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In what is perhaps the most eloquent passage in the report, the commission declared that it could not accept the argument, advanced implicitly by some members of the Begin government, that Israel had no responsibility for deeds perpetrated outside its borders by members of the Christian community against Palestinians. Said the commission: "It should not be forgotten that the Jews in various lands of exile, and also in the land of Israel when it was under foreign rule, suffered greatly from pogroms perpetrated by various hooligans; and the danger of disturbances against Jews in various lands, it seems evident, has not yet passed. The Jewish public's stand has always been that the responsibility for such deeds falls not only on those who rioted and committed the atrocities, but also on those who were responsible for safety and public order, who could have prevented the disturbances and did not fulfill their obligations in this respect."
From the Arab world there was scarcely a word of praise for the commission's strong report. The Kuwait Times reminded Reagan that he had said last fall that "no punishment is enough" for those responsible for the massacre and declared: "Call for the punishment now, Mr. Reagan. The witness is yours." The Jordan Times said the purpose of the report was "to protect the Israeli version of justice and self-righteousness, which has cost us dearly in almost every respect." In Cairo, an editor described the report as an attempt "to find scapegoats to save the Israeli defense establishment." In Riyadh, a Saudi Arabian official, obviously pleased, remarked privately, "Somewhat surprising, isn't it? Of course it didn't go far enough. There should have been an international tribunal."
It was unfortunate that the Arab reaction so demeaned their case. Arabs were at a loss to respond cogently to the results of the Israeli inquiry precisely because no government in the Arab world would dream of subjecting itself to the scrutiny of an independent commission. Nor would any be likely to survive such an investigation. In Beirut the Lebanese government's own investigation into the massacre is unlikely to mete out punishment (see box), even though the identities of many of those responsible for the murders must surely be known. Noting Lebanese Prime Minister Chafik al Wazzan's comment that the Israeli commission's report had "at least uncovered to the world who was really responsible," the Washington Post caustically observed: "How conveniently he seems to forget who pulled the trigger." In fact, said the Post, the Arab leaders like Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat who complained that the Israeli inquiry had not been sufficiently tough or far-reaching were themselves guilty of chutzpah, the Yiddish word for gall.