A prophecy fulfilled

Cal Thomas wrote in JWR It took just 12 days from completion of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza before rockets started raining down on the Western Negev area from the now-unoccupied territory. The attacks late Friday might have occurred sooner had the terrorists not been preoccupied with torching synagogues and destroying flower-growing operations in Gaza that could have been used to produce income for Palestinian residents. Sadly, their hatred of all things Jewish prompted them to act against their self-interest. (Late Sunday night, following crushing retaliatory attacks by Israel and threats from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of an even more massive response, Hamas announced that it was halting all attacks from the Gaza Strip. For now, perhaps, but given its history, one can safely bet, not for good.)

A Reuters story about the Israeli attacks on Saturday said, "The upsurge in violence was a blow to international hopes that the pullout could revive peacemaking."

What did Reuters say about the attacks for which the Israeli attacks were a response?

Palestine can have peace. They just need to learn to live in peace with their neighbor. And if they show that they cant learn that, then

1. They dont deserve a state of their own, and
2. Israel must respond to each attach with such a furious response that at least they may learn it is not nice to attack Israel

The concept of international "hopes" is founded on the false premise that peace is dependent only on Israel's behavior. Every time Israel offers concessions, withdrawals, confidence-building measures and other "good faith" gestures, the response is more terror, more death and no peace. Will there ever come a time when the United States and the international community concludes that forcing Israel into making unilateral concessions is not a prescription for peace, but a guarantee of more war?