Or rather, Arab Gaza is indeed cursed. Israel made an enormous mistake in 1967 of allowing Egypt to wash its hands of Gaza. It should have insisted that it take back this dreaded and hopeless population. But, in its weakness, Israel allowed Egypt to ignore its own Arab brethren and absolve itself of its moral responsibility to its own people. We allowed them to get away with this. So, unless we recapture and re-rule them again, we must insist tht Egypt take them back. Read this Dr. Rice.

Lots of food for thought!

Islamism and democracy do not go together ( neither Islam and democracy ) however, the Gaza situation and that of Hamas itself as a whole was doomed to fail from day one . None of the so called members of the government have any kind of formal background legitimizing their actions, their approach, and above all since they are Islamists, they are limiting their own capability into solving the traditional Gaza problems such as poverty, corruption, unemployement etc....Under Hamas , Gaza kids are now digging into mass rubbish sites in order to collect a few shekels daily. This is because of HAMAS , and no one else. Leading a country under the banner of any God is dangerous for health and for local economy. Gaza, like Iran is running endemic corroption. Indeed , Islamism has eradicated all kind of civil liberties but has not deterred any of the "leaders" to engross themselves into illegal deals ( deals done with Israelis, Jordanian and even some Egyptian corrupt business-men ) . Two Hamas so called ministers are overall responsible for this state of affairs : Hanniyeh and Al-Zahar who wanted so bad to achieve personal victory and recognition that they have now completely decredibilize the entire Palestinian people just for ego's sake. Being on a " holy mission from God" does not necessarily provide individuals with enlightement and intelligence, both being widely scarce commodities in the rank of the terrorist organisation HAMAS ( I Intentionally call HAMAS a terror organisation and not a "political party".)

Gaza's leadership and people must reach the point that they admit they have lost, and have abandoned their murderous objectives. They haven't reached that stage yet. As long as they are propped up by the likes of Iran, the UN, and Israel's bleeding hearts, as long as fools like Carter and Beilin call for "engaging" with Hamas, Gaza will hold out. They will offer only a hudna - a "time out" - to allow them to strengthen until the next confrontation. Israel's enemies must be defeated, not accommodated.

he he he I wish you no harm and can only say - look to reality or as they say in America - 'wake up a smell the coffee!'. You're backing a losing horse. - Mike

With all due respect to the author, past history has shown us that for Arabs, losing is winning. After every defeat, they claim victory. And they actually believe it. While everything the author says is true about the deterioration in Gaza, Hamas will not go away. On the contrary, it will motivate them to take control in Gaza. Abbas is too weak to prevent it. Either he will form a new unity gov't., he will be forced to flee, or he will be dead. Even if a majority of Palestinians do not support Hamas, a large & determined minority can seize power. And, we cannot even be sure that Hamas supporters are really a minority. In any case, Fatah has shown itself incapable of governing and this opens the door to Hamas. If we compare Hamas to the old PLO under Arafat (leaving aside that Hamas is better organized, less corrupt, & far more motivated) we see that Arafat & the PLO were fading into oblivion when they were chased into exile to Tunisia. Only our brilliant diplomacy brought him back to life with the help of the equally delusional world community. An exiled Hamas will also become irrelevent, cut off from it's base in Gaza. This is the only reason we should have to invade Gaza. If we do not have the resolve to kill as many of them as necessary & drive out the rest into exile, then any massive incursion into Gaza will not be worthwhile. A side benefit of such an incursion will most likely be the end of the peace process with Abbas since he cannot be seen as supporting or collaborating with such an invasion. And, in truth, this is actually the only reason Olmert & his stooges have not done it as yet.

U2 don't mention that Olmert and Bar-on are sending armed cars with millionsof shekels into Gaza ....

