At the last conference before Annapolis, Israel agreed to concede to 98% of the Palestinian negotiators demands (I believe that the only requirement not met was Jerusalem, which would be partially shared and could be resolved later). The Palestinians flat-out denied the agreement and the last true hope for peace ended there. Interestingly, all the above posters have forgotten this. Since that time, the inability of the Palestinians to further negotiations has led to more violence and more popular Palestinian support for the extreme ideologies of Hamas due the appearance of no other alternative. That much may be true; the Palestinian leadership at the time, Fatah, denied peace and it has now come back to bite it in the behind as they were forced out of Gaza. This leads me to my next point.

Anyone who supports Hamas is supporting an Islamist terrorist organization that seeks the destruction of the Western World and the creation of an international Islamic empire. Anyone who knew half a damn about Hamas would understand that Israel is only the first piece in a set of Hamas's cogs seeking the destruction even of the people in the West who hold rallies for them. It is sad that Palestinians don't have a real leadership that can bring about a comprehensive peace. Their two options are the terror of Hamas, or the pathetically corrupt Fatah. Granted, by trying to cripple Hamas Israel will radicalize some Palestinians. I believe the hope is to come out on top at the end of this psychological battle, as David Brooks pointed out. If Israel can prove to the Palestinian populace that Hamas will only bring more of this action to the Gazans, and that Hamas has no interest in peace they will have won. The victim ideology that permeates through too much of Palestinian culture must end with more options for leadership which can't happen with Hamas (maybe not Fatah either). Israel is doing the Palestinians a favor.

mae
the settlements are illegal and against US policy as well as UN policy.
Israel wants land that is well outside Israeli borders. They want land to insure there is never a '2 state solution'
U Lose again

Sure, the Israelis want peace, but they would rather have Palestine, especially their land and water. Maybe those pesky Palestinians should go die somewhere.

I'm sorry, Ms. Rabin, but your argument is the kind of thing we expect from Sarah Palin, not someone with an education. Hamas was originally created by the Israelis as a counterweight to the PLO. Now the Israelis have no one to blame but themselves. If the Israelis really, honestly wanted peace before anything else (such as conquest of land and water), they would have at least considered the proposal by the Saudis on behalf of the Arab League to guarantee the security of Israel when it returns to its original borders. Instead they rejected the offer on two separate occasions.

Furthermore, they would not be treating the residents on the West Bank the same way that African blacks were being treated by the Afrikaaners with road blocks, ID requirements, restricted living areas, the famous passes required to travel, etc. For a very good daily update on how the Israelis are actually treating the people on the West Bank, I suggest you check out the blogs by the Christian Peacekeeper Teams (CPT) who are right now doing everything nonviolent that they can to protect the Palestinians from the Israeli invaders who are attacking children walking to school, shepherds with their sheep, orchards, etc. Unfortunately, given the actual state of the Israeli legal system, there never seems to be anything done to rectify the occupiers' misdeeds. One is reminded of the US military's whitewashing of rapes, murders and other outrageous crimes committed by US military personnel.

The problem is Hamas? And what was Israel's excuse before that? The Palestinian authority. And the PLO. And Yasser Arafat. And before that? Nasser.
Every step of the way, Israel has tried to pound the Palestinians into submission, all the while gaining ever more land. Even during Oslo, the building of illegal settlements accelerated.
The fact is, Israel has never been willing to deal with whatever group represents the Palestinians. Israel did not like the nationalist stripe, in the form of the PLO, so it even helped form the Islamist movements, including Hamas, hoping conservative religious figures would be more pliable. Well, if they wanted Islamists, they got them.
From the beginning, Israel's wish has been clear. From Ben Gurion to Meir to the former terrorists Begin and Shamir, they have simply claimed Palestinians do not exist as a people, or wished that they would simply disappear to Jordan or elsewhere. Have you studied the history of the idea of "transfer," Ms. Rabin?
Israel, the Palestinians do exist. They are not going away, and at current demographic rates, will before long outnumber you. You'd best remember that before starting yet another massacre.

Hello Shari Rabin,

You stated : "I don't pretend to be neutral or objective on this topic. I have family in Israel; I know Israeli soldiers; I have spent a lot of time in Israel; I feel the affects on the Israeli side of the conflict on a more visceral level."

Fair enough. Imagine what it is like now, and going on in the minds and life of Gazans living in Gaza, the civilians killed, those with family and friends killed. I have no doubt their feelings are more visceral. They have no place to go.

Perhaps we all should spend more time in Gaza and Isreal to see what is really going on there.

You : "But I truly believe that a world in which Hamas is no longer allowed to operate is a safer and better one for Palestinians as well as Israelis. I hope that the Israeli Defense Forces achieves its goals and that one day soon, b'ezrat hashem (with God's help), there will be peace."

Hamas is fighting for their "freedom, the "liberation" of and for their state as they see it. For all their blusters, anyone who believes Hamas can crush Israel and make it cease to exist needs to seriously have his/her head check. After all by their reasoning, insurgents, in committing death of civilians and destruction of the environment, both manmade and natural, are engaged in terrorism, but states that do so are just into just wars. After all, by their reasoning, only one or the other side is entitled to self-defence in defence of and to fight for the home, the land, the state.

God is not going to help us in peace when we are solely responsible for conflicts and wars. We have to pursue peace, real peace impartially.

