Once before, something even better than a cease fire was tried. All the people of Gaza wanted was to be left alone and exist as a sovereign nation everyone was told.  So Israel agreed to the evacuation of  Gaza. The best and brightest minds all concluded that if the Israelites just left Gaza it would marginalize Islamist appeal by giving the Palestinians what they want–a state and a future. That was tried in 2005.  It was hailed as a major concession for the wonderful price of peace.

The Palestinians were supposed to form a collective conclusion that the existence of the Jewish state was formidable and a reality. Soon everyone would negotiate a compromise for a permanent peace. The Palestinians could pick up the pieces and begin to build for themselves a country and elect a government with an idea for a final end for conflict. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

So what did happen after Israel surrendered to popular demand?

Only the sweeping election of Hamas and an increasingly fanatical and militarized Palestine. Then, of course, this was followed by continued rocket attacks and the institutionalization of hate and anti-Jewish/West teachings.

What was learned by any of this? 

Israel realized that Hamas was fundamentally hostile to their existence. It is called reality and it works. These Islamist are not fighting for a state, they are simply fighting for hate. And probably most damning of all was that the evacuation was seen as triumph to Islamist everywhere and glorified their tactics of suicide bombers and killing of innocents. This reinforced Hamas’ position as the Islamic soldiers they portray themselves to be:  Violence and force backed by Islam can conquer all. Moderation is a Western term. Islam only functions in absolutes. Hamas is Islam. 

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