Submitted by Hannah Givon, Feb 29, 2008 10:07

While rockets rain down on Sderot - 40 in one day and a young father of 4 is buried during the same week that a child in the city had a leg amputated as a result of the continuous daily Kassam attacks, the advice of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is that 'Hamas must stop its activities'!!! She insists that the 'cycle of violence' must stop!

The implication of Ms. Rice's statements illustrate her total lack of understanding of the conflict and how her solutions ring hollow. She does not accept that Hamas is a terrorist organization committed to the destrucion of Israel - a goal that the organization announces daily through words and actions. Describing the situation as a 'cycle of violence' is an attempt at moral equivalence that assigns blame to Israel whose daily casualties are added to a list decades old. Many Arabs are victims of their own leaders who have refused to take responsibility for their welfare and , instead, worship a culture of hate.

Ms. Rice must recognize her own part in today's violence. Her constant demands for more and more concessions by Israel while absolving the Arabs of their part have emboldened the enemy to carry out greater acts of violence , not less. Most dangerous was her insistence - over the voices of Israel's security officials- that the IDF abandon the Philadelphi Corridor and Rafah, thus creating easy passage for terrorists and heavy weapons between Egypt and the West Bank. This interference and coercion have reached a boiling point and the U.S. Secretary has managed to 'stir the pot' and bring the mess to the boiling point. Time to give up on that recipe!

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