In his October 12, 2007 column, Hallinan wildly exaggerates the strength of the Israeli so-c alled peace camp. For example, he insists that that the famous Israeli author, Amos Oz, among others, favors talks with Hamas. However, he ignores the fact that neither Oz, nor any responsible Israeli, favor talks with Hamas about anything other than a temporary ceasefire (in Arabic, hudna), or an exchange of prisoners. The Hamas Charter calls for the “obliteration” of Israel.  The PLO Charter also called for the destruction of Israel, however, since it was a secular document it was subject to eventual change.  Hamas’ genocidal mandate is from Allah, and cannot be changed.  Amos Oz, as a typical Israeli peacenik, fully supported the recent Israeli incursion into Gaza, as did the overwhelming majority of Israelis. The peace party, Meretz, won only about 3% of votes in the last election. Even then, Meretz actually supported the Gaza War during its first week. Only near the end of that incursion did it call for a cessation of hostilities with a demonstration that garnered only a thousand attendees, a miniscule turnout by Israeli peace demonstration standards.