Blessed Are the Peacemakers...

To watch "the memo" click here.

Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly.  Thank you for watching us tonight. 

Blessed are the peacemakers.  I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of revenge tactics in the Middle East, and I believe President Bush is correct in urging both sides to compromise in an effort to stop the killing.  That is the subject of this evening's Talking Points memo. 

Dr. Brian Burger who teaches at Harvard Med School writes, Bill, I can't believe you said you want to give peace a chance.  Israel needs to rid itself of the cancer that is Arafat's terrorists Palestinian Authority. So, Doctor, you believe that Israel should kill or exile all the Palestinians who support Arafat?  That's about three million people right now as most Palestinians live in poverty and blame Israel for their plight.

Let's be realistic here, life is not fair.   Israel has a right to defend itself, and I support the punitive action it has taken against the PLO, which obviously encourages terrorism and in some cases actually commits murder. During the past few weeks Israel has badly damaged the PLO, and can do even more harm any time it wants, but Israel will never destroy the terrorist underground by military action, never.  Thus, by failing to compromise, Israel assures itself of continuous violence against its own citizens. 

Now, any compromise might not work.  Everybody knows that, but if Israel offers the same deal it did in the Clinton negotiation and this time the PLO accepts, at least there is a structure for peace, an official recognition from other Arab states.That's what the goal should be to create a structure whereby violence is diminished.  Israel will never be able to kill its way out of this mess.  It will never be able to deny Palestinian's autonomy in the region.   Eventually Israel will have to compromise, why not start now?

Again, if Hamas and Hezbollah continue to murder after Israel is offered a fair peace deal, then by all means, Israel should punish the Palestinians again, and this time the United States should fully back the action.  Remember, while peace negotiations were underway in the late '90s, the suicide bombings stopped.  Most Palestinians want peace, and most Israelis want peace.   So it's time for those in charge to begin negotiation.  And that's the memo.

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day."

Here's how bad it's gotten...A Catholic pastor in Lowell, Massachusetts says he's withholding the collection money from masses at his parish because Cardinal Law will not resign.  Far from being ridiculous, we think this is courageous.  There is no reason on earth that the diocese of Boston should be held hostage by the cardinal, who has lost all authority.  Money talks, and the words say "step down, Cardinal Law."

— You can watch Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 & 11p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com