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Jewish World Review August 23, 2005 /18 Meanachem-Av, 5765 Playing chicken games with the crocks By Cal Thomas
Which brings us to Israel's forced removal of residents from Gaza. Israel is "Bond." The pieces of chicken represent land. The Palestinian/Arab/Muslim side are crocodiles. Get it? Most Westerners do not. Israel tosses pieces of land at the Palestinian side, but once it is consumed, the Palestinians only want more until their real objective — the consumption of Israel — is reached and their hunger satiated.
Reading and listening to the reaction of Muslim clerics, Palestinian leaders and others throughout the region to Israel's unilateral act offers little comfort to anyone with faith in a two-state "solution" consisting of Israel and a Palestinian entity living side-by-side in peace and harmony. That does not deter apostles of this false political doctrine from continuing to promote their flawed plan.
An editorial in London's Daily Telegraph represents this thinking: "The onus is now on (Palestinian Authority leader) Mahmoud Abbas ... Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Fatah Martyrs' Brigades and others of their ilk must be persuaded or compelled to abandon their arms in favor of peaceful political engagement."
That is unlikely to happen. Among the chants heard as Israeli soldiers forced their fellow Jews from their Gaza homes was, "We will continue with the rest of Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem, until we control all of Israel."
Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar, in an interview with the Arab newspaper Asharq Al Awsat, said, "We do not and will not recognize a state called Israel. ... This land is the property of all Muslims in all parts of the world. … Let Israel die." That's not the rhetoric of someone who yearns to live side-by-side in peace and harmony with an Israeli state.
The new president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has rejected democracy as un-Islamic. In a 7,000-word document presented to his parliament detailing his "short- and long-term programs," Ahmadinejad said that in a Muslim country power belongs to God. He said that not only will he fight any form of democratization in Iran, he would mobilize the nation's resources to prevent the United States from imposing its plan for self-determination on nations in the region.
While the U.S. has tried to avoid statements about a culture war, Ahmadinejad has no such reluctance. He speaks of a "clash of civilizations" between Islamic republics like Iran and Western "ideas and concepts of government" that he says have no place in Islam. The U.S. is a "sunset" power, he says, while the Islamic Republic is a "sunrise" one.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government says it won't negotiate with extremist organizations like Hamas, but only with elected leaders of the Palestinian Authority.
But what if Hamas supporters win seats in the announced Palestinian parliamentary elections in January? Even if they don't, the objectives of the Palestinian Authority are the same as organizations with which Israel will not negotiate.
They are all crocodiles. Tossing pieces of "chicken" in their direction will never satisfy them. They want it all. They say so, and their actions prove they are serious.
JWR contributor Cal Thomas is the author of, among others, The Wit and Wisdom of Cal Thomas Comment by clicking here.
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