A contemporary "joke" in Israel is: How do you say ceasefire in Arabic? Time to reload!
The United States has publicly acknowledged that during the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire, Hamas successfully recruited and began to train 20,000 men eager to fight for their cause. These recruits, young and even very young, are old enough to carry a weapon and plant a bomb.
In plain English, the concept of a ceasefire is straightforward and clear.
A compound word combining the words "cease" and "fire," it means "stop fighting."
The word "armistice" is more complicated. It's derived from Latin.
In Latin "arma" means arms or weapons because your weapon was an extension of your arm. "Stit" means to stand, as in the expression "stand down," which means put down your weapons.
The best example of an armistice is the armistice that led to the end of World War I, which became the foundation for the Treaty of Versailles and, subsequently, the creation of the League of Nations.
As an interesting aside, one of the only things many people remember from their high school history class is that World War I ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.
In Arabic and in the history of war in the Islamic world, a ceasefire is nowhere near being that clear cut and simple.
More than one term exists for "ceasefire" and for "peace" in Arabic.
And understanding those three or four terms used for ceasefire and for peace is extremely important. Our Western sensibilities have difficulty grasping the Arab world's essential definitions and the result that in the art of negotiations, Western diplomats are severely handicapped.
In Arabic, the word most often used in discussing a ceasefire is "hudna."
The word hudna, according to the "Encyclopedia of Islam," is a halt in hostilities in order to rearm. I repeat! The term most often used in the Arab world for a ceasefire is hudna and the official definition of hudna is stop fighting and rearm.
There are certain caveats for a hudna — it cannot last for more than 10 years and it can be broken at any time.
The next most commonly used word in the Arab world is "tahdiya."
Defined as a temporary cessation of fighting, a tahdiya, too, can be broken at any time.
Then there is a "hudaibiyah."
A hudaibiyah is a 10-year truce. Named after the treaty created in 628 C.E. by the Prophet Muhammad with the Quraysh tribe, it is sometimes referred to as the Quraysh treaty.
The original Treaty of Hudaibiyah lasted a mere 2.5 years before it was abrogated.
Israel's treaty with Egypt, which was signed in 1979, and with Jordan in 1994 are referred to as "sulha." These are peace treaties, treaties that come about through negotiations.
Hamas, like other Islamic leaders, draw inspiration from Islamic history.
Its analysis and current points of view are heavily informed by its history.
It views the current, modern-day conflict with Israel through the lens of the Crusaders.
In Hamas' view, its conflict with Israel is akin to the 200-year span of the Crusaders and their failed attempt to liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims.
Like the Crusaders, Hamas and many other Muslim leaders see Israel as only a temporary problem. They firmly believe that Israel will run away, defeated, just like the Crusaders, thereby leaving Muslim lands for Muslims to control.
Particularly important in the minds of Hamas and other Muslim leaders is the 1192 Treaty of Ramla between Saladin and Richard the Lionheart.
That hudna, which lasted three years and three months, ended the Third Crusade.
Another great memory device learned in high school history classes.
And that explains how and why what we Westerners believe to be legitimate ceasefires signed with Hamas are broken time and time again. It also explains when they are broken — after they reload. In the minds of Hamas' leaders, Hamas will always be in a state of war with Israel.
Hamas is in this conflict for the long run.
This current conflict with Israel is simply a temporary setback. A ceasefire is to be used as a time to regroup and rearm — and then, true to form, attack again.
This explains why we have seen this scenario play out so many times before.
It leaves Israel with only one choice. The Jewish State, too, needs to take a page out of history — out of American history.
The only way to resolve Israel's conflict with Hamas is to do what the U.S. did with Japan at the end of World War II. In their minds and according to their culture, the Japanese were simply incapable of losing.
The United States had no choice other than to orchestrate such a dramatic loss that it was impossible for Japan not to recognize its loss — a destruction so horrific and so dramatic that it crippled an entire generation and lingers to this day.
I do not, however, think that Israel can or will do anything like what the U.S. did in Japan. And that means that the war with Hamas will continue for a long time.
Micah Halpern is a political and foreign affairs commentator. He founded "The Micah Report" and hosts "Thinking Out Loud with Micah Halpern," a weekly TV program, and "My Chopp," a daily radio spot. Follow him on Twitter @MicahHalpern. Read Micah Halpern's Reports — More Here.
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