Middle East peace talks crisis: Your reaction

sigh, how can there ever be peace with such suborn idiots in the world!
wouldn't have been the end of the world to not build in the west bank for abit longer would it

Israel will never accept peace while the US protects it at the UN.

My reaction?

A level of apathy not reached since the last time we had a "Middle East peace talks crisis" on HYS.........

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How significant is the latest development ?

Totally insignificant, these peace talks were nothing but a propaganda effort from Obama in the run up to the mid-term elections.


What is the future for Middle East peace ?

Palestinians will continue to fire rockets into Israel, Israel will continue to use extreme military force against the Palestinians. This will continue until they're all dead.


What should happen next ?

The Israelis and Palestinians should remove the war mongers from their positions of power and appoint individuals who are willing to negotiate a lasting compromise that is acceptable to the majority of people living in both nations.


Should the US be doing more to bring the two sides together?

The US is unable to bring the two sides together as their government is under the influence of pro-Israeli groups and weapons manufacturers who are making far too much money from the continued fighting in the region.

It's clearly all the Palestinians' fault that Israel refuses to stop building settlements on occupied land.
I'll leave it to the usual suspects to explain why.

The talks are in crisis? What? Who'd have thought that, I mean it's a real shock, who'd have thought that talks between two sides who hate each other would be in crisis, I mean, yes I'm being sarcastic.

As for the talks they are unlikely to get anywhere while Isreal continues to be the school yard bully and America the Teacher turns a blind eye while giving the bully his pocket money.

America went very quiet when Isreal attacked the food convoy didnt it.

Whats is the point of international law when neither the US nor Israel enforce it.


I am sure Palestine has its own poor record but what would you expect from a nation blasted into the stone age.


I want to discuss Assange and the WikiLeaks HYS

Sorry to be a doom merchant, but the two ideologies at play here are fundamentally contradictory. Jewish settlements on the West Bank were dismantled when Ariel Sharon was in power, as part of a 'deal' but that was purely a move on the chessboard, and was politcally motivated, rather than motivated by a genuine desire for peace between the two sides. Subsequent admininstrations have resumed building in these disputed areas. The Israeli people should be furious at their government for using them as bargaining chips. The Israeli government has as much desire for peace in the ME, in the short term, as their Hamas counterparts. For as long as there is a threat to them, the US will continue to write blank cheques for their war machine.

Lets be clear about this, when Netanyahu was PM the first time round he drafted a paper outling the future of the ME, which he presented to the Clinton Whitehouse. That was back in 1995. The document called for 'regime change' in a number of states including Iraq, Iran and Syria. The US and Israel know exactly what's planned for the whole region, and struggle with Hamas and Hizbollah will be resolved when Israel 'resolves' the broader issues, and cuts off their lifelines.

I'm sure the Israeli settlers will make good Palestinian citizens once the two state solution is finally put in place.

"Middle East peace talks crisis: your reaction" is the HYS debate.

Is this about Gaza/Palestine and Israel, again? More whipping up of any remote whiff of problems in this area by all media. That is really helpful, NOT.

Most people living in these areas get on with their lives. Running their business, going to work, educating their children. Working on farms and in hospitals. Co-operating and trading with each other. Inter-marriage; caring for infirm neighbours - whatever their so-called beliefs or alliance.

Is it not time that ALL media focussed on what decent and ordinary people do at the grass roots of society in these areas?

Well, that wouldn't be news for media or those whose only wish is to fracture society - not build upon the best majority.

The policy of the past 30 years has been to colonize, avoid peace, hide behind the U.S. Security Council Veto, and use the threat of nukes to avert any serious challenge. They know well that they have Obama cornered in the House and Senate, so they will continue to run people out of their Jerusalem and West Bank homes till there is nothing left to negotiate. In case anything goes wrong, they now have Eric Cantor promising to block his own President should he dare to slow them. A cowardly American press corp makes the whole cruel game even easier.

It's just as boring as the last few crises.

Honestly, aren't the media bored of talking up the minor civil unrest in Israel and its dependencies?

