Hizbullah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, speaking via satellite to a crowd gathered in Beirut asked an interesting question (and provided an even more interesting answer):

Can Israel disappear? A thousand times, yes.

Now, it’s true that the Jewish people have been cast from their homeland a few times, so perhaps the seeming discrepancy in Nasrallah’s logic isn’t so off-kilter after all. A thousand times, though?

The content of his speech, however, remains disgusting and fanatical no matter how you look at it. Nasrallah has shown himself to be little more than Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s mouthpiece and finger-puppet.

The two men certainly have their similarities. Nasrallah has said of the Jewish people:

If they (Jews) all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide. (Daily Star, Oct. 23, 2002)

and

If we searched the entire world for a person more cowardly, despicable, weak and feeble in psyche, mind, ideology and religion, we would not find anyone like the Jew. Notice, I do not say the Israeli. (New Yorker, Oct. 14, 2002)

Ahmadinejad’s rhetoric is less direct, but equally as virulent and reproachful. Of the Holocaust he has said that:

they have concocted a myth of deprivation and innocence for the Jews of Europe. They use this pretext of the innocence of Jews and the suffering of some Jews during the Second World War. Riding on the crest of a wave of anti-Jewish sentiments, they have laid the foundations for the Zionist regime.

Both of these cowards are heroes to many in the Islamic world. This is the sad state of affairs that the Muslim world faces. Their leaders are not only ignorant, they propagate terror, murder and genocide. Not content to wield power over the rest of the Middle-East, they must possess the tiny Jewish homeland as well. Having only the two Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina, not to mention the countless other Islamic sites that dot the region, they must also control Jerusalem, the historically Jewish Holy City. Islam is a much younger religion than Judaism, and any claims that religion makes to Jerusalem can in no way supercede the Jews’ claims.

For some reason, the Arabs feel they have more of a right to the Jewish homeland than the Jews themselves. This has nothing to do with Zionist tyranny or fascism as the Islamists and sympathizers call it. Muslims enjoyed more freedom and more prosperity under a Jewish State than under any of their oppressive regimes like Saudi Arabia or Syria.

No, this is Antisemitism and Islamism combined. Islamism is a factor all over the Middle-East. Lebanon, which is heavily populated with Christians, is constantly under Syria’s control, with hired thugs like Nasrallah leading the continued campaign of fear and control. Christians, however, make much less appealing targets than Jews. Antisemitism is far more prevalent, and the concept of Zionism allows men like Ahmadinejad free reign to spew their hatred without actually saying that they hate Jews. One word replaces the other.

No, if Israel were a Christian nation the Arab governments would still try to destroy it–however they would meet with much stiffer world resistance from the rest of the world. Fortunately for Iran, Syria and the terrorists, they have the Jews to target instead, and two thousand years of worldwide animosity toward a people whose homeland was wrenched from them so long ago. Unfortunately for these States and the terrorists they sponsor–they sponsor terrorists because their attempts at actually attacking Israel militarily have been constant embarrassments–Israel has proved far more resilient than they hoped. The Israelis have turned out to be much stronger and much more strong-willed than the Arabs thought.

“The Zionists are the true manifestation of Satan” the Iranian President has told the world. He and his puppet, Nasrallah, and the terrorists they control are sure to fight Israel to the death (though surely not their own death, nor even the death of Iranians–they use pawns and so-called Palestinians to do their dirty work). There is no peace for such men. In another speech, Ahmadinejad said:

Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented

Are these the words of a man seeking peace? No, these are the words of a man seeking a cease-fire and a bit of breathing room to build up arms in Gaza and the West Bank. After all, if the end goal is the “elimination of the Zionist regime” aka Israel, then why should he want a cease-fire?

To re-arm and re-deploy terrorists, plain and simple.

It’s time the Israeli government, and the American government, woke up to the scary reality of the enemy. These are Hitler’s heirs, bent on the eventual destruction of Israel, and the elimination of the Jews. “If they (Jews) all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide” Nasrallah said. And he means it.

The question is, will we let him get his wish, or will we stop the half-measures and ill-named “peace talks” and move on to a stronger policy? Will we allow the terrorism and rocket-fire to continue, broken only during “cease-fires” that allow the enemy to gather their strength or will we move toward a policy of overwhelming and nonnegotiable strength?

Sometimes the only way to save life and preserve the peace is to defeat the enemy once and for all, and leave them no room to continue their killing. Not through talks with liars like the men who lead Hamas. Only when the killing stops and the terrorists are broken will retaliation no longer be necessary. Only then can peace be achieved.