Zero-sum Game

Israpundit quotes this article by Joseph Farah from WND [Emphasis Israpundit]. Unfortunately, I have come to largely the same conclusion.

There is such a thing in life as an irreconcilable difference. That is what stands in the way of peace talks between these two parties. Israel is all-too willing to give up territory in exchange for peace. Arafat and Hamas are not willing to accept such terms – and never will be.

So, what's the solution? How do we bring about peace and justice in the Middle East?

I'm afraid the only answer, ultimately, is war.

Sooner or later, the attacks by Hamas, Arafat's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Islamic Jihad and other terrorists are going to push Israel too far. It's inevitable. Israel cannot endure an endless series of terrorist attacks on its civilians forever – no nation could.

At some point, Israel is going to have to move beyond the impotent, tit-for-tat retaliatory strikes that only serve to enflame passions in the Arab world and create this impression of a "cycle of violence."

It's true. It is time to stop the cycle of violence. Sometimes, the only way to stop it is with more violence. Sometimes, the only way to stop it is with victory – as the United States showed in Afghanistan and Iraq. We are rapidly nearing one of those times.

Israel is outnumbered by its enemies in the Middle East. It is out-resourced by its enemies in the Middle East. It is out-financed by its enemies in the Middle East. It is out-maneuvered in the public relations war by its enemies in the Middle East. There are only two advantages Israel has over its enemies: It is right, and it has military might.

If Israel doesn't utilize those two strengths – and soon – the world will soon witness another Jewish holocaust. It will be too late. If Israel tries to buy its way out of its current turmoil by yielding to demands for more strategic land concessions, it will be making a fatal mistake.

The "road map" is only a blueprint for murder and mayhem. It is a prescription for more terrorism. It is a plan for disaster in the Middle East. The U.S. must stop coercing Israel. And Israel must not accept the arm-twisting any longer.

Israpundit also picks up this article by Dianne West on Townhall that cries out for the same [Emphasis mine].

Here are some of the Hamas leader's choicer words: "I swear we will not leave a single Jew in Palestine" -- which, in terror-speak, means "not a single Jew in Israel." This statement appeared in the Washington Times. "I am telling Sharon and all the Israeli murderers, you don't have any security unless you leave the country" (i.e., leave Israel), the Washington Post reported.

Such statements strike me more as conversation-enders than dialogue-openers. These sentiments don't promise "revenge" as much as they reaffirm the same old strategy of annihilation by terrorism that imperils Israel in the modern age -- now to a calamitous degree. Indeed, Internet news service IslamOnline.net characterized Rantisi's words as having "reaffirmed" the strategy of "resistance and rifle" -- terror-speak, it seems, for donning Orthodox garb and self-detonating a bus filled with office-bound commuters. That's exactly what a Hamas terrorist did the day after Rantisi spoke. Sixteen Israelis were killed during the afternoon rush hour on Wednesday, leaving scores maimed and wounded on a sunny Jerusalem thoroughfare.

"You have no option but Jihad and martyrdom," Rantisi told IslamOnline.net. "By Allah Almighty, we will pursue Jihad until we bring back all Palestinian refugees to their homeland and restore every inch of our usurped land" -- terror-speak, of course, for every inch of Israel. This wasn't Rantisi's first rant (and, regrettably, won't be his last). A few months back, Rantisi justified the loss of the space shuttle Columbia as "part of the divine punishment of America and, together with it, Zionism." Before that, the good doctor was calling for "thousands of squads of martyrs" to be equipped with "thousands of sophisticated explosives belts" to kill themselves, along with as many Americans and British troops as possible, for the greater glory of Saddam Hussein.