Ha’aretz publishes an op-ed that says the Arab war against Israel is ideological, not territorial. I think what he means is, “It’s the Islamism, stupid.”

Peres, who wrote enthusiastic articles in favor of the greater Land of Israel in a journal I edited, and Olmert, who collected signatures on a petition that stated “liberated territory will not be returned,” and later guarded the settlers at the Kaddum camp with me, should know very well that the main reason for the Arabs’ war against the Jews is ideological and not territorial, and that even a concession of 100 percent will not satisfy the Arabs.

This is why the 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon strengthened Hezbollah and not the moderates, and why Hamas, not Fatah, won control in free elections after 25 Israeli settlements were uprooted from the Gaza Strip.

If the conflict were territorial, a Palestinian state would have arisen in 1947 when the Jews greeted the partition plan with singing and dancing; certainly the Palestinians would have been prepared to accept the 1948 armistice lines as permanent borders. Ultimately they would have accepted - following an internal crisis, which they probably would not have overcome - the far-reaching concessions that prime minister Ehud Barak made to Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat in 2000.

But at the crucial moment, Arafat proved that even 96 percent of the territory, including the Temple Mount, was not his real goal. And now, with Hamas having won in free elections, will it accept less than Fatah would have?

The extent of the extremism can be seen through what is happening among the Arabs of Israel. A week ago, a delegation headed by Shawki Khatib, the chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, met Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and demanded he refrain from any agreement with Israel that is not acceptable to Hamas.

That would explain why every Muslim nation on earth would like to see Israel disappear.

The AJC got 300 heads of American colleges and universities to sign a statement against the U.K. academic boycott of Israel, and placed a full-page ad (PDF at the link) in the New York Times yesterday.

I’m proud to say that my alma mater, Montclair State University, is among those that signed the statement.

In one of the most unsurprising developments ever, the IDF arrested a Palestinian terrorist who signed the amnesty agreement—in the act of smuggling bullets. The surprising thing to me, though, is that they let him go. I suppose I should be more jaded than that, but I’m not.

The incident in question occurred on Wednesday at 8:30 pm when the IDF stopped what security sources said were four suspicious Palestinians entering the al-Badin checkpoint outside the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

Two Palestinians were immediately let go when it was determined they were civilians, but the two others - known Brigades members - were detained after they were found to be carrying large quantities of bullets security sources said were being smuggled from Jenin to Nablus.

According to security sources, one of the detained Brigades members - who normally resides in Jenin and had pledged to remain there another two months in line with the amnesty agreement - told the IDF repeatedly he was on Israel’s amnesty list and that arresting him would “blow up” relations with the PA.

After consulting with superiors, the IDF released the Brigades member on the amnesty list but arrested the other gunman.

Asked to comment, the IDF did not deny the incident:”We make our arrests in accordance with the directives of the political echelon and the different agreements with the PA,” said an IDF spokesperson.

An Israeli security official told WND this was not the first time Brigades members granted amnesty violated their agreement to refrain from terrorism. He said the military was aware of one incident last month in which a Brigades gunman on the list shot at Israeli forces.

“We now have a situation in which a terrorist organization has been given a get-out-of-jail-free card - literally,” the official fumed.

And the beat goes on. What’s old is new again. Same-old, same-old. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Tired of this crap yet?

Yeah, me too.

Olmert is proving to be the biggest moron since Shimon Peres. Oh, wait. Peres is now the President of Israel. I wonder if this shamnesty agreement was his idea?

Thus does a person with a moniker “Tim from Australia” title his opus in AlJazeera.com. He supports this revolutionary discovery by a following example of a brilliant historical review:

For sixty years, Arab countries have been offering peace deals to Israel and it always refuses to even negotiate.

That really got me thinking over these 60 years. In 1948 Arabs came out with a smasher of a peace offer, and Israel had the chutzpa to reject it disdainfully. In 1967 Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt invented a new, modified version of a peace offer, which was quite appealing too, and again the Israelis had the nerve to reject it. In 1973 Egypt and Syria came out with an even more modern, cutting edge technology offer that could have brought peace and prosperity forever to the Middle East, were they able to persuade the Israelis, who by that time have become totally recalcitrant.

And so it goes, Tim. Keep plugging, meanwhile…

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.