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.
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Is that Sharon speaking while Bush is moving his lips, ha what a joke we have for a president. Israel has us by our nuts Mr. Bush wake up and smell the coffee, enough already.
Angel, Cambridge
Do people believe that the forced displacement of a nation of people is right? Isn't that what we did to the Native Americans? Why is it that reading 'Exodus' by Leon Uris was part of my high school curriculum but if I wasn't questioning individual, I'd have never learned about the other side of the story (outside of our schools)? I don't believe three wrongs make a right. I do believe in a human beings' fundamental right to existence and freedom whether they happen to be Jewish, Palestinian or purple. I believe in Israel's right to exist with all my heart because I believe that forcefully taking away someone's home is a crime against humanity, but I also know that Great Britain, Israel and our nation have treated the Palestinian people very poorly, and they deserve justice. Do they not have the right to exist as well? How would you feel if your family was forced to live in a refuge camp with no running water, electricity, schools or doctors and 90-97% unemployment rate, rampant poverty and gangs of heavily armed thugs? Isn't this what the Nazi's imposed on the Jewish people in the Polish ghettos during WW2? How would you feel if you watched your family suffer day in and out and Hamas offered you enough money to feed your family for a long time; provided you blew yourself up, would you be so quick to dismiss it? Do you actually believe that Palestinian children don't dream of falling in love, working hard and providing a better life for their children but instead only of blowing themselves up? I think it is time that we as a nation take responsibility for our role in this human tragedy. Israel exists. It should continue to exist, but Palestine also needs to exist. The world community should not expect the Palestinians to negotiate with Israel as beggars looking for a scrap of bread, but equals; unless we as a nation subscribe to the notion that all men (and women!) are created equal but some are more equal than others. The world needs a strong and viable Palestinian state and reparations need to be made to the 4 million displaced Palestinian people for the taking of their land. Otherwise this struggle continues, and new generations of suicide bombers will line up. Unless, of course the world sits by and watches while Sharon's military continue what was started decades ago and institute a policy of forced expulsion, (it is gaining lots of popularity in the Israeli parliment) then we will see genocide come full circle, because that is what it's going to take to implement forced expulsion.
Vivek Jha, Worcester, Ma
Both sides need to cool down and sit to negotiate peace.
Angel, Cambridge
It is difficult to understand the Israeli mind set against the Palestinian people. The Jewish people who suffered at the hand of Germany during WWII should be the first to understand what they are doing to the Palestinian people. The land in question was given to the Jewish people at the expense of the Palestinian population after the war. While I do not condone violence in any sense it is not difficullt to see that the Palenstinians do not have any weapons except rocks, a few guns and suicide bombers. The Palestinian people have certainly lost hope. Otherwise why would they be commiting suicide as their only means of retaliation to a people who have waged war on them. I would like to see the US look at the problems in that region with an unbiased eye. Just as Native Americans were wiped out during the exploration and expansion of North America, if Israel is not stopped we will lose another culture of people who have been in the Middle East since time began. I think the US is setting itself up for more terrorist attacks by backing the Israeli initiative. If one reads news which is produced out of the US one would see what the rest of the world thinks of us.
marian kunetka, fayetteville, ar
Every nation has an absolute right of self defense. Israel's men, women, and children are the victims of daily suicide attacks led by Palestinian terrorists, and Israel has a right to do whatever is necessary to stop them. Israel's methods are violent and terrible, but what other option is there? Can there be meaningful negotiations with terrorists willing to kill themselves to express their hatred of Israel? Of course not. Additionally, the comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany are very unfair. The good people of Germany were not the victims of daily suicide attacks led by the Jews. I find it very disheartening that the horror of the holocaust is used against Israel in her most trying hour.
David, Boston
Palestinian People have lived in Palestine since the beginning of time. Where do the Israelis expect them to go? They were thrown out of their historical homeland by the Israelis. Under international Law and more importantly under the concept of common decency they have the Right to Return. All refugees have the right to return to their homeland after a conflict has ended under UN law. Only Palestinians are denied this right. They have nothing and no place to live. No way to survive the destruction of their society and their individual lives. If anyone should be able to understand this, it should be the Jews. The Holocust was not just a crime against the Jews, it was a crime against humanity. Today a holocust is occuring before our very eyes in Palestine. Out of respect for those who died in the Holocust we must all stand up and speak out against the genocidal murder of the Palestinian people and their culture. It is what is expected of us as decent human beings.
Joe, Lowell
It's nice to see so many anti-semetic people are replying to this site. Are all you intelligent people aware that what happened in America, (You know the whole World Trade thing), happens every day in Israel. How do you suggest America back a terrorist group like the PLO that kills innocent people when our good president has declared war on terrorism. The main difference between Israel and the PLO is that Israel REACTS where as the PLO INSTIGATES BY TERRORISM. Come on people, use your head...I know it might hurt.
Mark , Los Angeles
The U.S. cannot ask Israel to do what it itself would never do . . . negotiate with terrorists. The path to peace will, ultimately, be achieved only through negotiation, but negotiation should not take place if it validates Palestinian suicide bombings. There is no reason in the world that can justify targeting innocent civilians. Also, two years ago Arafat was offered a deal similiar to the one proposed by Saudi Arabia. He turned it down because he's not so much interested in an independent Palestine as he is in a Palestinian Israel.
Ed, Marblehead
I am tired of the attacks on Bush not being involved enough and dropping the ball etc. How arrogant that line of thinking is! To believe that U.S. intervention is going to stop the last 40+ years of dispute is lazy. These factions hate each other and and to think Bush asking them to hold hands and sing kumbaya is very naive. Clinton, in his desparate attempt for a legitimate legacy tried to broker a peace agreement and what happened? Fighting intensified shortly after! Don't forget, our country is dealing with it's own terrorist threat.
Jay M, Wakefield
The U.S. cannot ask Israel to do what it itself would never do . . . negotiate with terrorists. The path to peace will, ultimately, be achieved only through negotiation, but negotiation should not take place if it validates Palestinian suicide bombings. There is no reason in the world that can justify targeting innocent civilians. Also, two years ago Arafat was offered a deal similiar to the one proposed by Saudi Arabia. He turned it down because he's not so much interested in an independent Palestine as he is in a Palestinian Israel.
Ed, Marblehead
