Annan Criticizes Arafat?

Apparently, Kofi Annan has sent a letter Yassir Arafat telling him that, "The Palestinian Authority should immediately start taking effective measures to curb terrorism and violence." He even goes on to say, "You are aware... that the Palestinian side too has obligations it has not fulfilled."

Now the reason this is so interesting, at least in my eyes, is that in Israel the UN is seen, even by those on the left, as being entirely beholden to the Arab World and its allies. The perception is that the UN focuses on Israel's mistakes (and sometimes inflates them) while wholly ignoring both the circumstances and the actions taken by those who would seek to harm Israel. A quick anecdote: I was traveling in Israel a few weeks ago and we saw a convoy of UN SUVs. Apparently, they are fairly common in Jerusalem. Anyway, a joke was made about, "Drive-by condemnings," the idea being that these guys in the UN Jeeps ride around and every so often they roll down the window and yell, "We don't like that!" I think that's a fair assessment of how the UN is perceived in Israel.

You might not agree that the perception is the reality (I tend to think it is pretty close) but that's the perception none-the-less. That's why this letter is a pretty big deal. Although, I don't want to overstate it. First, it was a letter from Annan himself, not a non-binding resolution voted on by the GA, as so many of the "We Condemn Israel" statements are. Second, it was a private letter, not necessarily meant for the public. So, all things considered, I'm glad that, at least privately, Mr. Annan is willing to criticize Arafat, but I suppose it won't go very far toward changing the perception of the UN within Israel.