As If…

President Bush criticized Israeli raids in Palestinian areas because he said they don't "contribute to conditions for peace." Secretary Powell was harsher. "If you declare war on the Palestinians and think you can solve the problem by seeing how many Palestinians can be killed…

President Bush criticized Israeli raids in Palestinian areas because he said they don't "contribute to conditions for peace." Secretary Powell was harsher. "If you declare war on the Palestinians and think you can solve the problem by seeing how many Palestinians can be killed… I don't know [whether] that leads us anywhere." VP Cheney arrived in Israel today saying, "I will be talking to Prime Minister Sharon about steps Israel can take to eliminate devastating hardships experienced by innocent men, women and children." Their comments share a structural problem as well as a political one. All place upon Israel the burden of doing things differently.

Israel should create "conditions for peace." As if Israel hadn't offered 95 percent of the land to the Palestinians for an independent state. As if Israel hadn't agreed to Palestinian political rights in part of Jerusalem, Israel's capital city. As if Israel hadn't offered to address the issue of refugees, including compensation. As if the Palestinians hadn't stormed out of Camp David without so much as a counter offer, and as if the Palestinians hadn't unleashed on Israel the war they had been planning for months.

Israel should refrain from attacking Palestinian terrorist strongholds. As if the Palestinian war from 9/29/00 to 3/16/02 hadn't resulted in 351 Israelis killed and 3,201 injured in a total of 11,998 attacks (not including firebombs or rocks) according to the IDF website. As if the dead didn't include little boys bludgeoned to death in a cave; an infant killed in her father's arms by a sniper; young soldiers lynched and brutalized; a Rabbi trying to save Torah scrolls; children and adults in pizza parlors, cafes, discos and outside synagogues; students waiting for a school bus; and just last week, a high school girl killed on the street of her hometown. As if the Palestinians weren't targeting the innocent and hoping to pull Israeli retaliation down on their own people in order that Israel is condemned – the way Secretary Powell condemned it, as a matter of fact.

Israel should make conditions easier for Palestinian "civilians." As if the Palestinians had a natural right to cross into Israel for jobs while they announce themselves at war (Americans don't want Mexicans crossing into the US for jobs and they're our friends). As if the Palestinians weren't smuggling weapons and suicide bombers through checkpoints amid the "civilians." As if the Palestinians weren't using ambulances to carry weapons (and that female bomber who was blown up in her Palestinian Red Crescent uniform). As if Palestinians walking through a checkpoint hadn't killed seven soldiers last week, three of them in their bunks, because Palestinians on foot aren't checked as a "courtesy."

The Administration should tell the Palestinians to create "conditions for peace." The Palestinians can stop venerating, inciting and paying for violence. The Palestinians can stop abusing their own people by putting their fighters in civilian neighborhoods to draw Israeli retaliatory fire. The Palestinians can recognize the legitimacy of the State of Israel as required by UN Resolution 242. The Palestinians can join civilized society.

As if…