Qassam rocket fired from Gaza hits southern Israel. Photo:Shay Machlof.

While you were asleep, dozens of rockets pounded Israel’s southern cities.

While you were asleep, parents hurried children into bomb shelters, – a fire of dread and fear burning in their eyes.

While you were asleep, humanity was attacked and violated, and the delicate equilibrium of ‘peace’ in Israel’s south was left shattered in a heap of smoldering rubble.

On Friday, Palestinian terrorists fired rockets from the Gaza strip, targeting the southern Israeli populace.

The recent flare-up has aggravated the already restive air in the South, but the threat is nothing new. Rocket fire from Gaza has become almost routine for the southern cities—that is, since southern Gaza was evacuated to appease the Palestinian Authority and international negotiating partners in 2005. Until then, the ‘settlements’ bore the brunt of Palestinian terrorism and now, with Hamas an even closer neighbor, Israel’s southern cities face the music.

At the time of the disengagement from Gaza in 2005, a popular song took root, warning the Israeli leaders and public of an apocalyptic tomorrow should they evacuate southern Gaza, also known as Gush Katif.

“They [the Palestinians] will also want Jerusalem, Ashkelon will burn in flames.”

How prophetic.

Seven years on, passing judgment on the disengagement would be akin to crying over spilt milk, but analyzing what we have learned since then has now become a matter of life and death.

The lesson we should have learned is that you can not negotiate with terrorists.  There exists no ground for negotiation with a charter that calls for the destruction of your people, a mandate that is openly echoed in the streets of Gaza.

We are slowly waking up though.

In recent months, Israel has put its cards face-up on the negotiating table, bringing the issue of Palestinian incitement to attention and providing a clearer picture for future negotiations.

But it isn’t enough , the rockets are still falling.

If the Chief Mufti (a Mufti is an Islamic scholar) of Jerusalem can spew hatred throughout his mantra of ‘religious inspiration,’ if terrorists—who murdered men, women, and children in cold blood—have streets named after them, and television shows dedicated in their honor, and if the threat of rocket fire hangs over the daily life of a civilian populace; school life, office life, and family life, then clearly the terrorists have learned the classroom lessons.  So why haven’t we?

So much has happened while we were sleeping, but all is not lost. It is high time to wake up and serve terrorism its last act: draw the curtains, dim the lights, and bring on Operation Cast Lead Part 2: The Ending.