Tuesday, March 20, 2007

"We don't need resistance if there is no occupation."

This quote from an official of the new Palestinian unity government. Arab states have all promised peace and normalised relations with Israel, if it only would withdraw to 1967 borders. The occupation would end, Palestinians would have a state, everyone is happy, problem solved. Unfortunately, reality isn't so simple. The problem is not that Israel refuses to withdraw to 1967 borders. That is a distraction. The problem is that Hamas, which leads the current government, would still not agree to a peace (by its own assertion) even if Israel withdrew to 1967 borders. Nor would Iran.

One needs to only look no farther than the Gaza Strip to realize that withdrawing to 1967 borders would not bring peace. Some time ago Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza. Since then, there has been a constant barrage of rocket fire from there into Israel. Even now, Hamas is fortifying the Gaza Strip with bunkers, rockets, and other equipment in the very same way that Hezbollah set up shop in southern Lebanon. The world is standing idly by while fanatics and terrorists in Gaza build a fortress right next to Israel.

There will be another war, and probably soon. Militants from Gaza will finally provoke Israel, which will invade and possibly reoccupy Gaza, just like what happened in southern Lebanon last summer. This will happen because Hamas (recently recognized by Norway, soon to be recognized by Russia and France) remains committed to the destruction of Israel through violent means. The difference is that this time, there will be many more casualties than there were in last summer's contest, because Gaza is far more densely populated than southern Lebanon.

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