For centuries Sunnis and Shias have ben antagonists. Whys doesn't Israel ride the wave of their divisions, raise the poor innocent and naive People of Gaza against those treacherous blasphemous (Kaferoun) Hamas elements. Can't they see that the final purpose of all Hamas exercises leads to finally convert them and sell their Souls and their Believes to the Iranian Satanas. Shias are to Sunnis bigger Satanas than the Jews or the Americans... Go on, Israel, don't be shy, play dirty, your survival depends on the result of the game!

Most of the information presented in this article is RIGHT ! But this article has missed to present one very important fact which is that Israel is held responsible for strenghthening Hamas by NOT supporting Fatah and Abu Mazen. The first thing Israel have done in this Intifada, is to destroy the Palestinian police and the national security guards !! Plus, Israel is punishing the people everyday (on check points). This punishement creats more radicals in the Palestinian street and more memebers to join Hamas !! SO Israel and Hamas are fighting the moderates and the majority of the normal people that are seeking to live in peace with Israel...

he was my son momo . had bad degree in theclass . when i blamed him he said fawzi failed the exam ..

Bechor is too foolish to understand that Bush and Olmert are going to resuscitate Hamas at Annapolis. Hamas has not lost a thing. Hamas leaders are vowing to take over the "West Bank" and they will once Bush orders Olmert to expel the Jews. What is with all this crowing on Bechor's part?

You are wrong. Hamas do not care about people, even less about isolation, they only care about it's aim, destroy Israel. Remember the war in Vietnam ? Americans have all superiority, but the communist leaders do not care about suffering, and they would not negotiate untill they have all the cards to win. Gaza is a real threat, a potential nightmare for Israel, and must be destroyed before this terrorist enemy become more strong. Go now, IDF.

After witnessing PA troops open fire on Israeli soldiers via countless news reports and after the assassination attempt against Olmert by Fatah a couple of months back, what is your logic in calling them Moderates who are seeking peace? Just so you know, your quote that "Israel is held responsible for strenghthening Hamas by NOT supporting Fatah and Abu Mazen" isn't a fact, it's opinion. One could very well make the counter argument that "the corrupt Israelis and Americans and their support of Fatah prove that Abu Mazen is nothing more than George Bush's and Olmert's talking puppet." With logic like this, Israel is damned if it does and damned if it doesn't. Nevertheless, Kamal, what the Palestinians and Israeli Left fail to understand is that the Naqba is the result of a failed genocide against the Jews in 1948 and that the Naqbas that have been occuring every single day for the past 60 years are not of Israel's making, but a result of the racist, apartheidist and hate-filled agendas of countries like Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq who keep Palestinians in Concentration Camps and treat them like beasts. Even the Palestinians in the West Bank enjoy greater political freedoms than they do in Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. The Arabs that live in Israel proper enjoy a far higher standard of living than Jordanians, Egyptians, Lebanese and Syrians. Israel is the greatest thing that ever happened to the Palestinian people. If the Palestinian people had ever taken a moment away from digging their own graves just to keep shooting themselves into them, they would have come to this conclusion long before I did...

hey guy,hamas lost in gaza?are you delusional? i guess if olmert claimed that israel won the last war in lebanon ,the same way you can claim that hamas lost its war with the p.l.o. i guess both of you are delusional. here we have another example,of why leftis'm is a mental disease

Jews are fighting an uphill battle. A genuinely a foreign object in the middle east which will convulse until it expels it. You're surrounded by millions who will sooner or later get their chance at your necks, and your chances (let alone your children's) of survival are quickly approaching zero. If I were you, I'd bail and go to Russia or Poland or wherever you came from.

"Jews are fighting an uphill battle. A genuinely a foreign object in the middle east which will convulse until it expels it" Let me remind you, habibi, lest you forget, that the Jewish people were born in Judea, and Israelites were born in the Land of Israel: "Palestine". The Hebrews and Abraham were the indegenous people of Aram Naharaim, "Mesoptamian Syria". I think you know where that is. It's the northeastern parts of Syria beyond the Euphrates, where the Assad regime was trying to build a nuclear reactor recently. So sorry he could not play with his new toy. In any case, we were in Israel and Syria when Arabs were running around in the desert chasing after mirages of cities to plunder, until they decided to plunder real cities. And by the way, Syria would not exist without Russia.