Will we see this same statement mentioned nine months from now? Just now they are realizing that it's a crisis? No wonder why the people on both sides of the fence seem defeated.

maybe the US and china could make a deal!

US withdraws support of israel
China withdraws support for NK


?

Let's hope this doesn't descend into a religion-based strife-fest like it often does here: this is clearly am ethnicity-based conflict over resources and not a religion-based conflict over resources.

Why do I say that? Because it's always been true here, and it's been a slow war of attrition for decades.

this is serious obstacle.i thought isreal would be bigger than this.for the sake of peace i hope they can find it within themselfs to comply.they would win alot of respect from around the world.it would put them in a stronger position if they would show a willingness to comply with this request and prove the intent on a long lasting peace settlement.then again the same could be said of palistine and the arab world,if they decided to take the lead and go forward with peace talks inspite of the jewish attitude to scupper the peace talks, intresting dont you think???

As I have said earlier U.S is fully controlled by israel, this time again it is proved that U.S is controlled by israel that is why U.S cannot compell israel to stop contructions on the Palestine land grabbed by them illegally. If during peace talk any of the Palestinians brings any type of hinderence than in no time palestine would have been declared as terrorists and Not interested in peace and israel would have started killing them just as they killed 1400 peoples in the name of war against rocket attack. I want to ask israel, U.S, U.K, U.N and other worlds responsible countries "war is against any military or war is against civilian peoples". israelis killed 1400 civilian peoples including innocent childrens, womens and aged peoples in the name of war and U.S, U.K and U.N all kept quiet. Even now no country have the power to ask israel to behave and give to palestinians what all belongs to the Palestnians. In fact palestinians are asking what all belongs to them and are not asking any thing extra.

Given the preconditions and constraints that appear so unyielding, what do they find to talk about?

The US action (or rather, inaction) is not helpful. Very not helpful.

This should be called Israel and Palestinian talks, because there is no reference to Iran , Lebanon and their helping of Hezbollah.

The Freeze issue is a red hearing, when Israel did the freeze the Palestinians made other excuses not to make concession.

For stability and to protect religous and historic sight Jerusulem must be under Israel control. Under various moslem lead leadership and control sights are desecrated.

2500 years down, only another two or three thousand left. Look on the bright side! As an alternative, pick up a dictionary, and read what it says about insanity and expecting a different result. It's pretty easy to understand this, for those of us who are NOT insane : ) By the way, Merry Christmas to all. Seems thats where it all started, or at least Phase II, did. (Thats the New Testament ) for those who have not read any of Part I : )

Surely the world would be better served if the US just stayed out of it.

Middle East peace talks in crisis: This is news? Peace talks have been one endless crisis because Palestine is talking to the wind.
There was never a hope that Israel could keep on usurping land in Gaza (which it subsequently dumped) or in the West Bank. Look at the map that BBC has provided; it is pock-marked with illegal Israeli Settlements. Could anyone make a state that included all these pock marks?
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas says Middle East peace talks are in more crisis following Israel's refusal to stop building settlements on "occupied" land. There were never, are never, and will never be prospects for the Palestinian People to have a viable state - NONE.
Mr Abbas' comments come hours after the US admitted THAT IT HAD FAILED to get Israel to renew its settlement curbs.
Excuse me?
How can the US fail in curbing settlements?
All the US needs to do is freeze its exorbitant contributions to Israel (money, military equipment, helicopters and other planes) and cease and desist its unconditional support.
In other words, the US should freeze all support until Israel freezes all illegal settlements.
Who's running this piece of history: The United States or Israel. It's beginning to look like the US is the dog and Israel is the tail that wags the dog. Why else the unconditional support, no matter what Israel does?
Mr. Abbas, there's nothing more to talk about. There never was anyone to talk to because Israel was present only in body while its mind was conniving on the next piece of land to steal, or where to build a wall, or how to dump its wastage onto Palestinian Land, or how to get Palestinians off "Jewish" land.
The real question is: Now that?
Will Turkey, Iran, and other Arab countries finally put their mouths where they say their hearts have always been? Will they bring pressure to bear...because we all know the United States will do nothing with its spoiled brat, called Israel.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967, settling close to 500,000 Jews in more than 120 settlements. They are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this. I guess because God's law supercedes and the Torah says that God has given his chosen, Jewish People all the land between the Nile and the Euphrates.

