Mark D: Thank you for your interest on my position or positions... I was talking of people in general because yes, there are the Palestinians, ETA in Spain, the Irish problem, the Kurds, the Tamil Tigers and I probably forget a few. You could also talk about the French Resistance during WWII, because they used bombing and train derailments. And more. I did not imply, I hope, that the Palestinian problem was in the context of 9/11. It was the American foreign policy in general that was aimed at on 9/11, not just one problem.

I do not condone violence at all. I only state that when populations do not have any place at the bargaining table, they will end up using violence. This is a fact and just recognizing it does not make me an advocate of violence. And in the end, lots of innocent people die, family are destroyed on both sides, and finally there are talks and then sometimes a solution after decades. Algeria comes to mind. Why can't we have talks first.

My humble opinion is that the solution to the conflict in the Middle East rests with Washington only to the point that America provides money and arms to Israel without it seems asking anything in return.

I know it is a lot more complicated than that, but why don't we in the US talk more about what Israel could do to achieve peace. There are lots of Israelis who would want to remove the settlements and come to an agreement but the hardliners always got their way so far. We have to stop calling all the Palestinians terrorists. We must also view them as humans with dignity and a need for peace as well. Americans should be able to get informed about life in the refugee camps and going through checkpoint after checkpoint in order to go to work or the hospital. Nobody is gaining anything by treating people like animals. There is a group of Israeli women who "observe" checkpoints so that people are treated humanely. They do that benevolently and each and everyday. We in the US need to know both sides of the conflict.

You know, it is Churchill who said that Americans will try everything before they try the right thing (paraphrased).

Mark, it is very difficult to debate an issue as complicated as the Middle East in two or three paragraphs on a blog. One has to weigh each word because one word missing could get you mistakenly labeled.

Now, lets debate the Irish troubles... just kidding!

Violence is not a solution but frankly humans have used it since the beginning of times and I don't think we are anymore clever than the cavemen were. We know more, that's all. (This statement does not imply that I condone violence, Mark, it is just observation!).

Albert Einstein said "Two things are infinite: the Universe and human stupidity; and I am not sure about the Universe".

Thank you Mark D for giving me the chance to try to explain my point of view. Mark, if there was an EASY solution do you think we would be debating it still? I am sure there is a solution though.

The ideal outcome would be for all peoples of the Earth to live in peace with their neighbors, on their own piece of land, Palestinians, Israelis, Sunnis, Shias, Basques, Irish, Indonesian, Timorese, Kurds etc.

Thank you also to Karen and her blog for this wonderful experiment.
EJ
USA