PALESTINIAN MURDER IN THE SLUMS OF TEL AVIV

For better or worse, Tel Aviv symbolizes the "normal" Israel. Jerusalem feels timeless, intoxicating - you can feel the sprititual density of the place. Tel Aviv, on the other hand feels like Miami - but substituting Sabra stunners for lovely Latinas. Of course, like any other "normal" city - Tel Aviv has its seemy side. It is not only Israel's leading center of finance, art and culture - it is also Israel's leading center of prostitution, drug use and exploitation of illegal immigrants. In the years since the Palestinians exchanged
working in Israel for working to destroy Israel, Tel Aviv has become flooded with foreign workers from all over the world - Thailand, Nigeria, Romania. The center of these immigrant communities is in the poor southern part of Tel Aviv. For too long, Israeli policy has neglected the needs of these new communities, and a confused immigration law has left many in limbo. The hard truth is that even at its worst, the slums of Tel Aviv are better than the hopelessness that these people left behind in their home countries.

It was this neighborhood that was rocked by Palestinian suicide bombers today. So much for the unity of the "oppressed", and people of color. No, for much of the Palestinian movement, the world is now divided in two - those who shun (or better kill) Jews, and anyone who treats Jews as human beings - making them fair targets. The massacre of Israeli Arabs who dared to break bread with Jews in Haifa demonstrated as much, and this massacre confirms it.

Tommorrow's spin by the liberal punditocracy will be predictable - this attack proves the futility of Israel's military tactics - no amount of force can eliminate Palestinian terror - Israel should withdraw from Palestinian towns, yada yada yada. What the liberal punditocracy fails to see (and what triumphalist hawks feed into with premature crowing) is that there is nothing Israel can do to eliminate Palestinian terror. The harsh reality is that if Israel was not currently in the territories, today's attack would have been only one of many in a constant barrage of Palestinian terror. One bombing a month is tragic - but its much better than two a week. The fence that is going up at a snail's pace, will help.

Is there anything else Israel can do in the meantime to stem these attacks? The best way may be to begin a process of retaliating to terror attacks by annexing settlements - beginning with those closest to the border and most likely to be incorporated into Israel anyway. It's pretty clear that while the Palestinians care little about life, they care much about land. It seems quite fair then that every ounce of blood they spill should cost them - in a steadily shrinking state that mirrors their steadily shrinking moral stature.