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	<title>Comments on: Fatah-Hamas reconciliation key for Palestinian strategy to end the occupation</title>
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	<description>Independent commentary and news from Israel &#38; Palestine</description>
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		<title>By: Leonid Levin</title>
		<link>http://972mag.com/fatah-hamas-reconciliation-key-for-palestinian-strategy-to-end-the-occupation/13907/comment-page-1/#comment-9498</link>
		<dc:creator>Leonid Levin</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 May 2011 07:33:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://972mag.com/?p=13907#comment-9498</guid>
		<description>@Michael W.: I&#039;m not quite sure what you mean. Will you elaborate?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>@Michael W.: I&#8217;m not quite sure what you mean. Will you elaborate?</p>
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		<title>By: Michael W.</title>
		<link>http://972mag.com/fatah-hamas-reconciliation-key-for-palestinian-strategy-to-end-the-occupation/13907/comment-page-1/#comment-9480</link>
		<dc:creator>Michael W.</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 May 2011 23:46:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://972mag.com/?p=13907#comment-9480</guid>
		<description>Leonid, (regarding no. 5) have you ever heard of the Jerusalem syndrome? 
When it comes to Israel, everyone is a prophet, both left and right.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Leonid, (regarding no. 5) have you ever heard of the Jerusalem syndrome?<br />
When it comes to Israel, everyone is a prophet, both left and right.</p>
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		<title>By: Leonid Levin</title>
		<link>http://972mag.com/fatah-hamas-reconciliation-key-for-palestinian-strategy-to-end-the-occupation/13907/comment-page-1/#comment-9476</link>
		<dc:creator>Leonid Levin</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 May 2011 23:19:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://972mag.com/?p=13907#comment-9476</guid>
		<description>Ben Israel,

You&#039;ve raised so many points that I can only hope to answer them all:
1. About all people of the world wanting justice and peace. How do I know that? Because I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t. The spirit of animosity and war in Europe is long gone. Some members of the elites still use war as an instrument to achieve their goals and use propaganda to fool their populations. But to ordinary people, there are no gains to be had out of war. Yet they are the ones who pay heavily in terms of human lives, taxes, moral corruption or bad conscience.
2. Most Muslims that I’ve met want to get on with their lives and have basically the same hopes and aspirations for their future as we do. True that some fanatics take their religion literally (just as any other fanatics, including Jewish ones), but as I said earlier, if Muslims are treated justly and with respect, if they are allowed opportunities and responsibilities for their own lives, there won’t be any feeding ground for extremism, which it will be marginalized, as it is in the West now. So I think a long-term peace is possible, as it is possible in between Germany, Britain, France and Russia (once sworn enemies), between the British and the Americans, between India and Pakistan, between the Chinese and Japanese, etc.
3. I don’t mean any particular strand of Zionism. I mean what I said: Jewish fanaticism and nationalism, no matter left or right or in the middle. I am in favor of one secular state with Jews, Palestinians, Russians and others living together, having equal rights, opportunities and responsibilities for the affairs of their communities and their country.  In fact, I’m in favor of our planet as one big country, with all the people of the world as its citizens. The notion of a state dominated by a single ethnic or religious group is becoming increasingly outdated and will probably vanish as the people of the world grow increasingly secularized and intermarry. But that’s a bit too far in the future.
4. I’m afraid you’re not talking about the moral equivalence of Jewish and Islamic extremism, but about quantitative equivalence. Morally, both are equally reprehensible, just as Christian or Hindu fanaticism. If the radical extremists have their way, it’s not only the end of Israel, but the end of Christianity, Islam and the rest of the world. Yes, Jews are a small minority, but so are the Palestinians, the Baltic nations, the Portuguese, the Swiss, the Roma, the Georgians, the Chechens, etc. Lives of many of these people have been put on the line. This doesn’t mean they need to go ahead and occupy the lands that have been assigned to them according to some ancient texts and subjugate the people living on those lands, in order to preserve their culture and their lives.
5. Yeah, I agree that Jewish nationalism is in ascendancy. You say that Israel is going to remain a Zionist state. My question is: for how much longer? Things change, balances of power shift, empires crash, states disappear. What happened to the Jewish nationalists throughout history? The Maccabees, the Zealots, the Bar Kochbeans? They died and have almost taken with them to the grave all the Jewish people. The consequences of their nationalism were disastrous: the Jewish state was lost for two thousand years, Jewish people killed on a massive scale, sold to slavery, scattered. We survived not because of these heroes, but in spite of them, and thanks to some wise people who chose to devote themselves to study and learning and not to war. So if these heroes are seen as role models for the present-day Israel and if lessons of history are to be taken seriously, the Jewish nationalism may become a recipe for self-destruction.
