In direct contravention of my wife's explicit instructions, herewith I inaugurate my first blog. Long may it prosper.

For some reason, I think I have something to say to you. You think you have something to say to me? Email me at: gideonsblogger -at- yahoo -dot- com

 
I dunno, don't you think this rhetorical tack - the terrorists have declared war on Mahmoud Abbas - plays into this rhetorical response - don't hand the terrorists a victory by scuttling peace efforts.

Look: the terrorists attack when Israel makes concessions and they attack when Israel refuses to make concessions. They attack when the P.A. looks like it is winning and they attack when the P.A. looks like it is losing. They attack when Arafat is strong and they attack when Arafat is weak. The only thing that stops them from attacking is killing them first. If that hasn't sunk in by now, it never will.

I wish all the best to Mahmoud Abbas. Anwar Sadat was an admirer of Hitler, and, as readers of this blog know, I don't hold it against him, so I don't care if Abbas is a Holocaust denier. But the precondition for any kind of negotiated settlement with the Palestinians is the elimination of Yasser Arafat - not through exile but through trial and punishment. Nothing else will even begin to make headway. If Israel can't make up its mind to do something about him now, they probably never will.

Of course, once they do, the job won't nearly be over. But as long as Arafat is at liberty, we're still in the phony war stage.
posted by Noah at 9:18 PM