HERE’S A GREAT POST from Slate’s “The Fray,” the place where so many webloggers, including me, got their start:

The group that sends a message, “You can trust no one in our population not to kill you,” sends the message, “Unless you get rid of all of us, you will die.” This is very dangerous; it’s an invitation to genocide.

On the one hand, the people of Palestine seem to be saying that they have nothing to lose. This sends a message to the world to look at their situation. This is a definite benefit to them.

On the other hand, the people of Palestine also seem to be counting on Israel’s personal morality (or at least Israel’s need to appear moral before the world) not to commit genocide. They seem to be saying that the people of Israel will bow to world pressure and not wipe them out. At the very least, the message is that Israel is a good enough world citizen to follow certain rules of civilization.

There is another dangerous element to this for the people of Palestine. What if they are wrong? What if Israel says, “Damn world opinion. It’s us or them, so it’s going to be us”?

(Via Best of the Fray).