Imagine a world in which a democratic nation surrounded by hostile enemies is attacked daily by rockets and mortars aimed at its civilian centers.  Then, after enduring months of assaults of increasing intensity, the besieged nation responds with surgical strikes directed at the sources of the attacks.  In response to these defensive measures, thousands of people from dozens of nations rally to condemn the democracy.  Its flag is trampled and set ablaze.  Its expatriates are mocked and attacked.  The wounds of historical injustices are re-opened.

Hard to imagine, isn’t it?

It’s happening right now in the Middle East, of course, where Israel has once again been cast in the role of evil villain oppressing the defenseless Palestinians in the tragic play that is the war in Gaza.

Ever since Hamas ended its ceasefire with Israel (a ceasefire to which it never fully adhered) and ever since Israel finally responded, much of the so-called “world community” has strongly, and often violently, condemned Israel.  A burning car was driven into a synagogue in southern France, where an arson attempt was thwarted.   A Jewish congregation was attacked in Stockholm, Sweden, where demonstrators attempted to burn down the Israeli embassy.

In Denmark, two Jewish men survived being shot by Muslim youths who had taunted them for months with verbal and physical assaults, once shouting “slaughter all the Jews.”  In Athens 5,000 pro-Palestinian protestors demonstrated in front of the Israeli embassy.  Some threw stones and fire bombs at police.

In Britain, the Community Security Trust, a Jewish group, said it had seen a rise in anti-Semitic incidents since the war in Gaza, 20-25 incidents in the past week alone, including an attempted arson on a synagogue in London.  Protestors in Holland chanted “gas the Jews.”  Other anti-Israel protests have taken place in Antwerp, Paris, Madrid, Cologne, Moscow and elsewhere.

In America, hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators took to the streets in Tampa, Florida.  Some shouted, “Bring back the ovens,” at Jewish counter-protestors.

Such outrage stems in part from Israel’s so-called “disproportionate” response to months of Hamas attacks.  But what exactly would the international community have Israel do?  Give up more land?  That’s been tried in Gaza, from which Hamas now launches its attacks.

Should Israel simply put up with the daily attacks that hold it hostage?  It is becoming increasingly clear that much of the international community believes as the Hamas charter clearly states, that Israel ought to cease to exist altogether.

Hamas has held southern Israel hostage in the year and a half since it took over in Gaza. But it has also destroyed the lives of its 1.5 million subjects.  In fact, Gaza’s economic plight has gone from bad to worse under Hamas rule.  Most Gazans rely on food handouts from international organizations, and 97 percent of Gaza industry has shut down for lack of raw materials.  Nearly half of the work force is unemployed, including tens of thousands of factory workers. Fuel shortages regularly cause hours-long power outages, and most businesses have been forced to shut down.

In a revealing development, physicians have noticed a disturbing trend of drug use among Gaza youths since Hamas took over. In an attempt to deal with the anxiety and stress of life under a terrorist regime, up to a third of young Gaza men have become addicted to pain-killers.

To listen to Hamas and its apologists is to believe that its failures are the fault of the Israeli embargo.  But the embargo would be lifted if Hamas simply stopped attacking Israel.

A major reason why so many more Palestinians than Israelis have been killed is that Israel puts its people’s safety first and has developed a sophisticated system of bomb shelters and warning systems to protect them.  In contrast, Hamas has done nothing to protect its people.  In fact, as has been noted, Hamas hides among its civilians so that more Palestinians die and so that Hamas can use those deaths as propaganda to cultivate sympathy across the globe.

The Islamists, who have stated clearly and repeatedly that they value death as much as the West values life, have no qualms about killing their own people for the sake of propaganda.  That is why they send women, children and even persons with disabilities out to do their bidding as homicide bombers.

It is fair to say that the Israeli military values the lives of Palestinians more than Hamas does, a fact that is evident by Israel’s routinely warning Palestinians before striking civilian areas where terrorists are hiding or stashing weapons.

Regime change is a prerequisite to peace in Gaza.  While the Hamas leadership was democratically elected, not all democratically-elected leaders (see: Hitler, Adolf) are legitimate.  Hamas’s mission is to wipe Israel off the map, and it has done nothing to show it is willing to deviate from that goal.

But, amid the devastation, there may be a glimmer of hope in Gaza. In June, a brave Gaza shop owner, put out of his business by the poor economic conditions, perhaps spoke for others as he lamented Hamas’s presence.  Speaking to a New York Times reporter, he said, “Everything that has happened here has been a terrible mistake.  It is a mistake for Islamist to get into power.  But what can we do?  Hamas is even stronger than a year ago.  They can take me and put me away whenever they want.”

