This is a couple of days old now, but David Warren's latest take on Arafat and Israel is well worth reading:
European "peace activists" were used as a front by the Palestinians in a clever operation to smuggle several of the most-wanted terrorists who had retreated to Mr. Arafat's office. They surprised the Israelis on their way in, but on their way out IDF soldiers surrounded them and detached and grabbed their suspects. These may have included the murderers of the Israeli tourism minister, Rehavam Zeevi.Posted by Dr. Frank at April 4, 2002 12:51 AM | TrackBackUnder the Madrid/Oslo "peace process," Mr. Arafat agreed, in return for being allowed to return to the West Bank and Gaza, to limit armaments in Palestinian-administered territories to sidearms and standard equipment required by police. He undertook not only to prevent violent attacks on Israel and Israelis, but to adopt a pacific tone, and of course disavow terrorism.
The pretense that he has done anything other than fuel and incite violence, since the moment he arrived, is no longer sustainable. Explosives of the very kind used by Palestinian suicide bombers have been found in Palestinian Administration police caches all over the territories. And Mr. Arafat's constant rhetorical celebration of the cult of "martyrdom" and other forms of homicide is now a matter of public record. His game is up.
Most significant is the intelligence haul from Mr. Arafat's compound. The IDF soldiers have been at pains to secure and remove files, documents, and communications records; the mission to Ramallah was in some sense planned like the commando raid on the Karine A in the Red Sea in January. There is presently a large traffic of intelligence "content" between the Israeli government and the CIA, Pentagon, U.S. State Department and White House in Washington. Connections between the Palestinian Authority and international Islamist terror organizations, including al-Qaeda, are being established, chapter and verse.