Is this same old story still going on?i have been listening to this continual scenario since i first started listening to the news in the good old 70s.Quite frankly i am bored with it.

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Please stop banging on about Isreal being supported by the USA and look at the whole picture. BOTH sides are being supported by outside interests who have hidden agendas.
Isreal is a tiny state who, history has shown, is prepared to work what lands it holds. (Check what was being done with the land before 1945).
Isreal and Palestine could work out their problems if they were left to do so without the rest of the world using them as pawns. At least they have a conmmon currency, - the shekel.

Comment 5:- The US is unable to bring the two sides together as their government is under the influence of pro-Israeli groups and weapons manufacturers who are making far too much money from the continued fighting in the region.
Precisely,and Israel is practising the age old ideology of 'liebensraum'.They will not stop until all Palestinians are either dead or existing as refugees in Jordan or other neighbouring country. Then when Israel has acheived it's immediate goal and the dust has just about settled, it will have a border dispute with one of it's neighbours, use it as an excuse to invade ( with the help of the 'good old US of A') and then carry out more settlements ad infinitum ad nausiam!

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21. MagicKirin wrote:
The Freeze issue is a red hearing, when Israel did the freeze the Palestinians made other excuses not to make concession.
For stability and to protect religous and historic sight Jerusulem must be under Israel control. Under various moslem lead leadership and control sights are desecrated.
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What concessions can Palestinians make? let me guess... completely vacate the ever shrinking land (currently approx 20%) that they are cramped in the refugee camps.
And yes... leave the non Jewish religious/historical sights in the hands of settlers... they will take "real good" care of them. You seem to suffer from selective amnesia as you don't remember what settlers did to Joseph's tomb and some mosques in the West Bank and Hebron over the years.

If anyone serious about that Is-Ra-El is going to make a concession towards anyone than think again...

"Isreal"

Sure.

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How significant is the latest development?
Predictable and insignificant. Peace will require compromise, which, Israel has no intention of making. If you can just walkover the Palestinians to get what you want, why care about what they want (read what's theirs)?

What is the future for Middle East peace?
No present. No future. One of the two will have to be annihilated.

What should happen next?
US should do nothing, leave the region alone, stop feeding this parasite and focus on its own problems. Only then things might improve.

Should the US be doing more to bring the two sides together?
See above. It’s already done enough!


By the way this is the first time I’ve seen the Palestine/Israel issue being brought up to TRY and divert the public’s attention. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.

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I'm waiting for the first comment about antisemitism. It nearly always comes up when this subject is on the boards.

Boring the whole subject.

Israelis, you want peace. Then stop building illegal settlements and withdraw to your pre existing borders

Palestinians, You want peace stop provoking the Israelis and don't fire your rockets.

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They are both as bad as one another but Isreal are making things worse by continuing to build settlements on land which is not theirs. I believe that WW3 will begin in the Middle East if things don't change. I suspect that Palastine's neighbours will be keeping a close eye on things and that everyone should watch out for one of them to take matters into their own hands (by this I mean Iran). If this happens then WW3 starts!!!

