Even Foreign Secretary of Great Britain, Jack Straw, appears to subscribe to a similar view as he ventured into the region this week. While denying a Guardian report that he was the senior foreign office source who called Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a "cancer" on the Middle East, he nevertheless expressed understanding for terrorism in the region. "I understand that one of the factors contributing to the growth of terror is the anger of many people in the region about the incidents in recent years in Palestine." Condemning the drive-by killing of an Israeli woman by Palestinians, Straw rationalized that "there is an obvious need to understand the environment in which terrorism breeds… that is why the international community is so concerned to see a lasting peace in the Middle East."

Variations on this view are implied and insinuated and suggested by the news media. Why is America hated, they innocently ask, and the answer often seems to come around, one way or another to U.S. support for Israel. If only, some pundits suggest, the West would eliminate "double standards" in the Mideast, it would have no terror, no problem with the Arabs or Islam, and unlimited access to oil (at OPEC market rates, of course). The small price to pay, some suggest, include cutting ("excess") aid to Israel, passing anti-Israeli ("even-handed") UN resolutions, ending U.S. sale of ("anti-civilian") weapons to Israel and possibly eliminating the alleged Israeli nuclear capability (in the name of "non-proliferation" and leveling the playing field).

Pressuring America to reduce support for Israel and vacate Saudi Arabia are the two key strategic demands of bin Laden in fighting what he calls the "Jewish-Christian crusader campaign." His violent approach dovetails with the diplomatic efforts of the Arab League, the GCC, and some Europeans, whose representatives say, "well, terrorism is terrible, but you need to understand…." Just as bin Laden commandeered American jets to destroy American buildings and kill American citizens, some of Israel's enemies -- aided by rehabilitated Arab coalition partners and European sympathizers - seem intent on hijacking the mobilization against terror and diverting it to apply stronger diplomatic pressure against Israel.

The supine spirit of Durban, so unceremoniously disturbed by the walkout of America and Israel (in a brilliant show of moral spine), is to be resurrected by redirection of the "War against Terror" into a War against Israel. They seek to transform Jewish State into a terror state, Zionism into a racist notion, Israel into a Nazi nation, richly deserving of sanction, boycott, and war crimes tribunals. All we are asking for is justice and fairness, they will say, and that means an immediate and even-handed solution to the Israeli problem. Listen to how media commentators and correspondents constantly press interviewees for enunciation of some variation on this formula. They prefer not to say it themselves, dare not yet utter the punchline. The real issue, revealed in the aftermath of Camp David, is no longer Israel's borders but Israel's right to persist in any borders.

George W. Bush set a powerful moral example in his recent speech to a joint session of Congress. In language more forceful than anything previously uttered by an American President, he asserted that the enemies of civilization "want to drive Israel out of the Middle East" and "drive Christians and Jews out of vast regions of Asia and Africa." Most Americans know in their gut that trust in Arab dictators, in league with barbaric terrorists, is a recipe for certain betrayal. They recognize Israelis as fellow democrats, fighters of terror, brothers in arms. They understand that civilized nations are defending themselves against the onslaught of radical Islam, which foments holy war wherever it reaches, from Albania to Algeria, Bosnia to Beirut, Kabul to Khartoum. And yet by excluding Palestinian terror groups from criticism in that speech, and by appealing to terror-supporting states like Iran and Syria to join the global anti-terrorism, the President muddied the clarity of his strong position against the global terror network.

The U.S.-led coalition now faces a tremendous moral test as its enemies -- and some of its allies -- seek to pervert its mission, dilute its resolve, and divert its attention from the goal that should preoccupy every sentient soul on this planet: how to prevent terrorists who know no moral limits from destroying civilization as we know it. Pressuring Israel to make concessions at this time, or promising to "deliver it" later, risks sending a message that terrorism works, and mega-terror works best. This is not to say that the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks should be frozen indefinitely, or that a constructive U.S. or European role should be abandoned. However, a "Straw" house that offers only "understanding" for terrorist motivations without coming to grips with Israel's legitimate security concerns is likely to collapse the next time bin Laden (or a local terrorist) huffs and puffs - and blows something else down.

The world now faces a war forced upon civilization by the sneak attack of kamikaze terrorists shielded by a global terror. When the masks of hypocrisy are stripped away, it is a war of radical Islam, supported by a motley crew of multinational apologists, against the twin towers of traditional Judeo-Christian moral and social values. This is why the United States and the Jewish State are prime targets for terror: the U.S. because it champions individual liberty and democracy worldwide, Israel because it is the sole outpost of these values in the neighborhood, a military and economic success -- thus a mortal threat and a humiliation to the manhood of all freedom-suppressing dictators and submission-seeking sheiks and mullahs and ayatollahs.

A war has been launched by those who believe in suicide bombing as an instrument of diplomatic policy. The "neutral" diplomats who now seek to pressure Israel to appease the terrorists or exploit the opportunity for "peace" are playing in harmony with bin Laden. As President Bush put it, you are either with the terrorists or against them. You "understand" terror or you fight it.

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