WHAT BUSH SHOULD SAY TO ABBAS

Their Generation by David Hazony (Contentions)
Today’s Jerusalem Post has an editorial that puts the entire Palestinian terror machine into proper perspective:

Yesterday, Bush said the first thing he would ask Abbas is “what are you going to do about the rockets” that are being fired from Gaza into Israel. As much we appreciate this question, a more salient one might be: “Why is your television glorifying suicide bombers?” Just last month, PA television, which Abbas brought under his personal authority when he took office, started rebroadcasting a video that ran dozens of times at the height of the suicide bombing campaign against Israel. The video begins with an imagined scene of a woman shot dead in the back by Israeli soldiers. She then rises to an Islamic paradise to join the “72 virgins” who await any suicide bomber. Next a young man swears to avenge the woman, is also killed by Israelis, and is seen joining this group of young women for his eternal reward. This is education for anything but peace.

When Yasser Arafat brought his operation to the future Palestinian homeland with the 1993 Oslo Accords, one of his first priorities was to revamp the schools and media. Israel was immediately removed from maps, suicide bombers became official martyrs, and a propaganda blitz began with the singular aim of raising a generation of Palestinians committed to the violent struggle against the Jewish state. Kids who were five years old back then are now turning twenty, having spent the great majority of their lives under that cultural rubric. Small wonder they join terror groups.

Perhaps Hamas and Fatah can rein in terror, for longer or shorter periods of time–and perhaps not. But it seems clear that the only true indicator of Palestinian intentions, the most important test that any diplomat should be using, is what they teach their kids. Want peace with Israel? First, put it back on the map.