J

marcedward

your memory is very short or very distorted. The land was a result of an act of agression AGainst Israel. Yes, land may be the apoils of war. I like your idea, lets attack an innocent country and if we lose, lets get our land back and start all over again. hmm/

Mae - if Israel didn't want land, why the illegal settlements? Check and mate baby.

Sari - the drawing of national bounderies in the middle east and Africa has been a disaster. They were drawn, in many cases, to include multiple ethnic groups, so the colonial powers could pit one against the others. While Iran is a natural country, Iraq certainly wasn't, and the Iraqis have suffered for it. The situation in Africa is 100X worse of course.
As for Israel, I have no problem with Israel existing. I do have a problem with Israelis using my tax dollars to supplement their illegal actions (taking of land, taking of property, multiple invasions of Lebanon, assassination, torture, illegal settlements). The Palestinians and Israelis can kill eachother till the cows come home, but I'd rather the Israelis do it on their own dime, and not American supplied welfare.

My apologies to Mae - I was unaware that Israel had withdrawn its settlements from the West Bank. If you read my earlier post you will see that is what I was specifically referring to. But Mae - if Israel hasn't withdrawn then one of us is telling big fat porkies.

The posters here (Richard, asim, mae) spout hate speech. Disgusting hate speech. Why don't you hate the Sudanese gov't the way you hate the Israelis? Why don't you hate Zimbabwe Mugabe gov't the way you hate the Israelis. Maybe you just hate Jews. Or maybe you just like to hate.

Thank you Shari! A voice of reason. Israel wants peace but is not willing to commit suicide for peace. Israelis and Palestinians want peace. Israel does not want to kill Palestinians. Why must you demonize Israel? Have any of you ever read a single book on Israel that is truly balanced? Not propaganda. Read. Study. Learn.

These posters only want to see things simplistically and to demonize Israel using pithy terms they do not understand. PEOPLE: If a radical regime in Mexico began shelling the Southern United States and claiming they had a right to California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah, what would you expect the united states to do?? Any country in this situation would have responded with military force. Yet, you people expect Israel to acquiesce and accommodate to life being bombed 70 times per day. As a condition for living and being. Because you think the very existence of Israel is unjust.

LEARN HISTORY PEOPLE. IF THE EXISTENCE OF ISRAEL IS UNJUST THEN THE EXISTENCE OF IRAQ AND JORDAN AND LEBANON IS ALSO UNJUST. THE BRITISH CREATED JORDAN AND IRAQ, DRAWING ARBITRARY LINES IN THE SAND, JUST AS THE FRENCH DID IN LEBANON.

News flash: Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005! They even left a thriving Greenhouse industry that the Palestinians in Gaza could've just picked up. They left their homes whole. They didn't scorch the earth the way the Indonesian military did when they withdrew from East Timor. What did Hamas do with these homes and these industries?

Speaking of the refugee camps, who built them? Was it Israel? No! It was the Egyptians when they controlled Gaza between 1948-67. Yes. It was part of Egypt.

Egypt could've shown mercy to the Palestinians. They border Gaza. Why isn't the Rafah crossing open? Because Egypt doesn't want it. Egypt hates Hamas. If you want to understand why Gaza is a prison, look at Egypt. Better yet, look at Hamas. Egypt does not support Hamas. Egypt fears Hamas. Even Saudi Arabia does not support Hamas. Hamas is an Iranian puppet.

Amen Sherry,

I am astonished by the comments. The facts speak for themselves. 20,000 troops in gaza and --what -- 72 unavoidable deaths, If Israel WANTED anythng other than peace, it could bring Gaza to the stone age. This is unbelievable. Retraint does not begin to describe the self sacrifice Israeli soldiers are offering to prevent Palestinian deaths.

But hatred doesn't take time for facts.

As for the stupidest statement, that Israel wants LAND, Israel had the land and withdrew. We all know what that got her-- more missiles.

Ms. Rubin:

If you want to play with the big dogs, you need to write something other than a rehash of Israeli propaganda over the last 60 years. There is no evidence that Israel wants peace now or that it ever has. It wants to steal Palestinian land and water and that has been its primary agenda since 1948. It is certainly true that Hamas does not want peace either, but do not confuse reality with Israeli propaganda.

No, Israel does not want peace - it wants LAND. Specifically Palestinian land on the West Bank. Israel has promised time and again to halt the bulding of these these settlements (acknowledged by the United States as illegal), and time and again has broken that promise. What's the point of a cease-fire in Gaza or anywhere else if one side cannot trust the other to abide by the terms? Israel says that all it wants id to live in peace behind "secure" boarders. Who decides where those borders should be? Israel? Or were they decided by the United Nations 60 years ago?

The writer could have saved time by just bleeting 'Israel GOOD, Palestinians BAD' and saved us all the time. She states
'I think that the US government is right to support Israel and that if America were in a similar situation it would do the exact same thing'
Baby, Israel spies on the USA more than any other nation. They are welfare recipients to the order of $4billion/year, and in return we get nothing. Bush41 was right to try to hold back funding till Israel dismantled their illegal settlements.
I agree Israel wants peace - they want the peace of a graveyard filled with Palestinians. The Israeli leaders who wanted peace are long gone, the leader killed by an Israeli!