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The Dangers of Political Islam
by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen
 Political Islam is many things: totalitarian, aggressive, conquering, cocksure about its superiority and destiny to rule, intolerant, bristling with resentment, and only tenuously in touch with aspects of reality. But what marks it most distinctively are two things: its religious consecration of its tenets, emotions, and goals, which are putatively grounded in Allah's will and to which slavish devotion is due; and its cult of death, which produces its extreme danger and has three central components. Political Islam resembles the international communist movement in its heyday. (The New Republic)
Potential for Escalation - Editorial
 The continued firing of Kassam rockets at the northern Negev and Ashkelon does not bode well. Life in communities near the Gaza border has become intolerable, and the moment the rockets exact a price in human life, the government will no longer be able to make do with the limited response of artillery and aerial bombardment. The Kassam launches have a potential to inflame the situation: They could cause the Israel Defense Forces to return to Gaza. (Ha'aretz)
Putting 'Palestine' on the Map?
by Hilary Leila Krieger
 "Unfortunately, Israel often concedes the struggle over terminology and then pays the price in negotiations later," asserts Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the UN. He points to the widespread application of the phrase "occupied territories" rather than "disputed territories" to the West Bank and Gaza. (Some argue the same is true of using even the latter designation rather than "Judea" and "Samaria.") (Jerusalem Post)
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Underwriting Hamas - Editorial
America cannot bankroll a Hamas government that preaches and practices terrorism, denies that Israel has any right to exist, and refuses to abide by peace agreements signed by previous Palestinian governments. That should be blindingly obvious. America is engaged in a global armed struggle against terrorism. It is firmly allied with Israel and is committed to Israel's survival. (New York Times)
What's Needed from Hamas
by Henry A. Kissinger
 The advent of Hamas brings us to a point where the peace process must be brought into some conformity with conditions on the ground. The old game plan that Palestinian elections would produce a moderate secular partner cannot be implemented with Hamas in the near future. What would be needed from Hamas is an evolution comparable to Sharon's. The magnitude of that change is rarely adequately recognized. (Washington Post)
Surviving Members of "Stern Gang" Reject Comparisons with Hamas
by Murray Richtel
 Some analysts draw a parallel between Hamas and LEHI, yet the old fighters I interviewed were outraged at the comparison. They insist that the perceived parallel ignores the most critical and morally significant distinction between the two groups: Only Hamas uses indiscriminate terror against women and children as a regular instrument of war, and encourages its followers to commit acts of martyrdom to aid its cause. The writer was a district court judge in Boulder from 1977 to 1996. (Daily Camera-Boulder, CO)
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