What is the only prospect left for peace?
A one-state solution!
I can see no other way to go since Israel has "settled" so many important parts of Palestine's potential state. It is a situation that Israel herself has brought upon herself. Israel cannot drive out all the Palestinians; it cannot kill all the Palestinians (though it seems to be trying hard to starve all Palestinians in Gaza).
A one-state solution would entail: citizenship and equal rights, without regard to ethnicity or religion.
In November 2009, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat proposed the one-state solution IF ISRAEL DID NOT STOP ITS SETTLEMENTS on occupied Palestinian land. The "one-state solution" would unite Israel, the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Problem for Israel: Israel would lose its "Jewish State". Support among Israeli Jews, and Jews generally, for a one-state solution is low.
Why?
Because Palestinians would constitute an electoral majority in a bi-national state: the ultimate threat to the very raison d'etre for Israel. A one-state solution has been endorsed by Israeli Arabs.
But Palestinian in the West Bank and Gaza are split.
The Palestinian Authority adheres adamantly to a two-state model.
In spite of objections on both sides some Israeli Jews and Palestinians have come to believe that it may come to pass. Among supporters on the one-state solution are Muammar al-Gaddafi of Libya, Israeli writer Dan Gavron, and Israeli historian Ilan Pappé, all of whom cite the endless expansion of the Israeli Settlements, especially in the West Bank, as the rationale for bi-nationalism.
The area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River was never "unoccupied" as Israelis are fond of saying. They say they came into an empty land and made it flower. But Israel was occupied all through history including the Ottoman Empire. In fact, even in the days of Moses, Israelites had to give the boot to the Perrizites, the Canaanites, the Jebusites and various other peoples already living in Israel.
The one-state solution still leaves the huge problem of the right of return for Palestinian refugees. Without a doubt Muslim population would become the ruling majority.
Still, I contend that Israeli Jews would have greater security in such a state, at peace with its own citizens and its neighbors.
A last thought, the west is fond of saying that Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East, but it is not a democracy: Jews have rights; Palestinians have no rights. Since when is this democratic?

We should congratulate the Palestinians on yet another propaganda victory handed to them on a plate by what must be one of the most moronic governments ever to afflict Israel.

We have seen the "leaders" spending the last year manoevering to get the other side blamed for the failure of the talks.

Firstly the PA wasted the 10 month freeze - and then all that Bibi had to do was to agree to a freeze in exchange for Palestinian declaration that the aim of the talks is to end up with a state of Palestine as the national home of the Palestinian people, living in peace with Israel as the national home of the Jewish people and for the Palestinians to live up to their obligation to stop anti-semitic indoctrination worthy of goebbels in its school books. Two simple demands that the PA would never agree to.

The real problem is that both the PA and the Israeli government have a duty not to leave a stone unturned in the search for peace - a duty they have both failed to live up to.

With all of my respect:
Myth can't be a legal base to gain materialistic advantages.
Myth may serve mysteries only.
Those who suffer from related syndrome may have free, professional help.

Why do people keep referring to the situation as though the Palestinians have somehow had a hand in starting this conflagration? Palestine existed with both Jews and Arabs as part of the populace. They both lived in harmony until, following the Holocaust the West in some form of collective guilt for not stopping it sooner ( as if they could), agreed to give Palestine exclusively to the Jews.
Now that's a way to start a war! And lo and behold it came to pass....
Give the Palestinians their own state and there may be, just may be if their resentment has'nt run too deep, a chsnce for peace in the middle east.

Same story, different decade.

Did anyone actually think there'd be progress?

One of the few things I learned from the Wikileaks documents was that behind closed doors with Middle Eastern leaders never do they even mention the Palestinians.
While I am sure all the Leftist "haters" here at the BBC will be throwing proverbial stones at Israel they willing ignore the arms buildup in the Gaza strip and Hamas intransigence and also the re-arming of Hezbollah by Iran under the eyes of a toothless UN and their threat to take over Lebanon should the UN indict their leaders for the death of Hareri. Long Live Israel
As to Obama's efforts, everything he touches turns to crud....

I'm inclined to say "a plague on both your houses". Furthermore I suggest we implement it. Resettle the entire population of the Israel/Palestine/Lebanon area elsewhere and use the area as a radioactive/toxic waste dump. Maybe in 1000 years or so when it's cooled down, the descendants of the inhabitants will have agreed a fair way to manage repopulating it -- assuming it hasn't vanished under the rising sea levels by then.

