Editorials
Thursday, September 26, 1996
Palestinian rioting
is challenge for Israel
RENEWED rioting in Jerusalem and the West Bank has presented the new government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with its first crisis. The immediate issue appeared to be the completion of a pedestrian tunnel that runs along the compound housing the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest place in Islam. However, tension has been building for months because of the hard-line policies of the Likud-led government and its failure to proceed with negotiations with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu won election by promising to take a tougher line against Palestinian demands and to protect Israelis from terrorism. He will certainly increase security precautions in the wake of the rioting. And he surely will not withdraw Israeli soldiers from the town of Hebron until conditions improve. But he should resist the temptation to foreclose any options for peace. Rather, Netanyahu should use the crisis as an occasion to renew contacts with the Palestinian leadership, following up on his meeting with Yasser Arafat early this month. He should cancel plans to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which have enraged the Palestinians.
It should be recognized that the easiest steps in reaching a comprehensive peace have probably already been taken. Even the martyred Yitzhak Rabin, who led Israel to the initial peace agreements, would have had great difficulty in dealing with Arab demands for a Palestinian state and joint control of Jerusalem.
Netanyahu was elected with a mandate to slow down concessions, but not to turn back the clock. The latest rioting is ominously reminiscent of the 1987-93 Palestinian revolt, which ended with the first peace agreement. The battle between Palestinian police and Israeli soldiers is particularly disturbing.
Netanyahu cannot be seen as submitting to intimidation. But he must find a way to defuse the violence and put the peace process back on track - with more modest and realistic goals.
Fight against drugs
THE concept of "neighborhood watch" has new meaning in Aiea. Last week, Harbor Pointe residents supplied the information and evidence leading to the raid of an alleged crystal methamphetamine lab in one of the townhomes. Three people have been arrested. More citizen-abetted busts may be possible as the public becomes aware of similar criminal activity that may be happening - literally, right next door.
Neighbors knew something was up in the townhouse at 98-945 Moanalua Road. They became suspicious after continuously smelling large amounts of fingernail polish remover. Then, on snooping through the trash deposited from Glen Haraguchi's unit, they found empty plastic bottles of denatured alcohol and Acetone cans. The incident should inspire other citizens to report any suspicious activity that could jeopardize the community and their own personal safety.
Ship's visit to Hanalei
WHEN the cruise ship Seabourne Pride anchored in Hanalei Bay, Kauai, last Friday, and ferried 50 passengers ashore, residents objected. Considering Kauai's economic dependence on tourism, the protests seemed remarkably short-sighted.
Some North Shore residents are opposed to the proliferation of tour boats in the bay and said they feared the stop could set a precedent for more visits by cruise ships. Some regulation of tour boats seems necessary, but residents who find reason to complain about a very rare visit to Hanalei Bay by a cruise ship need to get in touch with economic reality, if not their own then that of their jobless neighbors.
Spying for Korea
THE arrest of a civilian intelligence analyst on charges of supplying secret documents to South Korea underlines the fact that U.S. allies as well as enemies have an appetite for information that they aren't supposed to receive. The case of Robert Chaegon Kim, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Korea, recalls that of Jonathan Pollard, a former analyst who is serving a life imprisonment term for spying for Israel. Both Kim and Pollard were employed by the Office of Naval Intelligence.
Presumably the information allegedly obtained by Kim and Pollard was not taken to be used against the United States. This is not like stealing nuclear secrets for the former Soviet Union. But espionage, even on behalf of U.S. allies, cannot be condoned.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor