I was more than a bit surprised to read in Mr. Feldman's article  that Palestinnians promised that Gaza would be peaceful if the Israelis withdrew. To the best of my recollection, the Gaza withdrawal was a unilateral move on the part of Israel aimed at giving Palestinians a chance to show that they can peacefully govern themselves in the absence of "occupation," thus providing the proof of concept of a peaceful Palestinian state dedicated to the welfare of its citizens and coexistence with Israel, and to justify the "de-occupation" of the West bank that was in the works. The opponents of the move predicted that it will be perceived as a retreat under fire, and so will only invite further fire to ensure further retreats.   The events proved the skeptics right, and the Israeli government - and those encouraging it - to have been wrong. While Palestinians were...(Read Full Post)