Obama started this fiasco with a few ham handed statements directed at Israel publicly from his teleprompter podium, things which would have been much better said in private. He then went on to publicly make promises to the Palestinians things, which he could not deliver. After stirring the pot Obama promptly walked away from it to simmer and has not addressed the issue in months nor involved himself in the process. I guess he thought some magic fu-fu dust would fall out of his sleeves and everyone would bask in his magnificence and come to agreements on things that have eluded them for a few thousand years.
Ah the magic that is Barack Obama, (Nobel Peace Prize Winner)

They might as well talk about pea stalks 'cause it's all utter kidology...

As we are all affected by this on-going tragedy, we surely need to be pro-active with both parties. However, given Israeli resistance to UN mandates surely the EU should simply block any imports from Israel and work with others around the world to impose such measures. At the same time keep sanctions tight against nations playing mischief on the Arab side. The child of the US lacks parental guidance. Now they need a spanking.

Abbas does not have the real support of the Palestenians, he may be a nice person but, in Islam, retaliation should be actively marketed under the flag of Jihadism. Even though the Palestenians will NEVER win any browny points for their anger, destruction and hatred for Israel, they are still very much the way of life. The construction of Jewish settlement is well within the territory that Israel has under its control, I do not think that the Palestenian accept this border, the tension goes up and down based on the population explosion within the Palestenian families. There is NO investment within Palestenian held land for education, better human rights, rights for women, better housing, hospitals and job opportunities, all the kids are taught is hatred, more violence and behavior that is not conducive to civil societies based on laws, courts and appeals. This is not a Abbas problem but a problem of the mind and upbringing.

Comment at # 44. I must confess to dismay at your parting remark, which I assume is also aimed at the USA generally. As I have previously stated if the USA were to immediately stop ALL support of Israel, then Israel would,I guess within 50 years, probably less, disappear beneath the desert sands and peace would once again reign in the Middle East.

A two state solution is no longer a viable option as Israel continues it's land grab through illegal settlements. A better solution at this juncture is a one state solution in which the occupied territories would be officially annexed to Israel with all residents immediately gaining full Israeli citizenship. There must also be strict laws against discrimination against Muslims and Christians, equitable spending of tax revenue in minority areas, and equal rights for all.

*
ISRAEL WILL NOT MEND ITS WAYS. WORLD HAS TO BOYCOTT ISRAELI GOODS AND SERVICES OTHERWISE ISRAEL WILL DESTROY THIS WORLD.

47. At 3:59pm on 08 Dec 2010, MeOnVenus wrote:
They might as well talk about pea stalks 'cause it's all utter kidology...


--------------------------------------------
That's brilliant :)

"The middle east Pea stalks have broken down. A spokesman for hamas said "Problem is that peas are just not that popular here....""

Time to look at the 'one state' solution. Make West Bank and Gaza part of Israel, give everyone an equal vote, and allow palestinian refugees right to return to their homelands. If Israel wants this land so bad, let them have it, but they must respect the human rights of the people living there, and give them an equal say in its democracy.

*
PEACE HAS TO BE IMPOSED AND AMERICA SHOULD STOP USING VETO-POWER/SHOULD NOT ARM ISRAEL ANY MORE .

ISRAEL CAME INTO BEING THROUGH UN RESOLUTION .NOW UNO MUST DECLARE PALESTINE AS AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY .

Negotiations are give and take.
As long as all the pressure is in Israel to Give and Palestinians just allowed to Take, no progress will be made.
Israel has publicly accepted a two-state solution, a very painful concession, but the Palestinians have yet to accept the existence of a Jewish state.
Don't try and claim that the PLO accepted Israels right to exist. What they say in English for gullible Westerners in not what they say in Arabic to their own people. The PLO charter was never modified and still calls for Israels destruction.
Why should Israel negotiate its own suicide? Would you?
The Western media, especially the BBC, contribute to the problem by deliberate distortion of the news. Not just by what they say but also what they don't say. Israel is consistently presented in a negative light and Palestinians as the poor downtrodden people.
Just go back a few weeks and scan the Middle East articles. Palestinian outrages are hardly mentioned, if at all, while Israeli actions are blown up out of all proportion.

Believe it or not, I predicted these talks would fail. Gosh, I must be psychic!

