By Uri Dan. The Jerusalem Post. Thursday, July 13 2000 18:16 11 Tammuz 5760
(July 13) - Fidel Castro is still considered an enemy of the US, while his veteran disciple, Yasser Arafat, is an honored guest of the American Administration. This absurdity was particularly noticeable when last week I made my way from Israel to Havana, Cuba, and this week continued to
Washington in order to cover the Camp David conference between Yasser Arafat and Ehud Barak. Castro is ostracized in Washington, and Arafat is a guest of honor. Is this policy logical?
The mainly political conflict between the US and Cuba which has lasted 41 years reached a new peak when the Administration in Washington was forced to overcome a personal vendetta just to return the child Elian to his father in Cuba.
The conflict between the State of Israel and the Palestinians has lasted 52 years. The government of Israel, which boycotts Cuba at the dictate of its American ally, is now discussing the return "millions of Palestinian refugees" to Israel.
Until the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba was a police state, and even now citizens flee from Cuba to the US for economic reasons. At the same time we hear complaints from the Palestinians themselves about the despotism and oppression to which they are subjected at the hands of Arafat's
Police and Security service, not only in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, but also in eastern Jerusalem, to Israel's disgrace.
Fidel Castro has never threatened to conquer the US nor will he ever try. Arafat has never for a moment stopped demanding Jerusalem, and his supporters publicly reiterate his teaching that they will not rest until they establish the "democratic secular state of Palestine" in place of
the Jewish state.
Fidel Castro took Cuba by force in 1959, when he fought against the dictatorial corruption that oppressed his people. He shut down the casinos in Havana that had become a center of American-Cuban corruption, including the propagation of drugs and prostitution.
Yasser Arafat and his friends are partners in the casino in Jericho. Even Newsweek exposed the corrupt financial and business arrangements run by Arafat's confidants at the expense of the Palestinian people. Israeli governments have transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to the bank
accounts of Arafat and his confidants, while the Palestinian masses suffer from poverty and under-development.
This is the same Arafat who for many years claimed that his heroes were Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.
Castro never hesitated, even two or three years ago, to sentence to death some of his senior officers, even those who fought devotedly in Angola and Ethiopia, for acts of corruption. Under Arafat, officers continue to steal and are promoted in rank.
Forty years ago, when Castro was young, inexperienced, and felt threatened by the US, he agreed to deploy Soviet missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy forced Moscow to remove the weapons.
Arafat, in violation of agreements with Israel, continues to stockpile arms in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank: mines, mortars, anti-tank missiles, and explosives. He has even given orders to open fire on Israelis, as in the riots of May 15. Now, with the aid of Israeli cabinet ministers and
army officers, he is threatening violence if Israel does not give way to his demands.
Fidel has long since despaired of exporting the revolution to the Latin American countries. Arafat, in contrast, is secretly maintaining contacts with the Islamic extremist "revolutionaries," Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hizbullah, while Yossi Beilin spurs him on to victory, when he will
raise the Palestinian flag over the Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount.
The CIA failed on numerous occasions to bring down Castro, from the invasion of the Bay of Pigs 40 years ago to assassination attempts much later. Arafat is one of Clinton's most cherished commodities.
The US still maintains a total embargo on Cuba. Only two weeks ago, under restrictive conditions, Clinton ordered the sale of food and medicine by the US to Cuba. Despite this, Cuba, with its own efforts and with European and Canadian aid, has developed an impressive tourist industry. The
country has been opened up to the world and has ceased to be a police state.
Arafat is constantly complaining that he has no money, and now at Camp David Clinton and his aides are discussing giving the Palestinians about $40 billion.
Since the Oslo Accords, Israeli governments have begged the US to help them achieve an agreement with Arafat even at the expense of the security of the Jewish state. Important American Jewish leaders who support the boycott of Castro as if he were still a danger to America have been enlisted to
help Arafat, even though he represents a real danger to the existence of the Jewish state.
It is not merely that this policy is illogical.
Far worse, it is immoral, founded on hypocrisy and lies.
Consider the differences in policy between Fidel and Yasser. It is obvious that in both cases their rule will collapse, sooner or later. The day is not far off when millions of American tourists will return to enjoy the tourist paradise of Cuba, with or without Castro. Meanwhile Israelis will
continue to suffer the threats of terrorism and violence promised to them by Arafat.
© 1995-2000, The Jerusalem Post - All rights reserved |