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Some have even made the claim that Hamas is, more or less, an Israeli concoction. In fact, the accusation that Hamas was created by Israeli intelligence has become so commonplace that it often requires no serious substantiation. While the claim, as it stands, is erroneous, there is certainly a reason and history behind it. But was Hamas, in fact the work of the Israeli Mossad?

Yet, the Zionists were not about to rest on their laurels: their interests did not lie in making peace with the Arabs. The events of 1948 had demonstrated what they could achieve; with minor losses of their own, they had obliterated Palestinian society and handily beaten back the Arabs.

“The equation must change, and it is about to change,” said Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni shortly after the bombing of Gaza started on Saturday. “We cannot allow Gaza to remain under Hamas control,” she said. “Israel cannot allow Hamas to terrorise its citizens by firing Qassam rockets…. This cannot go on, we must change the equation and we are going to change it.”

This is in response to Mr. Patrick French’s piece “They Hate Us—and India Is Us,” published in the New York Times on December 8, 2008. The trouble with pieces like Mr. French’s (and mainstream western media is inundated with such voices) is that they only show half the picture. And then they wonder why after seven years into the “war on terror” we are arguably worse off than when we began.