Tamer, my parents and grandparents came from Aleppo when your kinsmen ethnically cleansed them in the 1940's. Are you going to tell my Israeli cousins now to go back to the hell you call home? Are you going to give them back the home you stole from my grandparents? By the way, the Jewish community you destroyed in Aleppo had been there since the time of King David. Where do you get off telling us we're a foreign element in the Middle East when our existence there predates the rise of Islam by at least 1800 years? When you get a spare moment, take a walk by the Great Synagogue where my grandparents used to pray before you torched it and stole all their worldy possessions. Yoav, King David's general, laid its foundation according to local legend. This was at least 1200 years before your so-called "prophet" started having hallucinations and perpetrating genocide. I challenge you to respond to me, Tamer. I challenge you to answer for the wrongs you committed against my family and my community. I challenge you to face Syria's dark history instead of brushing it under the carpet.

Traitors like George W. Bush and Ehud Olmert on our side.

It is difficult to decide who was hurt worse by Democracy in the region. PALs got HAMAS who ultimately perfected the art of suicide to the national level. On the other hand, Israel got Olmert who is clearly the worst PM ever, the Jimmy Carter of Israel (Carter was also responsible for the current situation of radical Moslem terror which took power on his watch). So it is a toss up as to who was hurt more by democracy - PALs or Israelis.

Sorry Tamer, but wherever you live, compare the GNP against Israel's, the technology, the quality of life, and the average salary. By the way you can also add a long list of Arab countries to you list of countries that Jews left to go to Israel. With the possible exception of Morocco and Iran under the Shah, live wasn't that great for Jews in most Arab countries. On the other hand, we read this week in YNET that PALs of Jerusalem (Al Kuds to you) are applying for Israeli citizenship in record numbers. We know that PALs are risking their lives to try to leave Gaza to find jobs in Israel. So Tamer, we are not concerned in the least about millions of Arabs living at a much lower standard than us in every possible measure and standard.

Good thing you're not them. I'd hate to think they'd run as fast as you obviously would.

to strugel for life is not a stupidity // and i do not aware ifmy enemy is stupid or is a clever one .still he is an enemy .. and i do not aware if my enemy live in high standered or in a low one .even the education have a lettel effect in hate and war .. the tecnologydestroy more than to defened it meanes you need an enemy with little hate but sure your enemy is not like that .so who is the stupid ,,it is the one who is proud of money and easy life looking to others as nothing //

According to Debka, Hamas is almost ready to start firing double strength triple range Rockets at end of Nov/December into S Israel and Negev.

with dignity, self-respect, limitless selfless giving. People of Gaza are proud, they do not bow to USA and the other Gangsters so called super powers. People in Gaza, Iraq, Libanon, Vietnam, and many other nations taught the arrogant people in the so called WEST that freedom is priceless, and that the west's force and brutality equal to NOTHING in Gaza's scale! Learn your lesson, and sooner or later, you'll leave their land. Just like you left gaza, south lebanon, and Sderot! They are there to stay, you are there to leave .. the sooner the better for you ..

Israel should let Hamas to depose Abbas and smash Fatah, also in Judea and Samaria, on their way to abolish the PA and wipe it off the world map and consciousness. Then Israel should get rid of Hamas. This will open the way for the Kingdom of Jordan to take charge as the only viable nation state of all the Arabs of Greater Palestine. Having got rid of the PA and Hamas, Israel and Jordan should agree on the border between them in Judea and Samaria and maybe cede Gaza to Egypt that would sort it out quite smartly. Everybody, Jews and Arabs, should continue to live in peace where they are and nobody should move from their homes or land. Israelis who would thus become residents of the Kingdom of Jordan should be given rights and conditions like the Arabs in Israel.