EXCELLENT EDITORIAL ON THE PALESTINIANS

Special thanks to Elder of Ziyon for finding this article from The Detroit News.
I had to post it here too, because I can't find one thing in this work that I can disagree with.

Palestinians failed democracy, not the other way around

Nolan Finley /
February 5, 2006

Democracy didn't fail when the Palestinians used their first truly free vote to install terrorist leaders. The Palestinians failed. Again.

Those who see the Hamas victory as evidence that democracy is not the answer for all people in all places ignore the unique nature of the Palestinians. They lack a key ingredient for sustaining freedom - self-interest.

The Palestinians' lust for Jewish blood is stronger than their desire to lead peaceful, secure lives, to rule an independent state, to lift themselves out of their misery.

That, given the opportunity, they would give their votes to terrorists should not be a shock. This is the same people who deified Yasser Arafat, the father of modern-day terrorism.

Terror defines Palestinians

Under Arafat, terrorism became an inseparable part of the Palestinian identity. He perfected the use of terror as a means of gaining a political wedge, proving that those willing to shed blood without relenting, without remorse and without regard to external pressure will be rewarded with a seat at the table.

Their suicide bombers should have made the Palestinians international pariahs. Instead, apologists depicted the violence as the natural response of a persecuted people. The excuses invited more terror, from more sources and in more places.

Even the Bush administration pretended that the Palestinians were the victims of terrorists within their midst, but beyond their control. The Hamas victory makes it impossible to sustain that pretense.

The Palestinians knew what Hamas was when they gave it their votes. They chose terror over peace, just as they did five years ago when they answered Arafat's call to unleash a brutal wave of terror to cover his impotence at the bargaining table.

The defenders of terror are now spinning a new scenario, one that has Hamas morphing into a political organization and renouncing violence.

Hamas is unrepentant

But note that Hamas is not saying that. Its leaders remain committed to wiping the Jewish blot from the Middle East.

Even if Hamas mouthed the right words, who could believe that it has suddenly turned away from decades of violence?

Terrorism is the history of the Palestinian people, and it will be their future if they are allowed to again slip past the supposed zero-tolerance policy on terror.

Hamas is no different from al-Qaida. Both are terrorist groups, and both target innocent victims.

It was considered in the interest of world stability to smash the al-Qaida-backed Taliban government in Afghanistan. Why isn't it similarly desirable to smash the Hamas government in the Palestinian territories?

Hamas doesn't want to lead, it wants to kill, and has done so in more than 200 terrorist attacks against Israel during the past five years, including dozens of suicide bombings.

Pretending Hamas can be something other than it is will only lead to more killing.

Nolan Finley is The News' editorial page editor. Contact him at nfinley@detnews.com or 313-222-2064. Watch Nolan Finley on "Am I Right?" at 8:30 p.m. Fridays on Detroit Public TV, Ch. 56.

I'm wondering if Elder of Ziyon and Treppenwitz are having some kind of clash of egos. I have noticed that neither of them put each other down on their Blogrolls. I may have missed it, but I looked a couple of times. I can understand Elder not putting Treppenwitz's Blog on his roll because it is pretty boring bland stuff, I'm thinking of going there if I ever have insomnia again. Totally different from Elder's Blog, which is an absolute wealth of great news, facts, and opinions.
In fact Elder linked a post by Trep on his blog about Amona, and he was in total agreement with Trep by the looks of it. Oh yeah before I forget, Happy Valentine's Day Trep.