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Israel's 9/11 By Reuven Koret December 2, 2001 There are moments in a nation's history that represent a turning point in its destiny. For America, that moment was the morning of September 11. Today is Israel's day to turn. In the first twelve hours of this day, in four separate attacks, terrorists have killed more than 25 Israelis, wounded more than 220, from north to south and from east to west of our small country. The victims were enjoying an evening out, or riding in a bus, or driving down a road. Many of the dead were young people. Many of the survivors lost arms, legs, or eyes. This is not to equate the scale of the two attacks. Nothing can minimize the magnitude of the horror of the 9/11 attacks. But more than seven hundred Israelis have been killed by terrorists since the Oslo "peace process" began -- more than a third murdered since September 2000 -- and thousands have been wounded. For a nation one-fiftieth the size of the United States, the impact of each massive attack is magnified. A series of mass attacks takes a terrible, unbearable, toll. No nation should be expected to accept it. This "peace" is killing us. The citizens of Israel have lost their fundamental sense of personal security. The Palestinians have used car bombs, briefcase bombs, and explosive belts, filled with nails and shrapnel to maximize the carnage, shootings on our roads, all intended to kill innocents, to inspire fear. The smell of burnt flesh and fresh blood lingers in our air. The enemies of Israel have succeeded in shattering any hope for peaceful coexistence. Arafat has proven that he cannot, or will not, stop the ceaseless fire. He automatically condemns the cycle of violence while protecting and coddling those who initiate it. Arafat has been given endless chances to enforce a ceasefire, to arrest known terrorists, to prevent attacks on the way. He has failed miserably. He has proven incapable of succeeding. The time has come to end Arafat 's terror-supporting regime and at the same time to move vigorously to separate the Israeli people, physically and economically, from the Palestinians. Separation means different things to different people, but the fundamental meaning is freeing us from having terrorists around us, threatening to kill our kids, our spouses, our parents, and our neighbors. As long as Israel has porous borders, and Palestinian gunmen and bombers are free to continue carrying out their attacks in our streets and restaurants and buses, our people will never again be able to feel secure, "a free people in our own land," as our national anthem describes our two thousand year aspirations for the restoration of our independent state in the land of Zion and Jerusalem. As the United States declared war on al-Qaida and the Taliban regime that harbors it, supporters and protectors of mass-murdering terrorists, the time has come for Israel, led by a government elected with one mission -- to bring security -- must declare Arafat's regime officially as a hostile one, and to work for its speedy downfall. Will the destruction of Arafat's regime cost lives? Yes. Will it cost international discomfort and condemnation? Yes. Will it contribute to regional instability in the short term? Yes. Will it lead to a more extreme Palestinian leadership? Quite possibly. But Israelis from left and from right have tried every other way, and nothing has worked. The bottom line is that the Oslo peace process started in 1993 has led to disaster after disaster. Even the extreme concessions of the Barak government were met with rejection. The time has come to try a different way, because there is no other choice. No self-respecting nation would tolerate what Israel has endured. One massive strike was enough to awaken the American government and people. We Israelis have become desensitized by thousands of attacks, incessantly, day after day, month after month. Far from having a week of quiet this year, we have not had one day. The way forward is based on the idea of "us there" and "them there." The new borders will be determined by Israel's security considerations. Whether fences define our borders, or tanks, is not the issue today. But an Israeli consensus will agree today: waning are the days when Palestinians will freely walk among our citizens. The Palestinians as a nation have proven unfit to be our neighbors. Their leaders speak peace, and act war. Their people celebrate our deaths and our tragedies. The Palestinian nation must determine their destiny away from us and apart from us. The first step is destroying the terror infrastructure and aggressive capabilities of the Palestinians city by city, village by village, confiscating weapons, destroying ammunition dumps, just as the Americans and British have done in Afghanistan. The second is to kill or expel from our midst the terrorists, including their planners and their protectors. Where these enemies of our nation will go is not our problem. As a sovereign state, responsible above all for the safety of its citizens, we just know they can't stay among us. In the coming days, Israel and its supporters will face fateful decisions. We will make painful sacrifices and endure tragic losses. But it just can't go on like this. The people of Israel will not accept it. Whether the official announcement comes today, tomorrow or some other day, nothing in this nation will ever be the same. Today at the sites of the carnage, the ancient call of the ram's horn sounds. Its blast seeks to rouse our nation from its penchant for wishful thinking, half-measures, and stopgap confidence-building gestures. Our confidence in the false peacemakers has been shattered. The shofar awakens our nation to fight with all means those who seek to massacre our citizens and exterminate us as a people. December 2, 2001 will be remembered as the day that brought Israel to the tragic but inevitable conclusion that we must unite to wage a war of separation from the Palestinian people and its terrorist legacy. May the day soon come that we declare our independence from them. Views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
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