When will Palestinians choose peace?

The 'bastard' sons of Abraham only want one thing... destruction of Isreal.

Both Israel & the Bush-Cheney war regime refused to deal with Hamas after democratic elections brought them to power. Hamas refused to cancel their opposition to the Jewish state, but they did offer a temporary truce. United States & Israel responded with crippling sanctions on Palestinians. A Palestinian civil war led to Fatah in control of the West Bank & Hamas in control of Gaza. Instead of dealing with Hamas & trying to moderate their position over the longterm Bush chose confrontation. So much for Bush's long lost "roadmap for peace". Sanctions have not worked in undermining Hamas' widespread support among the people of Gaza despite their severe suffering. Jews have less historic claim on the land they call Israel than American Indians have to the North American continent. The state of Israel was created by the Great Powers after WWII over the objection of every Arab country in the region. Their objections did not have the clout of the Great Powers. But things change over time. Israel is NOT a peace loving country. Their foreign policy has been brutal as far back as the early 1950s. Israel did not win the war in Lebanon in summer of 2006. Shades of things to come unless peace & justice prevail.

So I gather you support the Palestinians and Arabs. Remember Israel is occupied by jew, palestinian, etc. So what is your solution to peace-dissolve Israel and let the Palestinians have their way. Palestine IS NOT A PEACE LOVING COUNTRY. Palestine has been brutal since the 1950's. So what is the point of the rant.

This letter to the editor like so much of the pro-Israel, anti-Arab propaganda passed off on the American people is heavily biased. My point is to say there are two sides to the story. My solution? Well, the solution has to come from the people living in the region (without endless arms supplied to Israel by United States), but my current thinking is that a two state solution is probably a necessary but temporary step. Ultimately there should be one secular state which allows people of all religious and ethnic groups to live side by side. That may not be practical now, so I support a two state solution. I also support engaging with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. United States needs to take more of an evenhanded position instead of always giving unqualified and unlimited support to Israel. I am not anti-Semitic. I simply object to the foreign policy of the rightwing Israel government like I object to the foreign policy of the rightwing Bush "administration". And what is mcgroothand's LTE if not a rant, Bizarro? I find your comments to be tangential at best.

The letter forgets the atrocoties committed by Israel towards the Palastinian people. Hamas is a terrorist organization that must be destroyed, but to deny what Israel has done to the palatinian people is an atrocity itself.

Parody notice=== I know that these people have been fighting for thousand's of years, but it's still the Decider-In-Chief, war criminal, crawfor crusader's fault. Everything is his fault. He is the one who started a war that is illegal, even though I can't tell you what law it violates. He started the war that is un-winnable, even though most evidence shows that we are now winning it. He is the one who started the war that is immoral, even though we removed a man from power who had gassed his own people and had rapists on the payroll. Yep.....it's all Bush's fault.

Parody Notice --- When will you little people realize that MY opinion is the only one that matters? My opinions are always facts, and if you don't believe it, I can find blogs where people agree with me. That is the definition of a fact after all......a fact is an opinion of mine that I can find blogs where other people believe the same thing. Any other evidence is unnecessary, and if it contradicts me, shall be ignored.

It's not surprising the far left support the continued bombing and rockets launched at Israel. Apologists like shivas and JRHC perpetuate false ideals with their poorly disguised support for Hamas and their ilk. Vote Democrat.

I find Cain's comments comical. He rants about the virtues of the UN solving problems in Iraq and elsewhere, but then discounts it completely when they created the state of Israel. "The state of Israel was created by the Great Powers after WWII over the objection of every Arab country in the region." No the world did speak in the form of the UN you feel strong to promote. Keeping saying your not anti-semitic perhaps it will come true-a child could see through that one. Basically this your soap box diatribe to bash Bush, all the rest is incidental and a ramble. Hamas is a terrorist organization with one goal-to destroy Israel. Enough said. Of course your critical thinking skills missed that. Go back to your personal forum Synergy.

Some people just don't like the Jewish people, . I have a Jewish grandson and it concerns me.

The only viable solution to the middle east mess is the Ron Paul solution...STOP FUNDING BOTH SIDES...personally I don't care what they do to each other, the problem is should not fund it..Saying everyone that does not agree with Isereal anti jewish is simply stupid..

