THE SHAM THAT IS THE UPCOMING PALESTINIAN "ELECTION"

When 'free elections' means just further legitimizing terrorism By Cal Thomas
Those Palestinians who truly wish to live in peace with Israel and have something they can call a state of their own are about to be disappointed again. That's because no matter who is elected to replace Arafat, the Palestinian objective of eliminating Israel and exterminating the Jewish people will not change.

During his recent visit to Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair linked progress toward a Palestinian state to the renunciation of terror by the PLO leadership. President Bush has said the same thing. That is not going to happen as long as the current regime remains in power, no matter who is elected.

Much of the "free world" is likely to pronounce the Palestinian election legitimate, because the world wants a "peace partner" it can use to badger Israel into making further concessions. The world has ignored all of Israel's previous concessions, including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new pledge to pull "settlers" out of Gaza by February, instead of later this summer as he had previously promised.

A preview of the coming Palestinian election can be found by flashing back to a previous one in 1996. That election was supervised by international and Israeli observers. It was labeled "free and democratic" by such global figures as then-President Bill Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter, and then-Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, as well as the United Nations, European leaders, The New York Times, CNN and the three American broadcast networks.

Thus, the terrorists received not only an extreme makeover in much of the world's eyes, but an upgrade in their diplomatic status. That election changed nothing. The 11-year-old terror campaign continues.

As Ettinger writes, a prerequisite to free elections and peaceful coexistence "is the uprooting of the regime, which has been responsible for the deterioration of the Palestinian society."

None of those running for Palestinian leader, indeed, none of those in the Palestinian leadership, have given any indication of repudiating Arafat's strategy of terror until the singular goal of eliminating Israel is achieved.