All or nothing

Today, Der Spiegel's headline is: Israeli Forces Push into Gaza Strip. The story continues,

A hostage crisis has plunged relations between Israel and the Palestinian to the lowest point since Israel pulled troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip a year ago. Israeli tanks backed up by helicopters and artillery advanced into Gaza on Tuesday night to pressure Palestinian militants into releasing kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, 19.

Writing in Der Spiegel, Henryk M. Broder discusses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he tells us,

Now, however, the conflict has reached a new level. The Israeli withdrawal from Gaza last summer has more than anything motivated militant Palestinians to demonstrate to Israel that the conflict is not primarily about territory, the end of the occupation and the return to the 1967 borders. Rather, it's about all or nothing. It's about the control, not the division, of the region between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

... And the Israelis? Those who believed that unilateral action and the construction of a fence would result in the security that negotiations have been unable to provide are now being confronted with the bitter reality. Fences and walls cannot provide absolute security -- and no matter how high such barriers are, they can still be dug under.

... The Europeans are once again trying to whitewash things. One hears a lot these days about the so-called "prisoners' document" -- that mysterious paper in which representatives from Hamas and Fatah have agreed on a common position on Israel. It is said to be nothing less than an "indirect recognition" of Israel.

Two weeks ago, Der Spiegel interviewed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Hayineh. He was more interested in getting invited, by German Chancellor Merkel, to the World Cup games. When Hayineh asked what he had to do to get tickets, Der Spiegel replied he had to recognize Israel's right to exist. Not surprisingly, Hayineh decided he'd rather watch the games on television.

Today, Broder reminds us,

One shouldn't forget that the PLO was founded in 1964 with the goal of freeing Palestine fromm the Zionists -- three years prior to the Six Day War when Gaza was still under Egyptian control and the West Bank was part of Jordan.

... The only difference between Hamas and Fatah ... is the question of how Israel should be defeated: either militarily or through the implementation of a "right of return" policy. Israel therefore has the choice as to whether it is wiped from the map either in battle, or by peaceful means.

... For this reason a "ceasefire" is the most Hamas is prepared to offer Israel, which the Europeans insist on misinterpreting as the first step towards recognition. Rather, it's merely a tactical pause in the war against Israel.