The Palestinians have been very clear on what it would take for them to agree to peace with Israel. I don't get the confusion on the part of this writer of the letter. Their conditions are the same as they have been since the creation of the state of Israel and are as follows: 1. Pigs must fly. 2. Hell must freeze over. 3. Israel must turn over all land and assets to the Palestinians and convert to Islam. 4. All Israelis must cease to exist. This has always been their position.

I don't agree with Israel's actions much of the time also but I still believe there should be two states. I don't believe everyone who disagrees with Israel is anti-semitic-just Cain. Cain is admittedly anti-Zionist, but his post and prose hint at anti-semiticism because he always only holds Israel culpable. He sides with the Palestinians. I side with no one and think both entities deserve to exist. Israel would allow a secular state-Hamas will never allow a secular state.

Justus4, last I checked the Israelis haven't opposed the creation of a Palestinian state since Nettanyahu was in office. And I noticed the Hitler comparisons are fair game and not "over the top" when the left wants to score points against the Patriot Act. I was called Hitler's love child in a discussion about wire tapping terrorists' phone calls a couple of days ago...WAS THAT OVER THE TOP ENOUGH FOR YOU???!! I guess not because not a single lefty came to my defense. So excuse me...but I'l use all the freaking Hitler references I want since apparantly he was my father.

tom ga..The word 'everybody' was not used in my post. Neither was Israel mentioned. Play fair.

Justis, do you think Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, and the Saudies agree with your desire for Israel to exist? It is not "rhetoric" for Israel's foes. They mean what they say.

Cain, you don't see "two sides"; You always see one side: the side that lets you rant about Bush. The facts in this case are clear: many Palestinians are committed to the goal of killing every single Israeli in Israel. You blame the Israelis for refusing to "deal with" Hamas. Cain, I only hope that one day, you find yourself facing a heavily armed thug who's pointing a large-calibre weapon at you and has just announced his intention to kill you, no matter what the consequences are. Don't get me wrong! I bear you no ill will; I simply want to see how you "deal with" that thug. Perhaps you can "engage" him, "dialog" with him, offer him the proper "respect" and be willing to "compromise." I am quite sure that all of those tactics would get you to a good place with such a person, and that it would never occur to you to grab a weapon and try to defend yourself before the troglodyte carries out his very clear, specific threat. Hell, he might start by just shooting off a hand, a leg...I mean, you'd still be alive, you could give dialog another chance, at that point. All parody aside, Cain, the fact that these animals intentionally kill small children SHOULD be enough, even for you.

Just so eveybody knows..When Hillary talks about "Repairing our reltionship with other counties" She means repeatedly throwing Israel under the bus by asking them to give up strategic position after strategic position and showing restraint whenever they are attacked, in an effort to achieve peace that will NEVER come. Though I also think the Bush plan to peace in the middle east looks something like that...I hope I'm wrong.

And by the way, if you think that the Palestinians just need a little "understanding," I would only point out that A) every country in the Middle East has refused them permission to settle within their borders, and B) Egypt is working now to try to close the holes in the wall to keep the Palestinians out of Egypt. So, before we decide that Israel is the big bad wolf, here, let's take a look at the other players in the area and see if maybe there's a common denominator, here. There IS one, and it's the Palestinians themselves...

Anyone who wants to know more about the Clintons read todays NY Times expose' about the 131.3 Million dollar deal Bill had with the uranium mines. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/us/politics/31donor.html?hp=&pagewante...

Well put Smith. I must say these other countries are not wihout good historical justification. I know it doesn't get out much because it doesn't fit the left wing/pro Palestine agenda but,the Jordanians did attempt to allow the Palestinians to settle there until they uncovered a plan that the peaceful Yasser Arafat had to assasinate the king and install himself as the ruler. For some reason they decided to throw the bums out after that....can't imagine why.

You know, Cain, I keep wondering about these "crippling sanctions" you talk about. We have heard that Israel is withholding oil from the Gazan power stations. Why doesn't the Saudi Arabian government come to the aid of their Muslim brothers and supply the oil? Why in the world should Israel supply oil (which it has to import) to the Gazans? I can't thing of any good reason.

