Off To A Great Start

This is sure reassuring: "Palestinian gunman kills 4 Israelis on eve of peace talks".

Speaking of "peace", Jay Nordlinger offers these observations from Austria: "Daniel Barenboim is ever political — and, naturally, Salzburg has invited him to give a speech: not just to conduct an orchestra or play the piano, but give a speech. Barenboim is the type to give a speech anyway. He says in Salzburg, “Music is anything but an ivory tower.” What he means is, 'I’m going to mouth off, and you’re going to listen — just because I was born with musical talent, though I may not have a political brain in my head.' According to a paper, Barenboim tells the crowd, 'If Israel honestly wants peace — a real, lasting peace and not just a superficial one which creates a platform for vague negotiations — then, in order to move towards Palestine, it will have to acknowledge all the factions that exist there.' I guess he means Hamas. Oh, Israel acknowledges Hamas, all right: acknowledges that Hamas is dedicated to killing as many Israelis as it can, before it destroys the entire state. Sometimes clarity of thought means that you recognize when a person or group is unappeasable.
Would you like a definition of 'safe'? I offer one: 'Knocking Israel to an audience in Austria.'"