Your thoughts on the conflict in the Mideast
Do you think the Israeli offensive in the West Bank is an effective way to halt terror attacks against Israelis? Do you think the United States has been an effective leader in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations? Are you concerned the conflict is making a terrorist attack on the US more likely? Share your thoughts.
Page 14
I find it funny reading the responses that people say Israel is occupying Palestinian land. Someone may want to reread their history. It is NOT Palestinian land. Palestine NEVER occupied that land. Jordan did before Israel. The Palestinians need to stop murdering innocent people. Israel has the right to defend herself and we as the United States should be behind them 100% Who cares if the Arab countries impose an oil embargo? We need to quit being so dependent on oil. The Arabs needs us more than we need them. When the Arab league was meeting to extend a peace proposal to Israel all the Palestinians did was bomb innocent civilians. Israel did nothing for 3 days and for 3 days all the PLO did was murder Israelis. How can anyone say Palestine has a legitimate beef? To me, they are murdering barbarians, nothing more. I have not heard a single truth come out of Arafats mouth. He is a liar. He is a terrorist who wants the destruction of Israel at any cost. No moral and decent country should allow the extermination of any country or its people.
Christine, Cambridge
Bush has had his moment in the sun. Unfortunatley, he is showing that he is a one dimensional president(I think we were all afraid he had no dimensions). He may know how to lead in war, but it appears this is all he knows how to do(and what skill does that take?) His diplomatic leadership skills are nonexistent. And this is what the Middle East is need of.
dan, Portsmouth, NH
I think that Israel has done all it can to live in peace with Palestine. Arafat and the Palestenian people had more then second chance to get what they wanted, and yet every time they were with in the reach to get what they wanted, they destroyed it with their own hands. If there to be a blame, Palestenians should only blame themselves. R.K.
R.K, Needham
Do you think the Israeli offensive in the West Bank is an effective way to halt terror attacks against Israelis? Nothing they have done in the past has worked. Only time will tell. Do you think the United States has been an effective leader in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations? The US cannot be the leader here. Would we have listen to anybody as to how to handle 9/11? I doubt it. The lead should come from the UN. Are you concerned the conflict is making a terrorist attack on the US more likely? Until we completely rid ourselves of these terrorists, we will always be open to attack. Some days will be worst then others.
Al , Methuen
How is bulldozing houses and allowing innocent palestinians to bleed to death on the streets by preventing ambulences from helping them not terror by Israel? The suicide bombings are completely wrong and awful and I was saddened to see so many Israelis killed over passover. You have to ask yourself the question though what conditions would you have to live in to be willing to blow yourself up? The media is saying that Arafat is poisoning millions of people with his propoganda but that's only effective if your situation and reality is so dire. Plus why is it that the rest of the world is so angered at Israel but out of a poll of 600 people there's a 5 to 1 ratio in support for Israel by Americans? (Nice survey by the way CBS. I'm sure the demographics were evenly spread there.) Could it be that we americans don't get the entire story over here? That we only hear of the innocent Israelis killed and of how the gunmen was caught but not about the other 4 innocent palestinians that were killed too? That the ratio of deaths in this situation is 3 Palestinians for every Israeli? And is it true that the media in the US is predominantly jewish? I've heard that statement a bunch of times and have seen nothing to contradict it. Plus how can the United States be an effective leader in the negotiations when it is pro-israeli? How does that work? If you actually want negotiations, let's get the rest of the world involved too.
Ralph, Boston
Ricky from Watertown's Iraq-Kuwait analogy is so far off the mark. People seem to forget (or don't know) that the West Bank was taken from Jordan when they attacked Israel 3 decades ago. When you attack someone, there are consequences. Kuwait's occupation was pure agression on Iraq's part. But overall, both sides in this conflict have demonstrated years of bad judgement and at times self-destructive behavior. Since Israel had intentions on holding occupied territory after the wars of '67 and '73, it should have tried to assimilate the populations of those territories with an offer of full citizenship. There was not a large enough Palestine population at those times to remotely threaten the 'integrity' of the Jewish state. Sure there would have been problems and probably violence for a time, but full participation in a wealthy democratic society eventually would have healed many wounds. After all, the Palestinians have always been fairly secular-minded Muslims (and in fact there is a noticeable Christian minority among them). Instead, the Israelis treated the Palestinians like second-class migrant workers and tried to make the areas more Jewish with their settlements. Israel's anti-Arab sentiments after being attacked clouded its judgement. And its occasionally heavy-handedness and acts of brutality unfit for a democracy (i.e. refugee camp massacre in Lebanon in '82, Mossad's free hand to assasinate abroad) have further exacerbated things. On the other hand, the Palestinians had a generous offer on the table a few years back from PM Barak, an offer that showed more leeway on the Israelis' part than the Palestinians and their so-called Arab supporters. It was more than a good start and a real path to acheiving statehood. Instead, the PA leadership rejected this offer and with the current self-defeating infitadah, finds itself in an untractable position. Palesatinians have to accept that 'right of return' is not a realistic option as part of any settlement with the Israelis. They might get their chance at statehood through the current crisis, but having a security buffer zone denying them access to the Israeli economy will only lead to more hardship in the West Bank and Gaza, because I'm sure they won't be getting constant life-support from Arab neighbors, whose main interest in suppoting Palestinian self-determination is the political distraction it provides at home. And Arafat (despite the lack of real alternatives) and Sharon have to step aside, they have been too involved in 30 years of strife to offer any new insights, there old hatreds and paranoia are counter-productive to any real peace initiative.
Sean, Arlington
This a just a Holy War that has been going on since before Christ was born. I can not give my symphony to either side. If this continues, then the US should pull out military and all money to the Middle East (both sides). I'm sure we as Americans could put the millions that we send over there to better use such as balancing the budget, housing the homeless, feeding the hungry, giving medical to the needed in our own country. Tell them all to just get over it and get along. All Christians see it as their Holy Land also. And are we fighting?
joanne, lynnfield
The real Palestinians are the Israelis. They've been there since about 1250 BC and have every right to the land they are on now. No one "pushed" anyone off the land. Many Jewish settlers BOUGHT land from others. The West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Golan Heights are part of Israel, won during a war Israel did not start, but won. Giving back those areas makes as much sense as giving in to Mexican demands that we give back Texas or that the Russians give the southern Kurile Islands to the Japanese. Get over it folks, the Syrians, Jordanians, and Syrians lost their lands when they started--and lost--a war.
Jon Titus, Milford, MA
arafat needs the conflict to stay in power. if the palestinians stopped hating israel, they'd have to turn their attention inward to the dump he's created in palestine. that's why he walked out two years ago even though he had received all but one (minor) of his demands.
tony nelson, salem, nh
There is no way to halt the terror attacks because they are being done by maniacal, suicidal, brainwashed idiots who will not stop until not only the West Bank and Gaza are clear of Jews but all Israel is clear of Jews. Stop and think why no Palestinian state was created when the West Bank was under Jordanian contral for about 20 years (until 1967). Anybody remember that? No Palestinian state was created then because the Arabs were planning to exterminate the Israelis (the catch-phrase was "Israel into the sea") and ALL of what is now Israel/Palestine was going to be taken over by the Palestinian Arabs. Once again a "final solution" was planned and in many cases is still planned. For all the talk of "finding a way to peace" we still have groups that will not be satisfied until Israel is pushed into the sea. Many of these suicide bombers come from groups that deny Israel's right to exist: how do you have a dialogue with someone who denies your right to exist? What is the only reasonable response to someone whose only goal in life is to kill you because you have no right to exist?
Dave, Quincy
