European Union naive

Editorial

It's beginning to look more and more as though Europe holds few friends for Israel. Besides a recent array of anti-Semitic incidents in France, now the European Union (EU) is insisting that Israel needs Arafat as a partner in peace talks.

Perhaps members of the EU would have changed their mind if they had seen a recent interview on 60 Minutes with Hamas fund-raiser and political strategist Moussa Abu Marzook.

In the interview, conducted by Steve Croft, Marzook makes it clear that Arafat no longer speaks for the majority of Palestinians and that Hamas, once a disorganized thorn in Israel's side, is now gaining more and more popular support. So much so, in fact, that Palestinians have been protesting against the arrest by Arafat of Hamas terrorists. This has made it difficult for Arafat to carry out Israel's requirement to put an end to terrorism in the West Bank and Gaza.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Arafat tends to sit in the middle - arresting the few terrorists that he can, while not doing away with Hamas altogether.

At least one major political figure has finally caught on to Arafat's tactics, though. U.S. President George W. Bush has expressed disappointment in Arafat's fight against terrorism, saying Arafat has misled him. This has led the United States to reassess its relations with Arafat and the PA.

Now if only the EU would wake up, as well, and realize with whom they are dealing.

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