GOOD NEWS FROM GAZA


This past week was a disaster for the State Department, other proponents of Israeli appeasement of Palestinian terror, the settler movement and Hamas. Not surprising given the prior list, it was one of the most hopeful weeks for a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a long time. First and most importantly, the Bush administration wrested control of Israeli-Palestinian policy from the unreconstructed Oslo-ites in the State Department and set itself firmly behind a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the West Bank. Rather than attempt to link such actions to the diplomatic process, Bush instead focused on ensuring that such unilateral withdrawal not be limited to Gaza, but instead be part of a more comprehensive initiative to break the current post-Oslo stalemate.


Furthermore, Bush abandoned the State Departments destructive practice of "neutrality" on issues such as the 1967 borders and the re-settlement of Palestinian refugees and backed the Israeli red lines on such issues publicly. Whatever advantages such positions had had in giving the U.S. the appearence of being an "honest broker" in Palestinians eyes had more been offset by the message it sent Palestinian maximalists - that these issues were truly on the table, and could be potentially imposed upon Israel through terror or international fiat. There is no better way to demonstrate the bankruptcy of the post-Camp David intifada to the Palestinian mainstream than to have it result in less and not more territory in the West Bank being put on the table for a Palestinian state.


The downside to a withdrawal from Gaza has been the specter of a Hamas takeover. But here Sharon is going out of his way to avoid the mistakes made by Barak in the unilateral withdraw from South Lebanon. And therefore, Israel has struck hard at Hamas, decapitating the terror organization twice in the past two months.
These attacks have shown that the true limiting factor in Palestinian suicide attacks is operational capacity, not motivation. No doubt Hamas will succeed in commiting mass-murder again before too long, but its success rate has plummetted since Israel took off the gloves its counter-offensive against the group. A crippled Hamas, whose leader can no longer even be proclaimed in public, is no longer the front-runner to take over Gaza in the wake of an Israeli withdrawal - and that in and of itself is cause for hope. Whether or not there is any more good news from Gaza after the Israelis leave depends upon the willingness of the European Union, the State Department and other Arafat-abettors to learn from their mistakes - and provide the necessary strings to aid money winds up in houses rather than bombs this time.

UPDATING THE BLOGROLL


I've spent enough time in the blogosphere to realize that many people consider a link to a blog as an endorsement not only of the posts on the site, but of the visitor comments as well. A quick glance to the left shows, however, that I link to plenty of sites that I have serious disagreements with on many issues, but who I believe offer thought-provoking and informative content. My own views can clearly be discerned from my own writing. On that note, I apologize for their recent dearth of posts, but when work and wedding planning settle down, I promise more blogging as soon as I am able.