Cause and consequence: 8 Jews gunned down in Jerusalem, an analysis

A Palestinian gunman walked into a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem today and killed eight and wounded a dozen.

The waves of condemnation came flooding from world capitals, leading of course from Washington, to Paris, Brussels, London, and the UN HQ in Geneva.

News of the attack swept to world headlines, the global media rushing to the scene.

I never condone violence, and the deaths of innocent life, be it Jew or Arab, is an abomination.
Too bad the world's leaders and media don't feel the same way. For when Jews perish (which isn't as common as the deaths of Palestinians), the world swiftly responds to its obligations to sympathise Israel, but when 120 Palestinians are slaughtered within a single weekend, or 1200 Lebanese in a month, the world falls silent, bar a few comments that rarely catch the limelight from the UN head or the EU.

As Israel often uses the excuse of "retaliation" to wipe out innocent life, today's attack in Jerusalem can be and should be linked to the brutal events that passed over the weekend.

The gunman's attack was in response to the Israeli assault on Gaza, denoting the notion of cause and consequence. Israel is kidding itself if it believes it can slaughter people without a response, as minimal as 8 compared to 120 is.

The cycle of violence begins with the actions of Tel Aviv, and carries on non-stop. The Arab leaders, pro-US states such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt and anti-US states such as Syria alike, have been pushing for Israel to engage in peace negotiations, all of which have been bluffed by the Israelis.

The Jewish state has opted instead for the violent option, engaging first in a deadly conflict with Hizballah and now with Hamas in Gaza. Israel's actions have only fuelled support for both entities throughout the populous of the Arab world, which have in turn applied greater pressure on their pro-American leaders to distance themselves from the Jewish state. Israel is increasingly isolating itself amongst the Arab world, and damaging its chances at real peace as Arab capitals harden their attitude.

Observing Israel's violent path, the Arabs are becoming more and more cynical of Israel's desire for peace. It appears the Jewish state isn't interested in peace, but rather continue to show signs of a Zionist, Apartheid style regime that is bent on Arab destruction and Middle Eastern hegemony.

The responsibility for the Jerusalem school attack was apparently claimed by a group calling itself "The Free Galil Brigades and Group of Imad Mughniyeh and Martyrs of Gaza'', suspecting involvement from Hizballah.

Israel has only fuelled the anger and determination of both Hizballah - following the assassination of its prime commander Imad Mughniyeh - and Hamas, with both groups vowing to respond.

What should be of greater concern to Israel is that Syria and Iran have backed both groups in their quest for revenge. There's no reason why Hamas and Hizballah would not co-operate or co-ordinate attacks within Israel proper, with the intelligence backing of Iran and Syria.

In addition, the pro-US Arab states are threatening to freeze its peace initiative, which might be read as a green light for groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad to relaunch more deadly attacks on Israel.

If Israel was hoping for a peaceful solution with its recent killings, it's in for a real surprise. Violence brews more violence. Hamas has refrained from suicide attacks on Israel for several years.

However, I would expect severe attacks within Israel will resume after last weekend's Gaza massacre. Today's attack on the Jerusalem religious school is a sign that there's more bloodshed to come.