Editor's Letter LINGERIE Battling Ultimate Barbarity from page A5 Celebrating 62 rears in Busine 265 S. Old Woodward • Birmingh — reminding the West it also was in Hamas' sight lines, the PMW reported. Gazan kids have become pawns in Hamas' vow to never surrender. No sooner did the PMW disclose the Palestinian legislature vote than Hamas issued a denial. But the PMW confirmed that official Hamas leaders proudly proclaimed in the Hamas-run news media that the Islamic penal code indeed was being prepared. Senior Hamas leaders declared the new laws similar to laws in Arab and Islamic states like Sudan, Yemen, Indonesia and United Arab Emirates. 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For a confidential assessment call: 1-800-523-8198 Visit us on the web at www.brightonhospital.org A6 January 8 • 2009 Alarming Strategy While cracking down on wayward Gazans even as it pelted southern Israel with rockets, keeping schools there closed, Hamas invigorated its propagan- da. It reinforced itself as the victim and portrayed Israelis as worthy of death. Images on Hamas television include pictures of Israeli skulls dripping with blood; the caption reads, "Let them taste violent death:' Hamas, of course, is equally willing to sacrifice its people, including kids, in its war with Israel by hiding forces in nurs- eries and hospitals and by developing new explosives and mortars at Islamic University. Gazans, including kids, are indoctrinated to believe dying for Allah, by serving as human shields for Hamas fighters, is brave. Hamas' current propaganda and rocket campaign should not be con- fused as the work of a ragtag militia, as the Jerusalem-based Shalem Center underscores. It's part of an ongoing war orchestrated by Tehran and stag- ing on multiple fronts: the Lebanon border, inside Israel, now Gaza. Make no mistake: Israel also is fighting Iran, a common enemy of the West and whose proxies Hezbollah and Hamas are as dangerous to the world order as Al Qaida. Hamas rockets now penetrate 25 miles or more into Israel; up to 1 million Israelis are in range. This is no time for meekness or an obligatory, temporary cease-fire; Israel can only pull back if its border is secure. The ultimate goal of all these enemies is Israel's obliteration. A weak Israel would be doomed. still has accommodated at least 20 wounded Palestinians, including three kids, who managed to elude Hamas border guards. Meanwhile, working with world relief groups and other governments, Israel has allowed more than 500 truckloads carrying 10,000 tons of food, medical supplies and other essentials as well as more than 105,000 gallons of fuel to enter Gaza. Israel also supplies 70 percent of Gaza's electric- ity. And Israel has dropped 800,000 leaflets printed in Arabic warning of pending air strikes so Palestinian civil- ians could flee if they wanted. Clearly, responsibility for any humanitarian crisis in Gaza should be laid directly on Hamas, which refuses to halt the rocket fire. Hamas holds not only Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit hostage, but also its people by stockpiling rocket launchers and arms caches in mosques, schools and apartment buildings, by expanding tunnel passages to smuggle arms from Egypt and by promoting sui- cide bombings, drive-by murders and shelling within Israel, thus daring an Israeli response in self-defense. Continued terror reinforces Hamas' refusal to renounce violence, recognize Israel as a sovereign state or accept past peace accords. Last week, a young Palestinian girl blamed Hamas, not Israel, for her 4-year-old sister's death in an Israeli air strike. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan all have placed blame for initiating the now 13-day- old conflict at Hamas' doorstep. The folly of a two-state solution, at least now, has been exposed. A Jewish and a Palestinian state existing peace- fully side by side would occur only if the Palestinian people themselves willed it by installing moderate leader- ship in all its sectors. Unfortunately, I see no evidence of that happening any time soon. Hamas represents the ulti- mate in terror. Fatah isn't much better; it talks up peace to Western leaders, but continues to incite hatred of Israel. Israel must stand against aggression and we must stand with Israel. The fate of the Jewish people, not just Israel, is under siege. Extending Aid Should Israel just with- stand constant rocket fire without retaliating? Embrace of "martyrdom" and the afterlife, and saving face, have com- pelled Hamas to stop Gazans from seeking treatment in Israel or Egypt in the wake of Operation Cast Lead. Israel Do the Palestinian people in Gaza have any real recourse to Hamas?