Why They Fight, and Why Israel’s War on Terror is Working. Two interesting articles from a politically conservative secular viewpoint on the real motivations behind Palestinian terrorism and the reason that Israel’s current course of action may actually be working.

Is it really a simplistic liberal fallacy to think that if Israel were to move for concessions and peace, then Palestinian victims of oppression would not resort to extremism? Is it indeed true that terrorism actually rises as movements are made towards greater peace? If so, that would definitely cause me to rethink my sympathy and support for the Palestinian underdog. Yet at the same time, outside of the more warlike Islamic factions who foment terror and suicide bombings, there are far more innocent Palestinian refugees and Israeli civilians who are perfectly willing to live and let live so long as they can go about their daily lives in peace, happiness, and harmony.

Of course, I, like many Americans, am grossly uninformed about the whole historical and political context of the region, and studying it only confuses me further, from having to deal with the maze of political and religious bias surrounding these issues. That’s when I get tempted to just advocate isolationism.