Powell Said it Clearly

Powell Said It Clearly: No New Negotiations Until Violence Ends

In the aftermath of the Mitchell Commission report, Secretary of State Powell said, “What we’re doing today is very simple and very direct, to call for an end to violence. Simple, clear declarative recommendation, not requiring any additional, frankly, negotiation if we’re serious.” Bravo.

Powell Said It Clearly: No New Negotiations Until Violence Ends

In the aftermath of the Mitchell Commission report, Secretary of State Powell said, “What we’re doing today is very simple and very direct, to call for an end to violence. Simple, clear declarative recommendation, not requiring any additional, frankly, negotiation if we’re serious.” Bravo.

We don’t need more negotiations in order for the Palestinian leadership to do what needs to be done. Until now, they have fomented, praised and paid for this violence. They have glorified martyrdom and vilified Jews. They have twisted the minds of the most vulnerable among them and encouraged them to die. They have debased American leadership in the region. They have to stop. The burden is theirs and we believe Mr. Powell knows it, despite his regrettable lapse into “diplo-speak” about the “cycle of violence,” when only one side is stoking the flames. In fact, the one further statement he could have usefully made is to have distinguished clearly between the violence perpetrated by the Palestinians for political ends, and the defensive or retaliatory actions taken by Israel and we strongly encourage him to do so, even now.

But to the chorus demanding that the U.S. become more heavily involved in the process, and who hope the assignment of a special envoy is a portent of more American activity, we would ask the question: “You appear to want the United States to ‘do something.’ But what is it that you want to have done?”

During the Clinton Administration, every time the Palestinians failed to meet the obligations they undertook in a signed accord, the President stepped in with a “new plan” requiring a new round of diplomacy. Arafat loved every new opportunity to visit the White House. But the agreements all were failures, up to and including the Taba Accord that established the Mitchell Commission itself in an attempt to bribe the Palestinians into stopping the violence they had engendered. In each case, a new clock started on old Palestinian commitments. In each case, the U.S. ran out of patience before the Palestinians believed that this time they would be held responsible for their failures and the violence that followed.

Mr. Powell thus far appears unwilling to make that mistake. The United States wants the violence to stop, and that, according to Mr. Powell, is non-negotiable. Let’s hope he has the backbone to make it stick, because another American-generated “peace proposal” would only reward Palestinian violence already undertaken and encourage Arafat to foment more.