cycle of violence

murderers.

No amount of fencing, no amount of military invasion, no amount of restrictions or blockades or sanctions, will stop those determined to carry out evil, short of shutting down all freedom, all mobility, all openness of society.

What is needed is a "domino theory" for the conflict - a relaxation of barricades, massive economic aid and cooperation, joint civic projects, and investment from Israel to the occupied territories. All settlements need to be frozen. The road systems that feed them need to be opened to all traffic. The vast labor pool of the Palestinians must be tapped in one direction, the vast manufacturing and consumer industries of the Israelis must be allowed into the Palestinian market. The cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa must dine on fruits and wheat grown by Arabs, and Arabs must watch television programs and wear wrist watches and carry cell phones manufactured by Jews.

What is needed is an Israeli Marshall Plan to the Palestinians. Whatever meager soup kitchens and minor payments that Hamas makes to enekmies of peace, Israel can match or exceed. Buy the loyalty of the common Palestinian prole. Drown the bullets of Islamic Jihad under an avalanche of toys and candy. Donate textbooks (carefully selected from American printers) and build schools, and give all Palestinian children a new backpack and a few colorful pens.

America shoudl match this spending dollar for dollar.

And watch the swamp evaporate into nothingness, without any draining needed...

UPDATE: Ha'aretz analysis:

For every incident in which the IDF kills a wanted man, quick revenge will result.

On Tuesday night, even before the official announcement was released, it was easy to guess that the Islamic Jihad would announce it was vengeance promised by the organization for the killing of Jihad leader Mohammed Sidr in Hebron last week.

Israel's goal in the coming week will be to break these new rules of the game, and to prevent a situation in which every attempted arrest of a wanted man that goes wrong brings the burned buses back to the streets of the major cities.

of course, the only way to break those rules is to break the cycle. The targeted assassinations must end. The settlements must be dismantled (not just a water tank on a hill, but teh real settlements that even now continue to grow wildly).

The attack in Jerusalem is going to force all the sides toward a decision: Halt the deterioration and put the road map back on track - or to allow escalation that will lead to the collapse of the Abbas government and a renewed Israeli occupation of the West Bank's cities - and possibly Gaza.