A complete and permanent truce is possible with the death of the mujahedin. Let the truce begin.

This is EXACTLY the reason why the Israelis have had no truck with the PA's "hudna" proposal- it's just a Mohammedan-sanctioned opportunity to buy the Islamists time during a period of weakness, to permit rearmament and future attack.

Seale is a naif- "the west must engage in a sincere dialogue with Islam in all its forms, including the most radical". What, a Kumbaya circle? The West would be decimated before the first verse was sung.

mayybe a sincere dialogue with a MOAB would work as far as hudna's or treaty's like hubidiniya [sp] are not worth the paper they are written on

The only dialogue is that of catechism to teach the Christian faith. The only resolution is baptism. The only peace is Christ.

Seale is not a naif. He is a long-time apologist for Arab fascism and radicalism. He is on the other side.

This strategy didn't work for Chamberlain. It didn't work during the cold war. It won't work now.

Patrick Seale, it has long been bruited about by those, in England, who have spent a long time in the Middle East, and followed Seale's louche activities, to have very close and very profitable ties with the regime of Hafez al-Assad, whose biographer he was. In this respect he is no different from a number of Western diplomats, especially in Saudi Arabia, nor from George Galloway, the recipient of Saddam Hussein's largesse, nor from Robert Fisk, whose assorted ties to various Arab regimes and causes are too boring to list. This is all part of the Islamintern International (a phrase that I think ought usefully to be employed -- based as it is on the model of the Comintern of memory).

Of course he would like us to give the Muslims, or rather the Muslim Arabs, what they want. There is not the slightest evidence that this will do anything except feed Muslim triumphalism, and in the case of throwing Israel to the wolves, it will also remove -- if the Israelis make still further concessions -- the excuse of darura, necessity, which allows some Arab regimes to explain to their own people why, for now, they cannot directly attack Israel. Further reduced in size, Israel becomes a much more inviting and plausible target, and most Arab countries would simply have to attack. And then, of course, those 200 nuclear weapons Israel has would, in the end, have to be used.

Incidentally, the BBC has two reporters from the Middle East, who slavishly follow the Arab Muslim line. One of them has the last name "Seale," the other is called "Caronline Hawley." I have long wondered if the first is the daughter of the notorious Patrick Seale, and if the second is by any chance the daughter of Donald Hawley, who has his own story with the Arabs. If so, my my.

The BBC, you will recall, has as its World Affairs Editor a certain John Simpson. Simpson is a key figure in the IslamIntern -- along with Edward Mortimer, Annan's chief speechwriter, and Mona Rishmawi, the Palestinian Arab behind Mary Robinson. Simpson has contributed an enthusastic introduction to one of those books about the U.S.-Israel conspiracy to "hush up" the attack on the U.S.S. Liberty -- please do look it up -- the kind of thing that has become the reason for living for so many of the wildest antisemites. Ca dit longue, John Simpson's involvement in this favorite treatment of the American antisemites' favorite topic -- why, he is just the man to run the BBC World Services.

So the next time you have to endure the sneers and snarls directed at Israel from Judy Swallow, Robin Lustig, et al -- do make sure to direct some of your ire at John Simpson, No. 3 at the BBC.

Hugh, you forgot the always "fair and balanced" Orla Guerin, wife of a Palestinian "militant." You can expect that her views are of course completely fair and objective when it comes to Israel.