PLEASE HELP ME UNDERSTAND THIS...

I am baffled!  I just don't get it!  After Israeli civilians are brutally murdered by a cell that entered Israel from the Egyptian Sinai belonging to The Popular Resistance Committees, a loosely held Gaza-based terror group with clear ties to the Hamas, Israel retaliates by rapidly organizing a surgical strike on the leader of the PRC's military wing.  He and several of his henchmen were killed...forestalling perhaps in some small way future attacks on innocent Israeli lives.  The tragedy was that, unbeknownst to the Israelis, these savages who ordered the attack that murdered 8 innocent civilian lives had a 9-year old child with them…even after it was well known that Israel had targeted them for retaliation.  Why was a 9-year old child with these known terrorists who were attempting to hide from the IDF?

Nabil Shaath and Saeb Erekat, senior PA members CONDEMNED ISRAEL for, of all things, using these attacks in an attempt to thwart the PA's statehood bid and WARNED ISRAEL that there will be consequences of any reprisal against the terrorists.

There is an old Hebrew word: CHUTZPAH - meaning "insolence", "audacity", and "impertinence"!  Believe me, we all wish that ALL the killing would stop (at least Israelis and those non-Israelis who have any veneer of sanity).  We all wish that everyone could live in peace in this Holy Land.  But, as long as those who are the vilest of individuals continue to INTENTIONALLY attack the innocent, there is no opportunity for such a dream.  Any attempt at creating even a semblance of moral equivalency between what the terrorists did and the attempt at focused retaliation by the IDF is not only a prevarication, but absolutely unconscionable.

What is mind-boggling to me is the audacity of the PA leadership to instantly turn this around and vilify Israel's retaliatory response with no attempt at framing the issue at all by the murderous rampage of their fellow “Palestinians”.  Please, help me understand this.  And to think, the red carpet is being laid out as we speak for entrance into the hall of shame known as the United Nations for these impenitent so-called leaders.  There is NO JUSTIFICATION for the cowardly and senseless murder of innocent civilians, no matter what the cause.  There is EVERY JUSTIFICATION for the attempt at an immediate and precise response by those who are called to protect the innocent while making every attempt at minimizing collateral injury.

We should never stop praying for the Peace of Jerusalem...and I never will.  But, how can there be faithful and expectant negotiations for a true and lasting peace with a non-partner such as this?  There is no fathomable attempt at logic that can create a foundation for negotiations with this kind of mind-set - NONE.  Hence, unless there is a fundamental...and I mean a deeply principled and axiomatic alteration in the dogma and moral fiber of the general Arab population of this region AND its leaders, it seems to me impossible without some miraculous intervention for anything approaching peace and security to be established today.

It is sickening.  It is disgusting.  And, what's worse is that, if you look at the worldwide press, there is a clear minimization of the terrorist attack with clear mounting anti-Israel sentiment as a result of their very appropriate and ethically substantive response.

The Y-NET article on the Palestinian Authority's derisory rhetoric follows:

Shaath: Israel's madness will not deter us

Expressing sharp criticism of IDF response to Thursday's terror attacks, senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath says Israel bears full responsibility for escalation, consequences: 'This is war crime'

Elior Levy

Published: 08.19.11, 13:58 / Israel News

Following Israel's assassination of two senior members of the Popular Resistance Committees' military wing on Thursday, senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath expressed sharp criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza.

According to Shaath, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is interested in military escalation in the Strip in a bid to divert attention from the socio-economic crisis in Israel.

He further accused Israel of seeking regional escalation in order to torpedo Palestinian efforts vis-à-vis the United Nations in September. "Israel's madness will not deter the Palestinian leadership from appealing to the UN, the opposite is true, and it will push the leadership to work harder in its efforts."

In a press release on Friday Shaath alleged that Israel was looking for an excuse to carry out collective punishment against the Palestinian people saying: "This is a war crime aimed at causing efforts by the Palestinian Authority and other factions to avoid armed conflict to fail.
Shaath has called on the international community to act swiftly to stop what he calls "Israeli aggression". He further noted that Israel bears full responsibility for what is happening and the consequences that could drag the entire region into the unknown.

The Fatah Foreign Relations Commission stated that since the escalation, Shaath has held deliberations with foreign officials "in order to explain the truth about what is happening and explain the aims behind Israel's aggression against Gaza".
The Hamas interior ministry in Gaza announced that it is prepared for any new Israeli military escalation in the Gaza Strip. Ministry spokesman Ihab al-Rasin said that "the interior ministry and the security forces are prepared to deal with any Israeli escalation.

"In spite of the occupation's attempt to bring us to our knees – we will not raise the white flag. We promise our people that we are not afraid of the threats and will remain steadfast on our land."