A recent cartoon by Kevin Kallagher of the Baltimore Sun highlights the Mideast “cycle of violence.” Kallagher’s “Middle East Perpetual Motion Machine” describes a circular relationship between two combatants, neither of whom constitutes its causal source:
But the Arab world’s rejection of Israel demonstrates that the violence isn’t really so circular. A more intuitive test refutes Kallagher as well: If Palestinian terror were to cease entirely, the IDF would certainly stop military action against Palestinians. The result: Total calm. If, on the other hand, the IDF were to disappear, there’s no doubt that Hamas and co. would continue to pursue their official charter, which calls for a jihad to “obliterate Israel” and “raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.” This is no circular “cycle,” but rather a linear assault upon Israel, which acts in pointed self-defense.
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