Israel's leaders wasted years by talking to people with bad intentions! "You make peace with your enemies! Rabin's famous mantra is right if the enemies are 'willing to make peace, which they are not! "Honest people don't need contracts to stand by their word and no contract will work with dishonest people"! People wearing expensive suits, talk polite and utter all the right words in a soft voice, don't always make civilized people. Dress a monkey in a dress, it's still a monkey. Look at the Europeans. Always putting the knife into the the Jew's back dressed in designer clothes, over a good glass of wine and a fine cigar in a posh hotel or restaurant. No, civilization is something you are born with and many people are just 'pretending they possess it.

Israeli leaders were also child slayers, a big example is: Sharon! so why don't you as a civilized human say anything thing about him??!!

What the author correctly describe as despicable forms of behavior, e.g. slaying of children and the celebration of the freedom of the mass murderers, the gassing of civilian population, do represent the civilization that we face. What we ought to do is have no respect to such aspects of the Muslim-Arab civilization and refuse to comply with them.

What does that mean? That the Arabs are not civilized? That,according to them, killing their adversaries is better than to try to compete with them ? What do we, the Western world, want ? That they compete peacefully with us? We know that they are unable, and they know they are unable. Their only issiue therefore is based on trying to eliminate their adversary, that adversary that has the upper hand over them each time.

"Why would anyone truly interested in peace demand the early release of radical terrorists?" Maybe for exactly the same reason that Israel goes out of its way to foil peace by building on disputed territory. Both sides give into their rabid, insane extremist constituencies. The political leadership on both sides are cowards.

But I would like to ask Ophir Falk, why something so elementary, is so far removed from Government officials. I would ask, Are we lacking something in our basic understanding? Does Peres, Rabin, Netanyahu or whoever know something that we do not know. NO reason in the World could have Justified the releasing of those Terrorists. The State has failed in identifying its existence. This brings hesitation, Second guessing and PURE weakness. My heart goes out for the families who loss dear ones. Lesson or Message: Arabs are allowed to kill Jews. Punishment: Short time in Jail.

Although I certainly do not support Sharon who ethnically cleansed Gush Katif, this is the first I hear of him being a "child slayer". Please tell, when and where did it happen?

It is NOT a clash of civilizations but a "clash between civilization and barbarism."

Terrorists of course as Abu Mazen is known being one!

Falk's question is easy to answer. The P.A. is a murderous organization, like the Nazis, lead by a Holocaust Denying mass murderer, Abbas. That is why it demands the early release of mass murderers. However, the real question is, Why does Israel comply with the demands of mass murderers? Why doesn't Israel put Abbas on trial for mass murder?

From the Palestinian's perspective, these terrorists are heros. No wonder they are demanding their release. From the Israeli's perspective, these terrorists are criminals, with blood on their hands. So why is Israel releasing them? If the tables were turned and Israel demanded the release of soldiers/terrorists/peacekeepers..... - would anyone comply?

Remember Jordan's King Hussein and Black September, 1970-1971. Jordan would be ruled either by the Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organisation or the Hashemite Monarchy. Jordanian Armed Forces killed thousands of Palestinians resulting in the expulsion of the PLO to Lebanon in 1971. Arab monarchs and dictators know they must ruthlessly put down a rebellion or risk losing control. That is what we are seeing in Egypt and Syria presently. Falk wrote: "Cynics will say that violence, persecution and terror are in the region’s DNA. That is nonsense at best or bigotry at worst." I am not so sure. Before the invasion of Iraq, Ariel Sharon reportedly warned President Bush that if he insisted on occupying Iraq, he should at least abandon his plan to implant democracy in this part of the world. “In terms of culture and tradition, the Arab world is not built for democratization.” Is Ariel Sharon a bigot or a realist?

Wow, recent Israel history includes the repeated election of known terrorists as top leaders, as well as many other key leadership roles ... even today! Populations evolve and it is never linear. Radical change is always with much volatility Bad behaviours can lead to consistently positive governments for the population such as Israel today ...

Abbas comes to negotiations because the US and EU want some action for the money they give. Abbas uses the situation to get some free concessions beforehand because he knows Palestinians reject a Jewish Israel so there can be no deal. You would think that by now Israeli leaders knew this and would reject the concessions.Apparently not.

right about the Arabs and the sea.

Abu mazen? What about glen?

Good article.

If everybody behaved civilised then we wouldn't have any fighting. But all peoples have the ability to be civilised and barbaric, the germans and Vietmanese being two recent cases showing how quick that transformation can be. The arab nations are in an identity crisis, fertile ground for barbarism, and it's going to take some time until it unravels it's future.

You must be one of those Jersey cows, because what you say sounds like a lot of bull.....

Ophir Falk makes a good point. We cannot choose ower anamies and this article helps to decjde hiow to deal with them

A very good article that proof the same old thing;there is no need for yet another new non-civilized state,with uncivilized people and uncivilized politicians...they might as well melt away with all other civilized people to learn something out of civilisation... Abbas is the first uncivilized man to be melt away...

What can be said of the Western liberals that support these people with their sanctions against Israel and their financial support? The great British academics that fail to recognize any wrongdoing on the side of the Palestinians? The Scandanavian countries that worships all those crying for Israels destruction? All the Western Christian churches siding with Islam openly? The veneer of civilization has worn through on many planes of society I am sorry to say.

Release of these Murderers?

the Israeli government to release these murderers and in the case of Bush throw Jews off their land, not Sharon. Stop blaming Sharon for defending his citizens.