He_Who, it was probably just the anti-Muslim bias for which the Jordanians are so famous. Dang Zionists!

The "thug with a big gun" is Israel. As I stated before, Israel's abuse of Palestinians goes back to the early 1950s. By 1982 the massacres of Palestinians by Israeli forces in Sabra & Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon was old hat. United States President George W. Bush gave Israel the green light to bomb south Lebanon & Beirut in summer of 2006. He stood by & did not intervene or call for a ceasefire. Bush expedited jet fuel & munitions to the Israelis so they could wage this war of aggression. The war failed. Read self-critical Israeli reports in the news over the past 2 days. Israelis kills FAR more Palestinians, including children, than vice versa. This does not justify the killing done by either side. I agree with tom ga hunter's post at 8:06 am. Bush has not worked hard for peace in the Middle East. He has only gone through the motions. The recent meeting at Annapolis was a 1 day news/photo op event. Bush always promises to work hard & see things through in the peace process, but he never makes good on his word & never follows through. He is going to pass the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict onto the next U.S. administration. This is the sine qua non for peace in the ME

I've said before that the solution is to just drop 50 hydrogen bombs on the middle east. We can tell the Israelis first and they can all fly to France for the day. Then we set up huge fans to blow the fallout up into Siberia where no one lives and all is well. It's simple and direct. Then we buy radioactive proof suits for the oil workers and we get the oil. That's what we really want, right?

Cain: "Shades of things to come unless peace & justice prevail." What do "peace and justice" look like, Cain? No platitudes, please; specifics. Do "peace and justice" look like Israel declaring a unilateral cease-fire, only to be attacked by constant rocket and mortar fire? Do "peace and justice" look like Israel agreeing to Palestinian demands for land, self-determination, autonomy within their community? Do "peace and justice" look like Israel agreeing with the PLO to leave lands that it occupied after a war of aggression in which Israel was the attacked party, and won? Do "peace and justice" look like Israel sitting down to have talks with every whackjob who can muster the support needed to call himself a "Palestinian leader"? Do "peace and justice" look like Israel forcibly removing its own people from settlements, and razing those buildings in accordance with agreements from the Palestinians, that that would lead to and end to the violence? Because all of those things have been tried, many of them over and over again, and somehow those poor, oppressed, peace-loving Palestinians keep accidentally blowing up little kids on buses...

Wow...Cain..that is off the charts revisionist history. You totally omitted the fact that all of that was retaliation. If Israel is the thug with a big gun..I suggest they go ahead and pull the trigger. If we actually untied the restraints we have on the Israelis do you know how long it would take them to obliterate the Palestinians..probably about 24 hours..that's my guess. Given that it took them 6 days in 1967 to wipe the floor with the Palestinians,Egypt,Jordan and Syria...I would say 24 hours is actually being generous. Israel has shown more patience and restraint than any nation in the history of the world. How woud we behave if Canada was constantly suicide bombing our night clubs and daycare centers? Or if their chief export was rocks they throw across our borders. If they flat out said WE WILL KILL YOU ALL!!!. Well I guess I already know YOU..and most democrats would say..."this is our fault...what can we do to repair our relationship". Fortunately there are enough trigger pullers left in the country to combine with the independants with some common sense who would overrule your kind and take care of business. We need to let Israel handle theirs.

I know, Cain, I know. You know, Cain, if only someone would come up with a FINAL solution to the Jewish Problem, right? I mean, it's always the Jews' fault, Cain, c'mon, let's be real, here...

Lift the sanctions on Gaza and negotiate with Hamas. I cannot justify the killing by either side, but when the number of "little kids" that are blown up are tallied - Israel kills far more little Palestinian kids than Palestinians kill little Jewish kids. To me their lives are equally precious. Bush has NOT tried peace. The Israeli pullout of Gaza was a half measure. Israel still has illegal settlements on the West Bank and controls all border crossing into and out of Gaza - at least until Hamas engineered the breakout into Egypt. Unless something novel is done - the hostilities will continue. Total up those killed in Israeli air strikes and the FAR exceeds Israelis killed. All human life is precious.