Who are the terrorists? Steve Argue would say that the Israeli government is the terrorist. The Israeli people would say that Hamas, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the PLO, Islamic Jihad, and any of a dozen other Palestinian terror groups are the terrorists.

So what do peace advocates in Santa Cruz say?

If you are truly an advocate for peace, then you advocate based on the following criteria:

1) Violence is only justified in the cases of self-defense or the defense of others.

2) Violence should only be used as a last resort.

3) Without justice, there can be no peace

If you look at the history and behavior of the Palestinian people and the Israeli people, you will find that in Israel, they greet each other by saying "Shalom" which means Peace in Hebrew.

Among the Palestinians, the highest honor is to be a (dead)martyr for the cause of Jihad. The word Sa'laam which is often translated as meaning peace actually means surrender to Allah, so it is not in any way intended as meaning peace to Jews or Christians.

In Judaism, any of its 613 laws can be broken to save a life, since life has the highest value.

The Palestinians encourage their own children to throw rocks at tanks, and to strap on explosives and commit suicide in order to kill Jewish civilians.

Terrorists maim and kill. They never "accidently" kill civilians. But their bigger purpose is to shock and scare a much larger population into some sort of political concession. Terror is no different than holding a gun up to a bank teller's head and saying "Give me all your money." No more noble. No more moral. It is wrong to extort cooperation from a person or a people.

Now Steve will only point at Israel's well-trained and armed IDF forces, and its apparent possession of nuclear weapons as evidence that Israel is "extorting" concessions from the Palestinians.

Look back up to 1) violence is justified in self-defense and the defense of others. If Israel wasn't armed to the teeth, do you really think the Arabs would allow them to continue to live peacably behind the green line? Before much of the security fence went in, the IDF was repelling an average of 21 terror attacks or attempted attacks a day. So Israel's self-defense claim is substantiated. Does anyone here think that Israel is NOT being attacked 21 times a day?

Am I anti-Palestinian for speaking out against the use of terror? Am I anti-Palestinian for saying people shouldn't get their kids to fight their battles for them? Am I anti-Palestinian if I think they should have an election every five years for a five-year term?

Am I anti-Palestinian if I say that the Jewish people have a right to the land of Israel. A land they have had a continuous presence on for the past 3,300 years?

Am I anti-Palestinian if I have grave doubts about Steve Argue's proposal for a secular democratic state since it would be run by the same people who brought you the Palestinian Authority? Wouldn't it likely bring the same results -- desparate economy, violent and dangerous, widespread corruption, lack of rights for women and gays, run by leaders who get "elected" once and then stay in office until they die?

If I simply look at the basic living conditions for the Palestinian people--- the unemployment rate, what kind of housing they have, how many are homeless, what kind of health care they get, what kind of education are they getting, etc. then the sheer weight of the evidence shows that the Palestinians had it best just before Arafat signed the Oslo accords. So the best they ever had it was when Israel occupied the territories, and administered them with their own mini-Marshall plan from 1967 to 1993.

Don't take my word for it. Gentlemen, fire up your google search engines!

Peace advocates in Santa Cruz should support Israel. For Israel most closely embodies the prinicipals of using violence only as a last resort and only in self-defense. Israel grants more rights than any Arab country so Israel is fundamentally more just than Palestinian society where you are rewarded for being a mass murderer.

If you are pro-Palestinian then you should be against terror.