Democracy is not the stability of the Free Market within the stability of its financial institutions, democracy is not the geopolitical stability of countries within a social environment of poverty and wars, democracy is not making instant decisions in accordance to the instant results of opinion polls, democracy is not president Bush's policy of division "with US or against US." Yes, President Bush's foreign policy of "with US or against US" is flawed, this policy is too simple to reflect our complex realities.

Lately, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has been branded as a terrorist by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon while President George Bush has branded him as an ineffective leader who cannot stop terrorism and who has let down his own people. However, today, Yasser Arafat has the unconditional support of his Palestinian people along with the support of other Arab people. And guess what, Secretary of State Colin Powell has affirmed he will meet with Yasser Arafat.

Both the Israeli people and the Palestinian people have the right to their own self determination and to their own sovereign states, yet we look back at the current and past violence trying to find out who is right and who is wrong, and again we are baffled as President Bush is enforcing his laughable new meter of delivering justice: undeclared wars against terrorism. I am seriously asking myself how in the world we can ever get along with each other if we have no international and shared understanding of what is terrorism. Therefore, I share Professor Amitai Etzioni's understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict not as a clash between right and wrong, or between Good and Evil, but between two rights.

I am just listening to CNN news and I learn that former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu equates Israel's invasion of Palestine territories to the push button war of the United States in Afghanistan. I also learn that Mr. Netanyahu shares with President Bush the simple understanding of terrorism and the simple understanding of Yasser Arafat's leadership.

This is how journalist Uri Avnery explains Palestinian terrorism and the influence of Yasser Arafat:

 "When a whole people is seething with rage, it becomes a dangerous enemy, because the rage does not obey orders. When it exists in the hearts of millions of people, it cannot be cut off by pushing a button... Anyone who believes that Arafat can push a button and stop this is living in a dream-world."

References

Confinement raises Arafat's standing. Normally fractious Palestinians closing ranks behind leader By Daniel Williams and Craig Whitlock, April 8, 2002 THE WASHINGTON POST http://www.msnbc.com/news/736087.asp

Mideast needs a 'wall' to cool off violence, by Amitai Etzioni, 04/08/2002 http://www.usatoday.com/news/comment/2002/04/09/ncguest1.htm

Queue of Bombers Uri Avnery, leader of Gush Shalom, the Israeli peace movement, March 3, 2002 http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/article187.html

Tom, Dick and Harry, Uri Avnery, April 6, 2002 http://www.avnery-news.co.il/english/