40. At 3:15pm on 08 Dec 2010, Miche Norman wrote:
We should congratulate the Palestinians on yet another propaganda victory handed to them on a plate by what must be one of the most moronic governments ever to afflict Israel.


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Quit the drama and be realistic.

They had nothing to gain by reimplementing the freeze. For what? A vague promise of the possibility of a future promise from Abbas? Hamas hates Abbas. His word is worthless. Arafat was idolized and even he wasn't able to deliver on his promises. These negotiations were a joke from day one.

Both sides have turned the situation into a cash cow. There won't be progress anytime soon.

Save America, drop Israel.

The Muslim world will never unite into the Caliphate. The Sunni/Shia rift will prevent it. The Cold War is over and we don't need a client state to counter Soviet client states. We have our chess pieces in Iraq and other bases all over the Middle East to secure our energy interests. Backing Israel was a minor issue in peaceful times as it didn't require any great sacrifice from Americans and kept American Jews happy and politicans coffers full. This dynamic is now out dated. It's better to have a peaceful Middle East so that the flow of energy can continue. Let Israel fold-let the Arabs rejoyce-whatever. Then continue along and let the Sunni/Shia divide intensify....and then divide and conquer.

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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

As long as extreme right wing politicians dominate the government, there will be no resolution to the Palestinian problem. These politicians are bent on annexing the West Bank and making it part of Israel. Their politics is based on religious ideology. The world needs to lean on them and make them their extreme views.

*57 /

PLEASE DON'T BLAME BBC. ISRAEL IS OCCUPYING LAND SINCE -1967/VERY MUCH ACTIVE IN MAKING FALSE PASSPORTS /NOT ACCEPTING UN RESOLUTIONS AND FINDINGS

ISRAEL HAS BEEN KILLING THE VOICE OF MAJORITY WITH THE SWORD OF AMERICAN VETO .ISRAEL HAS CONVERTED GAZA INTO PRISON .

All Islamic Countries surrounding Israel should recognise Israel as the Sovereign Nation. For this the only country which can take initiative is Palestine. For the sake of mutual peace and harmony with Israel and for the peace progress of all Paletinians this step should be initiated by Palestine only. This can guarantee peace in the entire Middle East and in the World.

The world must respect the birth right of the Palestinian people, only then there will be peace in the middle east. Zionist must keep in mind by respecting the birth right of the palestinian people they will have peace and prosperity in Isreal.

*63/


WELL WRITTEN . HISTORY AND DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCES SUPPORT YOUR POST.

Comment #62:- Jewish extremists, radicalized; the original terrorists of the middle east 1946.
You do not lie! My father was in Palestine with the British Army 1928 to 1937 and told me that the Jews and Palestians lived in social harmony. After Dunkirk and D-Day he was not fit enough to be a combatant so, fortunately, did not get posted back out there again. However some of his friends were and having survived the Hitlerites they succombed to murder by Jewish terrorists. Fact!

This HYS has now been on this site since 11.40 this morning and yet it has received only 69 comments so far.
It’s a sad but true fact this situation in the middle east has been going on for so long now and has been so over exposed by the media and others that most people are sick to the back teeth of hearing about it and just do not care anymore.

Nothing over there is going to change anytime soon, too much hatred.

The same is true about Africa and its people, after 60 years of “feed the world” and charities pleading we in the west get the impression that nothing has changed and so people just get used to it, get fed up hearing and seeing it and just move on to what they consider to be more important issues in their lives.

Sad I know but that’s life.

Precisely as predicted. The Palestinians are simply playing the decades old game of pretending to negotiate, in order to garner financial aid from foolish countries.

That was totally predicted, and there is zero surprise at the failure of negotiations.

Israel has a right to live in peace, why do Palistinians persist in firing rockets across the border?

Sadly the first priority of the Zionists is the further acquisition, read theft, of land and not the achievement of peace.

The persecuted of the European holocaust have become the perpetrators of the Middle East holocaust.

There is little prospect of the situation ending in anything except absolute disaster for many people all around the middle east and perhaps the world. To talk to many of the people involved, on all sides, one needs a supply of very long handled spoons.

