The defenseless passengers on an Air France plane, a BOAC aircraft, a Japanese jumbo jet, aboard KLM, Lufthansa, Pan Am, Sabena, TWA and other airliners were not "occupying" the planes conveying them to innocuous destinations when Islamic terrorists kidnapped, terrorized and slaughtered them throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The civilian victims scattered across the countryside of Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 had not "occupied" Pan Am 103, either.

Vacationing Christian Puerto Rican tourists weren't "occupying" Ben-Gurion airport on May 20, 1972. when pro-Islamic terrorists ambushed and sprayed them with bullets upon arrival.

Sleeping Israeli athletes invited to 1972's peace-promoting competitions in Munich were not "occupying" the Olympic Village when Arab radicals besieged and murdered them, disrupting the games promoting international friendship and trust.

Unarmed children at Ma'alot weren't "occupying" their school the day Arab terrorists forced them to jump to their deaths from the building during interrupted celebrations of 1974's Israel Independence Day.

Elderly Dora Bloch and her fellow travelers were not "occupying" Athens airport in 1976 when Arab terrorists hijacked a planeload of passengers to Uganda, resulting in Dora's murder and the rescue of her terrorized former companions.

Wheelchair-bound tourist Leon Klinghoffer was not "occupying" the Italian ship Achille Lauro when fundamentalist terrorists humiliated, then drowned the man by throwing him overboard, on October 7, 1985.

Teen hikers Yosef Ish-Ran and Koby Mandell of Biblical Tekoa did not seek to "occupy" the cave they were dragged to in 2001, and where their captors bludgeoned them to a terrifying death, then smeared their blood on the walls.

The employees of various faiths and ethnic backgrounds who reported for work that day were not "occupying" New York's Twin Towers when they were shocked, burned, smothered, blasted and shattered to death by Arab terrorists on September 11, 2001.

Daniel Pearl was not "occupying" Pakistan when he researched the links between Richard Reed and bin Laden before he was betrayed and beheaded for being a Jew, and therefore an "enemy" of Islam, in 2002. Entrepreneur Nicholas Berg was not "occupying" Iraq when Arab terrorists slowly, agonizingly, carved his Jewish head off his neck for public intimidation in 2004. The American businessmen murdered in Saudi Arabia were minding their own business when they were doing business with Muslim colleagues.

So why are they all dead? Is it truly because the Jews of Israel will not cede land to the rabble that, prevented by their compatriots from returning to their native countries in 1948, now fraudulently claim to be Palestinians? No. There are two glaring contradictions to the specious argument.

One: In 1948, Arab leaders wouldn't permit Arabs unwilling to live among Jews to live in any Arab state. The artificially created refugees were used and abused by their own brethren as violent political pawns against a nascent Israel.

Two: Sharon promised in June 2004 to "evacuate" disputed land before 2005. Within hours of that announcement, Yasser Arafat and Hamas respectively swore to annihilate and kidnap/murder military and civilian Jews. Clearly, the problem is not about "giving back" land, which never legitimately belonged to Arabs anyway.

The chaos, murder and mayhem are not about the merits or demerits of democracy, the West or Christianity, or international law. It's not about the Jews "controlling" the very same "media" that incongruously condemns Judaism, its practices and the Knesset. It's not about Israel inside or outside red, green, yellow or blue lines. It's not about the Israeli Right, or Jewish settlers (they'd be called "citizens" in any other society that inherited, purchased, won and/or annexed land). It's not about present-day Israel versus the borders of ancient Israel, nor about the alleged occupation of Arab lands.

It is about armed insanity, the calculated manipulation of public opinion via propaganda, coercion and attacks against unarmed civilians and their political leaders. And the scale of horror stands to rise now that Iran has saluted the world with a nuclear arms program.

A mutual and implacable enemy is closing in on Jews, Israel, their supporters and all non-Muslims. That same enemy makes global headlines as it strikes increasing numbers of far-flung, far-fetched targets. It's the same enemy that sends journalists, essential personnel in freedom-loving societies, home in coffins and into the headlines (see Reporters Without Borders).

It's not about the best place to be a reporter. It's about the worst places for access to the truth, where individual freedoms such as yours are routinely denied, and about the existence of a centuries-old opposition to non-Muslim social structures.

It's about the antipathy of the murderous culture, of which the Abu Sayyaf is a member, that stole missionaries like Martin and Gracia Burnham from civilization, altering their lives and those of many of their colleagues, forever. It's about a heartless social system that steals property, pillaging and maiming females, children, the elderly and anyone else caught in the merciless trap of savages preying on the defenseless.

It's about a people that cannot appreciate the noble intentions and efforts that non-Muslims made to rebuild an Iraq nearly bereft of all necessary resources. It is about an alleged spirituality that shuns kindness, takes no prisoners, brooks no negotiations, accepts no limits, respects no property lines, and preaches murder and mayhem. It's about warped minds preying on the physically unprepared, hoping that they are also mentally vulnerable.

It's about Koran-thumping barbarians who scorn life, who value death above life and live in opposition to peace-loving societies. Islam seeks to place its claws and poison into any target of opportunity, wherever it may be and whenever an opportunity is available. It's about bloodthirsty monsters abusing an UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) ambulance to transport terrorists (a technique used with civilian and specially commissioned emergency medical vehicles in the past) and to steal the body parts of slain Israeli soldiers in May 2004.

The numbers of Arabs residing within European Union nations gives rise to the question, "How many of them are functioning as enemies of their host countries?" The EU Monitoring System on Racism and Xenophobia declined to release its damning 2004 report regarding manifestations of Islamic antipathy within the EU to date. Holland tops the list at www.jihadwatch.org. Spain, which has "occupied" its real estate for centuries, cowered and ran from the enemy after it stung a railroad. Israel's government, an EU wannabe, is retreating in fear (Mitzpeh Yitzhar was dismantled in May 2004 and much more land is similarly endangered), fomenting a civil war between its patriotic citizens and those willing to shed their Jewish identities. As the Coalition Forces indicate their willingness to withdraw from Iraq, they've also served notice that intimidation works, especially with Sarin.

Study the unsuspecting faces staring at you form the latest update about kidnapped and/or murdered foreign executives in Arab lands. Consider the latest color-coded update for the US Homeland Security alert.

Watch the seven-veiled danse macabre sure to play out before, after and during the 2004 Olympic Games: the deft manipulation of public opinion veil; the deceit practiced in the UN and other halls of international compromise veil; the priorities leading to the exchange of oil for food, and of innocent lives for the whims of heartless thugs veil; the equally expressed contempt for the lives of compatriots and foreigners veil; the endangerment to global welfare veil; the "we did it because we're pathological but we're blaming it all on the Jews" veil.

Realize what it's really about. Take preventive action before the problem reaches for you and the space you happen to be "occupying." Be forewarned, and forearmed, regarding the annihilation that the scorpion intends for you.