Very interesting; thanks for posting. I've wondered how this was perceived abroad; of course I mostly have access to US media. Also, it's been busy at work and I haven't had the time to dig through a zillion web pages!
I agree with you about the despair the palestinian people clearly feel; and I think that's a big part of the problem. I don't think you can solely blame Israel though-- that fence, for example isn't built because the bad guys want to suppress the poor palestinians. It's there because the nihilistic death cult that seems to have taken control of a lot of palestinian public life expresses itself by detonating human bombs at supermarkets and restaurants.
I think a lot of the blame falls squarely on Fatah. It's their overwhelming corruption and unwillingness to compromise that led to a lot of this; they deliberately refused to crack down on the terrorism. They used Hamas as a safety valve for their corruption and incompetence, and that made it clear that fatah wasn't going to accompolish anything.
I agree that Israel is over-reacting, and that the results are likely to be tragic. What I don't know is what they should do. Hamas and Hezbollah refuse to accept any compromise. They are deliberately provoking Isreal, and they are targeting civilians.
BTW-- I'm not jewish. From the conversations at work though I suspect I'm probably fairly representative of local public opinion on this one.
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I agree with you about the despair the palestinian people clearly feel; and I think that's a big part of the problem. I don't think you can solely blame Israel though-- that fence, for example isn't built because the bad guys want to suppress the poor palestinians. It's there because the nihilistic death cult that seems to have taken control of a lot of palestinian public life expresses itself by detonating human bombs at supermarkets and restaurants.
I think a lot of the blame falls squarely on Fatah. It's their overwhelming corruption and unwillingness to compromise that led to a lot of this; they deliberately refused to crack down on the terrorism. They used Hamas as a safety valve for their corruption and incompetence, and that made it clear that fatah wasn't going to accompolish anything.
I agree that Israel is over-reacting, and that the results are likely to be tragic. What I don't know is what they should do. Hamas and Hezbollah refuse to accept any compromise. They are deliberately provoking Isreal, and they are targeting civilians.
BTW-- I'm not jewish. From the conversations at work though I suspect I'm probably fairly representative of local public opinion on this one.