ARAFAT REMAINS ARAFAT

Recently, several months after the outbreak of the "El-Aqsa Intifada," even stout supporters of the Oslo Peace Process have begun to wonder whether Arafat can still be seen as a trustworthy partner in that process. Raising this question shows either real or pretended ignorance about the PLO chieftain who was made Nobel Peace Price Laureate together with the late PM Rabin.

You can trust Arafat fully once you know what he stands for, because he simply does not deviate from his course. To see just what that is, one must look at the entire picture, and not merely at the part of it which seems to fit nicely with dreams of peace.

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The term "Arafat" appears in the Koran, Surah "The Cow," 194. It refers to a hill near Mecca, the climbing of which--after visiting the Kaaba--crowns a Muslim's obligatory pilgrimage. In the mid 1960's, this hill's name--Arafat--was adopted as a nom de guerre by Abdul Rauf el-Chodbi el-Husseini, a member of the well-known el-Husseini family which produced the Grand Mufti, Haj Amin el-Husseini.

Haj Amin is the same "Grand Mufti of Palestine" who organized the anti-Jewish riots of 1921/22, 1929, and 1936/38. He started the pro-Nazi revolt in Iraq in 1940, escaped to Germany, where he befriended the Nazi leaders. He raised for them two SS-divisions from the Muslim population of occupied Yugoslavia and southern Russia, and urged the Muslim world to wage a Jihad [Holy War] against Jews. In 1943 he broadcast from Radio Berlin: "Kill the Jews wherever you find them - this is pleasing to Allah. He was arrested in 1945 by the French who released him shortly thereafter.

He went to Cairo and from there was highly active in organizing the riots of 1946/48 to prevent the immigration to Israel of Jewish survivors from Europe. As it turned out, these riots did not accomplish the desired goal of driving the Jews into the Mediterranean Sea, but rather helped facilitate the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.

Abdul Rauf, a relative of the Grand Mufti, was also one of his ardent students. He became the gang leader of the el-Fatah, one of the terror groups which routinely infiltrated into Israel. "El-Fatah" is the title of the Koran's first Surah, and means "The Opening" (in this case, the opening of the way to overthrow Israel). Abdul Rauf realized in the mid or late 1950's (probably after Israel's Sinai Campaign, supported by England and France) that attempts to wipe out Israel in the name of religion [Islam] would--after the Holocaust--cause mixed feelings in the Western world. Islam was, in any case, not highly esteemed in the West. So the struggle was given a nationalistic garb, in keeping with other Third World nations which had gained their independence after WWII. He re-named his group PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) a term which could awaken sympathy in the western world. The Palestine to be liberated--according to the PLO's definition-- stretches from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.

In order to give a clear message to the Islamic world about his goals at that time, Abdul Rauf adopted the name Arafat as his nom de guerre. Abdul Rauf/Arafat posed as the peak of a Muslim's pilgrimage on earth, climaxing in the regaining of the whole Land of Israel. Since the days of Mufti Amin el-Husseini, this struggle has been termed Jihad, as mentioned above. Fittingly, and in order to drive home this point, Arafat's "Minister of War" (the one later on killed in Tunisia) was called Abu Jihad (Father of the Holy War).

A pan-Islamic conference convened at Cairo's Al-Azhar University in 1968 at the behest of Gamal Abd-el-Nasser, laid down the rules for waging Jihad against Israel. Its Proceedings were published in 1970 in Arabic, and in an official English translation by the "General Organization for Government Printing Offices" in Cairo. In these Proceedings, you can read, among other things, the rulings of Shaikh Abdullah Ghoshah, then Grand Kadi of Jordan:

"The Muslims are also free to break their covenant with enemies if they are uneasy lest the enemy should betra} them..." (p.239) "Lies are sins except when they are told for the welfare of a Muslim or for saving him from disaster" (p.247) "Telling lies in war is permitted (verbally) so as to comfort the Muslims when they are in need of it as in a time of fighting" (p.249) "Arrogance is disliked except in Case of War. Allah, the Almighty, loves the Muslim to be arrogant while he is fighting..." (p.249)

Arafat, as indicated by his chosen nom de guerre, is faithful to his concept of Jihad and its principles. Even after Oslo, he had no qualms about stressing this in public speeches; and in his PA territory, Jihad is a daily currency. Within this overall principle, whatever else he says or does, is a tactical ruse totally in consonance with Jihad as he chooses to define it.

The problem does not lie with Arafat--who is basically transparent. The problem is with those who do not wish to see the plain facts.

As the hill Arafat gets all its importance only with the backmng of Mecca and its Kaaba, likewise, Abdul Rauf/Arafat on his own, would count even less than that barren hill in the Arabian desert. It is the support of the Arab/Muslim world, (and ,since Oslo, also of the Western world) which gives him weight, often even at the expense of the Arab/Palestinian people.

It is possible that some of the Muslim/Arab countries would prefer to live in peace with Israel, and build up their own societies; but at present they do not seem to be able to find a way out of the situation into which they have fallen. As Goethe said (in "Dr. Faust"): "The spirits I have summoned up, I can no longer get rid of."

These evil spirits of hatred and Jihad against Israel can best be confronted by what the Koran itself says about the people and the land of Israel. I refer you to my essay on the subject:

"Peace is possible between Ishmael and Israel according to the Koran" available from Root&Branch Assoc, Jerusalem, e-mail address: rb@rb.org.il; or URL: http://www.rb.org.il
Email Dr. Asher Eder