Dear HonestReporting Subscriber,
On Monday (Dec. 1), a group of Israeli and Palestinian activists and politicians held the formal signing of the Geneva Accord, a non-official proposal to resolve the conflict.
According to a recent opinion poll, less than a third of Israelis support the Geneva Accord. In large part, this is due to the plan’s lack of insistence on the uprooting of Palestinian terror organizations and confiscation of illegal weapons as preconditions for significant Israeli concessions ? terms present in the official road map agreement.
In short, it’s scenes like this that continue to worry the typicalIsraeli, who genuinely seeks a lasting peace. Note the Associated Press caption:
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| A Palestinian boy carries a toy gun as he marches at the front of a small demonstration against the Geneva Accord, in the Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, Dec. 1, 2003. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer) |
A “toy gun”? It certainly appears to be a very real, modified Russian-built Draganov sniper’s rifle:
Thousands of Draganovs and AK-47s remain in the hands of Palestinian terrorists (young and old). The weapon, openly brandished on the Palestinian street, is a consummate symbol of the unregulated terrorist wave that continues to threaten Israeli civilians, leaving them skeptical of the idealistic Geneva Accord. But the AP caption leaves readers thinking that’s all child’s play.
Comments to Associated Press: [email protected]
(hat tip: LGF)
— PALESTINIAN SUPPORT FOR GENEVA —
Yassir Arafat’s belated letter of support for the Geneva Accord was widely praised in media coverage of the event. For example, the Chicago Tribune reported: “In a dramatic turnaround after a lukewarm initial response, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat sent a message warmly praising the Geneva plan, calling it ‘a brave initiative that opens the door to peace.'”
But Abdel Kader (another official in Arafat’s Fatah faction) has said, on the record, regarding Palestinian support for Geneva: “Our aim was to create divisions inside Israel and block the growth of the right-wing in Israel.”
That motive doesn’t sound anything like the pure expression of good will the media attributed to the Palestinian delegation and Arafat. But Kader’s statement appeared nowhere in the European or North American press.
HonestReporting encourages subscribers to write a letter to your local paper, including the Kader quote, to ensure that the full picture of Palestinian support for Geneva is presented.