53. At 4:25pm on 08 Dec 2010, RubbishGirl wrote:

"The middle east Pea stalks have broken down. A spokesman for hamas said "Problem is that peas are just not that popular here....""

__________________________________________________________________

Why are some people just SO SO SO cynical!?!?!?

A joint effort from all parties properly focused on the key points of developing these pea stalks could seriously reduce the level of mistrust from all sides by concentrating everybody's attention on this important non-confrontational area, with all parties able to make constructive contributions and realise their common interests.

I dare anyone to challenge the validity of this approach.
Come on HYS punters! Give it your best shot!

Americans must still be asleep. I don't see the usual clap-trap about how great Israel is or how how everyone here is anti-semetic.

The Palestinians are neither a race of people nor a culture they are simply the last refugees of WW II who refuse to accept the outcome of it, much like Japanese soldiers who lived on in caves until the 1960's.
They were complicit in trying to eradicate the Jews along with Hitler and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and as such have gotten the short end of the stick there which is fitting, had they gained the upper hand no area in this region not Gaza, the West Bank, the East Bank, or any other Bank would have been safe for the Jews. They have for 60 years been living on the charity provided by Europe and America plying on our guilt for their suffering while never acknowledging the absolute failure of their own leadership. The sooner we in the West stop paying their bills and putting up with their disingenuous peace proposals the sooner they will come to the table for real peace plans or face annihilation.

Our Creator has chosen a people “Israel” to oppose, or support His existence.
Israel is the only nation which can claim a territory on this planet Earth.
The Creator’s wisdom shows us:
LORD, I KNOW THAT THE WAY OF MAN IS NOT IN HIMSELF:
IT IS NOT IN MAN THAT WALKETH TO DIRECT HIS STEPS.
The evidence of the above we can see all around us!
Carl.

So,the Middle East peace are in crisis.What is new about that?
When ever there had been peacetalks they where in crisis,the
Bombing and shooting was going on,while they set together to
talk,to find a solution,how to make peace.
The Israelis keep building in occupied Land,the palistins,
keep shooting Rockeds and send suicidebombers It seems to be a
neverending Story.

Personally, I'm just tired of hearing about the Palestinian Israeli issue as I'm sure both the people of Israel and Palestine are tired of the situation itself.

But what amazes me is that the Israeli government has not complied with the US request to halt the settlement building (which is illegal under international law).

This also reminds me of a little story which in my mind personifies the Israeli attitude regarding the whole peace process. When Saudi Arabia deployed it's fleet of F16s in Tabuk (northern Saudi Arabia) Israel was quick to complain to the US that this was against the preconditions set forth in the purchase agreement for said aircraft. Which specifically says that Saudi Arabia is not allowed to deploy US built/bought aircraft within 15 minutes flying time of Israeli air space. When US officials brought that up with the Saudi government, their reply was that when the agreement was signed Tabuk was not within 15 minutes of Israel and that it was the Israeli border that has changed since then, not the Saudi border.

Israel has to stop this expansionist attitude and agree to live within the 1967 borders. This has been set out in UN resolution after UN resolution and has been accepted by the Arab League as a basis of any future peace agreement. The Arabs have accepted that Israel isn't going anywhere, isn't it time that Israel accepted that neither are the Palestinians??

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The Palestinians are the descendents of Esau, while the Israelites are the descendents of his younger brother Jacob.
Therefore, the solution to the situation between the two nations Esau and Jacob is for the descendents of Esau to serve the descendents of Jacob. I.e. to exist as two nations, but under the ruler ship of Israel.
Carl.

I find it hard to comprehend that people who suffered genocide under the Nazis are using the same odious tactics on Palestinians.

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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

If these settlements also house the Palestinians, there would be no crisis as peace is achieved by mutual accommodation.
Such land aggression or erosion by Israel only stops when the U.S. recognizes Palestine as a separate sovereign state. We don't see that would happen anytime soon. If one has no entity, one claims no territories.

