When Israel unilaterally decided to leave Gaza it was under no illusion about the outcome for peace in the region. It simply wouldn’t happen because most Palestinians and some of their neighbours want the destruction of Israel more than they want peace. As long as that is their agenda they will be victims of their own hatred.

So the “government” of Gaza has decided that it will turn off the power station because Israel has closed its borders and some oil supplies can’t get through. Palestinian children are made to march in the street in protest for the cameras. American and Israeli flags are being burned as usual. Now there’s a great business! Flag making and selling in those countries is a thriving enterprise, that’s for sure.

Mind you there is still 70% of power going to Gaza from Israel since Hamas only switched off 30% of it, so all this performance about being in the dark is untrue. Gaza has power but Hamas is grandstanding once again. As I always say, they should be nominated for the Oscars in the category of propaganda.

All this could be a non-issue if Hamas stopped bombing Israel. Every day, numerous rockets are being fired on the town of Sderot in Israel. Hamas states that it has no intention of stopping and will not stop until Israel is destroyed.

There appears to be not a single Palestinian who has the courage to tell Hamas to stop shooting. So this will go on and Hamas doesn’t give a hoot how many of its own people suffer.

So why should Israel give a hoot if Hamas doesn’t? Israel has already withdrawn from that territory. It has been permitting oil and other supplies to come into what is actually enemy territory.

Is there any other nation in the world who is supposed to give supplies to a nation that has declared unequivocally that it wants to destroy it? Did Australia offer arms to Germany and Japan during the war and worse still, was it expected to? For crying out loud, when somebody threatens to kill you you have the right, the duty, to defend yourself.

The fence/ barrier/ wall is exactly what it purports to be- a barrier against the onslaught of the Palestinians who want to blow up Israelis. When those Lebanese/ Australian hoodlums kept on harassing Aussie girls at Cronulla Beach a couple of years ago, Aussie men decided they weren’t going put up with this sort of threat and came out on mass to protect their women. The Lebanese burned cars and attacked solitary walkers but in the end they were scared off. What is it about Arabs that they feel a compulsion to burn vehicles as they do also in France?

Imagine if this a daily threat as it is in Israel. Wouldn’t you do everything to protect yourself?

Well, the people responsible for the construction of the barrier are the Palestinians. The people who are responsible for the misery in Gaza are the Palestinians. The people who can solve the problem by stopping the firing of the rockets into Israel are the Palestinians.

I marvel at Israel’s patience. I can’t think of any other country that has had to put up with so much aggression and been expected to do nothing about it.

The solution is simple. Stop the shooting at Israelis. Perhaps then, your own people will start to have a normal life. There can be no peace in the Middle East as long as Israel is threatened.