Everyone regrets the death and injury of Palestinian civilians, especially the Israelis. It is something on which all civilized people can agree. As former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir said, “We don’t hate you for killing our children. We hate you for forcing us to kill your children.”

The root of the problem in the Middle East is militant Islam, which is more interested in spilling Jewish blood and “wiping Israel off the map” than advancing the interests of its own people or finding peaceful solutions. Their war is not about national determination, but religious fanaticism.

Behind this destructive movement is Iran, which is funding and training terrorism in the region. Meanwhile, much of the liberal media around the world is playing into the efforts of Hamas to gain public sympathy by using Palestinian citizens as human shields to demonize the Israelis, who are only responding to the 3,000 rockets and mortar attacks since 2007 carried out Hamas, which is constantly increasing its artillery power and range. The media often fails to recognize that Israel’s only objective is national security. Past Israeli concessions to the Palestinians, including giving up territory, has been rewarded with additional acts of Arab terrorism against the Jewish state. Additionally, media and popular reference to Israeli genocide and Zionist imperialism is deplorable in its reference to the Holocaust and its playing on age-old anti-semetic canards. Historially and politically, this matter is exceedingly complex. Pandering to the general public’s demand for emotional and simple explanations, the liberal media often distorts the truth about this situation.

At this time, Israel has to draw a hard line. Those who believe Israel is likely to fold need to bear in mind that these people have been hardend by thousands of years of persecution and fight for survival, meanwhile making signficant economic and intellectual contributions to every country they settle. The Holocaust wiped out a third of the Jews in the world. Jews will not run anymore. For them, this is the endgame.

The immediate hope for a peaceful future is in the hands of moderate and enlightened Muslims who will reject terrorism, will not celebrate the spilling of Jewish blood or the blood of their own people, and will value life above martydom. I think it is fair to say that the Islamic leader who can successfully gather this movement will most assuredly be celebrated by people of peaceful religions for all history going forward.

Sadly, the Palestinian people elected Hamas, and they are suffering terribly from its policies.