Today, as Israel proceeds with its disengagement, we have the expression of a similar fantasy from another totalitarian body, Hamas. Speaking in London, Khaled Meshaal, a representative of that terrorist group, said of the Israeli move: "It is the beginning of the end of Israel."

For over a decade in Israel the idea has been mooted and dropped. Its time has now come. We hope that Mr. [ARIEL SHARON] follows through on his commitment to isolate Israel's democracy from the bankrupt Palestinian society, which has proven itself to possess an unappealing ethos rooted in fantasy, non-production, death and misery for its people.

Israel's disengagement from Gaza will not change the outlook of Palestinians because their raison d'être is to destroy Israel. Having eaten up their own citizens, they turn to those around them with a single-purpose agenda, inflicting their pain on others.