23. At 1:57pm on 08 Dec 2010, suzie127 wrote:
Surely the world would be better served if the US just stayed out of it.

I think many Americans would agree. As a people we are becoming more Isolationist all the time, just like we were in the 1930s. So good luck with the Chinese.

39. At 3:11pm on 08 Dec 2010, BluesBerry wrote:

What is the only prospect left for peace?
A one-state solution!
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Will work only if it's an apartheid state.

Time to stop the charade. It has always been land for peace for as long as I can remember.
When the party that's supposed to give up land keeps grabbing more and more with impunity, what more is there to negotiate?

Stop this HYS now and bring back WikiLeaks.
At least I know my comments won't be wasted.

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Israel has to stop this illegal theft of land.It's them who are the road block.How do they get away with all these illegal opperations.Now a rabbi is trying to stop sale or rental of property to non Jew's.Please,am I missing someting here?The US gives them hundreds of million's in military aid to a population of 7,000,000.My heart goes out to the Palestinian's and the Jewish people,and there are on both sides,those who know the score on this issue but are powerless to implement change

How can you let the dog keep biting when you have it on a leash? The USA - MY country (???!!) - has the unilateral ability to shut down settlements. The average $1600 EVERY AMERICAN TAXPAYER pays Israel? Send it to Haiti. Israel has the same value to, and the same effect on, the US as a large splinter has to a hand or foot. Soon infection sets in, and decay. The only answer? CUT IT OFF! C'mon, Julian - break out some of the US - Israel Wikileaks material. We're both very deserving of it.

No sides = no wars.
Nowhere.
Never.
It really is that simple.
Unfortunately, people are too frightened to understand simple.
End fear = end war.

When I looked at your map of the West Bank, it seemed to me that I was looking at a terminal cancer of the lungs, so many green dots of the illegal settlements and the part forbidden of access to the Palestinians.
What is there left for a peace agreement? This is a most ridiculous situation, I would call it a joke. a very ancient, long winded joke!

We seem to forget that Israel has been attacked so many times by the Arabs over the last 50 years - of course Israel is skeptical of any deals the Arabs may offer

Peace will come when Palestine Recognizes Israel and stops sending rockets over the border to kill Innocent civilians and launching suicide attacks on cafes, buses, weddings, synagogue, etc.

And when Israel stops building new settlements in pre-1967 borders

Barack Obama has been a humongous disappointment.

The so-called "Peace Talks" have simply been an Israeli ploy to continually delude the U.S. and others that it has been sincere about peace. The actual Israeli objectives very much appear to be its colonisation of the West Bank and the isolation and starvation of the people of the Gaza Strip, likely in hopes that they all will emigrate or die so that Israel can assume total control of that as well.

Dear Carl, it seems quite extraordinary that a human being with a brain capable of reflexion, thus compassion, can have such a vision of a world entirely belonging to one group of people while seeing the rest of "it" submitted to this group's will...? Doesn't that sound a bit like...can you remember some... other times, other places...?
As for myself, I found a bit rich, not to say a tad hypocrite to hide behind old formulas taken out of a book, in the instance the Bible, to excuse all evils! Poor God used and abused as one sees fit! An endless cruel game.

Read an intruiging article about how Abbas is now considering disbanding the PA and telling the Israelis to pay for and organise the occupation from their own resources, and will receive no help from the occupied.

The PA's ultimate act of resistance
https://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2010/12/201012761934693578.html

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has said that he is presiding over an authority without any authority and that the very existence of the Palestinian Authority (PA) has made Israel's occupation "the cheapest ever".

Honestly, they're like two kids squabbling over a toy. What do you do in such a situation? You take it away from them until they start behaving like civilised human beings. What does that mean in practical terms? No idea. Sorry.

Israel does not want peace. Israel is able to pretty much do whatever it likes by continually playing the victim role. It's politically incorrect for governments so tell Israel to behave. Israel does not want to change that. They have an endless "Get out of jail" card which they use constantly to avoid having to answer for their bad behaviour.

I want no more of my taxes spent on this silliness. If they want to fight then let them fight. If they really wanted peace they would have achieved it themselves by now. I am sick of hearing about it.