This week, amid reports of dead and injured civilians in Gaza, reporters quoted a mother of a teenage girl whose body was cut in half in the fighting.  “May God exterminate Hamas!” she screamed.

If it is possible for any good to come of the war in Gaza, perhaps we can hope that discerning Palestinians begin to realize that their hope for a better future does not rest with the jihadists and their promises of another Holocaust.  Until and unless that day comes, Israel must, and will, defend itself.

Jimmy Carter is back in the news, this time promoting the cause of his newest friends - Hamas - otherwise known as “thugs incorporated.” Carter went on The Today Show earlier this week and told Meredith Viera that yes, “some people” think Hamas is a terrorist group but he believes they can be trusted. After all, Carter assured her, they never broke any promise they made to him.

The Today Show interview was only the latest in a Carter media offensive whose purpose is to get us to buy his latest book, bash Israel and accept Hamas as peace partners. A few days ago, Carter had a guest editorial in The Washington Post in which he referred to the weapon smuggling tunnels dug by Hamas in Gaza as “defensive” only!

The former president is a walking disaster when it comes to the Middle East. If you want to know what Hamas is all about, click the video below, to hear their own leaders speak.

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Diplomats in the United States and all over Europe are demanding that Hamas, winner of last week’s Palestinian elections, disarm and recognize Israel’s right to exist as the “price” for continued aid. President Bush said so in Tuesday’s State of the Union address: “…the leaders of Hamas must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism, and work for lasting peace.”

But what if Hamas agrees to those conditions — does any sane person think they would mean it? Why should we give this murderous band of Islamofascists even one penny no matter what empty words they speak under pressure? From their founding until this very moment Hamas has consistently excelled at only one thing — killing Jews. (It’s charter states: “The solution of the problem (Israel) will only take place by holy war.”)

Predictably, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton don’t have a problem giving money to Hamas or negotiating with them. Carter says we could send the money to the United Nations, which then could pass it to Hamas, thus getting around our laws that prohibit subsidizing terrorist groups. Clinton had this to say: “One of the politically correct things in American politics…is we just don’t talk to some people that we don’t like, particularly if they ever killed anybody in a way that we hate.” Clinton thinks America is silly because we actually have moral qualms about negotiating with people who strap on bomb belts and blow up Israeli families having lunch.

Some liberals presume that because Hamas is now in a position of real political power — with the responsibility to govern — they will abandon their terrorist principles in order to maintain that power. (Of course, the Left thinks this way because the abandonment of principle in order to retain power is what they would do.)

Others assure us Hamas is only throwing “red meat” to its base and that when the reality of Israel’s existence sets in it will abandon any grandiose notions of “driving the Jews into the sea” and adopt a productive pragmatism, which will allow it to govern along side a Jewish state. But such assertions are unfounded. Although it was elected democratically, it will not govern that way. Hamas says it takes its orders not from its people or from any Constitution, but from the Koran — the same text Palestinians point to as justification for terrorist tactics against Jews.

Before we deceive ourselves about the Hamas agenda, let’s listen to their leader, Khaled Mashal, who, in the wake of the election victory, said this: “We will not agree to any kind of disregard of our right to Jerusalem.” (Notice he isn’t asking for half of Jerusalem.) “We are committed to the right of return.” The “right of return” is Palestinian-speak for the flooding of Israel with millions of Palestinians who have never lived one day in Israel to demographically swamp the Jewish nation. There are currently about 5 million Jews living in Israel. There are anywhere from 4 to 7 million Palestinian “refugees” who would return to Israel if given the chance. You do the math.

In order to get their hands on U.S. and European money, Hamas may say all sorts of things in the weeks ahead that diplomats will grab onto as evidence of “moderation.” It will soon make public a “peace initiative,” which, in part, offers Israel a 10-year renewable cease-fire. But senior Hamas leaders have also blatantly stated that olive branches will only be extended in order to gain international aid and buy time to gather resources and consolidate a powerbase, and that they will never give up on their ultimate goal of destroying Israel.

While Hamas may say some things that will have Western leaders wondering if the terrorist group isn’t “someone we can work with,” Hamas will never change — their goal is the destruction of Israel, their top ally is Iran; and, ultimately, they want to celebrate our destruction, too.