SOMETIMES REALITY IS FUNNIER than any comic novel could ever be. Israel today has announced that it's going to stop bulldozing Palestinian homes in the Occupied Territories, because it doesn't work. An internal army review has "concluded [that the demolition policy] has not deterred attackers but has inflamed hatred."

The practice of razing Palestinian homes to the ground began in 1967. It took the Israeli defense ministry 38 years to realize it wasn't working?