Would you give them a state?

Yusra al-Azzami, a 22-year-old university student, was seen walking with her
fiancé and her sister (as chaperone) along the beach in Gaza yesterday. As
they were driving away she was shot at close range and then her body was
horribly mutilated by a team of Hamas commandos called the "Anti-Corruption
Unit." Her fiancé and sister were merely beaten. This new unit is tasked
with ensuring that Muslim "values" are respected, particularly as it relates
to female behavior. Onlookers were shocked at the brutality of the attack,
but did nothing out of fear. One of them said it was like having the
Taliban operating in Palestine. This attack is another way to ensure that
women are kept in an inferior position and have no freedom. After the
incident two men were arrested by the PA police and several others are being
sought. It is unclear if Hamas is protecting them. Is this the kind of
"reform" that Pres. Bush envisages that Pres. Abbas will allow in the "new"
democratic Palestine? Does such a lawless society deserve an independent
state?
Over last weekend Hamas and others fired over 100 mortars and rockets into
the area around the town of Sderot in southern Israel. No person was
killed, but a horse was killed, and there was much damage. This is the most
serious breakdown of the so-called "calm" that the terrorist organizations
agreed to under pressure from Pres. Abbas. Even though Abbas supposedly has
thousands of Palestinian police and other services patrolling the area, they
did nothing to stop this organized barrage. Is there a country on earth
except for Israel that would take this kind of attack and do nothing?? In
most cases it would be considered a just cause for war and would trigger a
severe retaliation!
The justification given by Hamas for the rocket attack was the killing by
IDF soldiers on Saturday night of three youths near the Philadelphi route by
the Egyptian border. They were part of a group of 5 who approached the
border surreptitiously and were apparently engaged in a smuggling operation.
Once they were detected they ran towards the IDF position in a kind of
suicidal attack. Hamas and others claimed that they had been playing
football (next to the border, in a no-go area, at night?) and the media duly
reported this nonsense. However, the PA conducted an investigation and
confirmed that they had been engaged in arms smuggling. The two others who
escaped are being sought.
IDF and Israeli security forces entered the town of Nablus and arrested a
sought terrorist who is known as a "ticking time bomb," i.e. one who is
involved in planning or carrying out an imminent terrorist incident. He
was apprehended after he hid inside a house with 20 other men. All of them
were taken into custody for questioning. It is known that Hizbullah is
behind some of the current campaign to continue terrorist attacks in Israel.
Yesterday a drone pilotless plane was sent by Hizbullah over northern Israel
and then returned to Lebanon. It is thought that Hizbullah may be planning
actions on the northern border.
Meanwhile Pres. Abbas' office announced last week that Fatah gunmen will not
be disarmed but will be incorporated into the PA security services. Doesn't
that sound like a good idea! Would you like to live next to a "State" where
the security services are made up of former terrorists? So far Pres. Abbas
has done nothing that relates to his required actions under the Road Map
that he swore to follow. Remember this the next time a PA spokesman accuses
Israel of not carrying out its responsibilities under the Road Map
agreement. There are supposed to be a series of mutual parallel steps, the
first one of which for the PA is the destruction of the terrorist
infrastructure and an unconditional ceasefire. So far nothing, hence Abbas
has delayed his trip to Washington, nothing to report! Israel is not
supposed to be on this Road alone. Abbas seems to get further from his
stated objectives with time, perhaps he is getting weaker with time. Would
you give a State to these people?
Because of the lack of action by Abbas, FM Sylvan Shalom visited Pres.
Mubarak in Egypt today and called upon him for help in strengthening Abbas
to take action, and also to initiate moves by several Arab States to
recognize Israel. This is supposed to show initiative by the so-called Arab
moderates, so that the extremists don't control the situation. I wouldn't
bet much on Mubarak. Even though the Egyptian peace treaty with Israel has
held, Mubarak is certainly no friend of Israel. But, he has his own
problems with domestic extremists; remember the bombing in Taba and a bomb
went off in a market in Cairo a few days ago killing two Frenchmen and an
American. With the loss of tourism, Mubarak drastically needs US support.
Meanwhile PM Sharon had a friendly reception by Pres. Bush in Crawford,
Texas, and is on his visit to Washington. Let's hope Mubarak will show
some initiative, otherwise forget about the so-called Arab moderates and
progress in the peace process.