The Palestinian Authority has serious problems, but I would say that this is the direct result of Israeli policies and Israeli actions," he said. "We have occupation. We have an occupying power that has been engaged on a daily basis in illegal activities, war crimes.

"It's strange for him to play the role of the cheerleader, basically, of [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon."

Transparent ‘balancing’ act

Larsen made an effort to appear even-handed by also condemning the Sharon government that, he charged, "has made no progress either on its core obligation to immediately dismantle settlement outposts erected since March 2001 and to move towards a complete freeze of settlement activities."

Seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was equating cold-blooded mass-murder of Jews with Israeli house-building efforts on land that the Palestinians have never controlled, Larsen said "Israel's lack of compliance on this sensitive issue of settlements is equally frustrating.”

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