6. You say: “Palestinians have repeatedly turned down offers of peace and partition. They brought the Nakba on themselves, Israel has no responsiblity for it whatsoever.” Palestinians were not consulted, but asked to give up great parts of their lands. According to the plan, the Jews were to win land and international recognition, but the Palestinians were only to lose land. If descendants of ancient Canaanites come to you in Israel and say: “You know, according to our book, we are entitled to this land, so we are going to establish our state here with our laws and traditions. You can either stay and submit to us, or move somewhere else.” I’m sure, Ben, you’ll gladly accept their terms.
7. “Justice” means Arabs recognizing Jewish rights to self-determination in Eretz Israel.” Well, that’s a kind of one-sided justice, which in itself is injustice.
8. “they lost their land because they initiated a genocidal war of agression” Yes it was a war, abhorrent as any war is, but it was a war against perceived injustice, a war for the lands of their towns and villages. Israel’s response was at least as genocidal and aggressive.
9. “Israel is prepared to give the Palestinians far more if they will give up terrorism and agree to live in peace with Israel.” Well, the PA has given up terrorism long ago, but I’m not quite sure what they’ve got in exchange. The position of the Israeli negotiators and Tzipi Livni, as revealed in the “Palestinian Papers” indicates quite the opposite: the Israeli side was prepared to give up nothing in return for major concessions.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ben Israel,</p>
<p>You&#8217;ve raised so many points that I can only hope to answer them all:<br />
1. About all people of the world wanting justice and peace. How do I know that? Because I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t. The spirit of animosity and war in Europe is long gone. Some members of the elites still use war as an instrument to achieve their goals and use propaganda to fool their populations. But to ordinary people, there are no gains to be had out of war. Yet they are the ones who pay heavily in terms of human lives, taxes, moral corruption or bad conscience.<br />
2. Most Muslims that I’ve met want to get on with their lives and have basically the same hopes and aspirations for their future as we do. True that some fanatics take their religion literally (just as any other fanatics, including Jewish ones), but as I said earlier, if Muslims are treated justly and with respect, if they are allowed opportunities and responsibilities for their own lives, there won’t be any feeding ground for extremism, which it will be marginalized, as it is in the West now. So I think a long-term peace is possible, as it is possible in between Germany, Britain, France and Russia (once sworn enemies), between the British and the Americans, between India and Pakistan, between the Chinese and Japanese, etc.<br />
3. I don’t mean any particular strand of Zionism. I mean what I said: Jewish fanaticism and nationalism, no matter left or right or in the middle. I am in favor of one secular state with Jews, Palestinians, Russians and others living together, having equal rights, opportunities and responsibilities for the affairs of their communities and their country.  In fact, I’m in favor of our planet as one big country, with all the people of the world as its citizens. The notion of a state dominated by a single ethnic or religious group is becoming increasingly outdated and will probably vanish as the people of the world grow increasingly secularized and intermarry. But that’s a bit too far in the future.<br />
4. I’m afraid you’re not talking about the moral equivalence of Jewish and Islamic extremism, but about quantitative equivalence. Morally, both are equally reprehensible, just as Christian or Hindu fanaticism. If the radical extremists have their way, it’s not only the end of Israel, but the end of Christianity, Islam and the rest of the world. Yes, Jews are a small minority, but so are the Palestinians, the Baltic nations, the Portuguese, the Swiss, the Roma, the Georgians, the Chechens, etc. Lives of many of these people have been put on the line. This doesn’t mean they need to go ahead and occupy the lands that have been assigned to them according to some ancient texts and subjugate the people living on those lands, in order to preserve their culture and their lives.<br />
5. Yeah, I agree that Jewish nationalism is in ascendancy. You say that Israel is going to remain a Zionist state. My question is: for how much longer? Things change, balances of power shift, empires crash, states disappear. What happened to the Jewish nationalists throughout history? The Maccabees, the Zealots, the Bar Kochbeans? They died and have almost taken with them to the grave all the Jewish people. The consequences of their nationalism were disastrous: the Jewish state was lost for two thousand years, Jewish people killed on a massive scale, sold to slavery, scattered. We survived not because of these heroes, but in spite of them, and thanks to some wise people who chose to devote themselves to study and learning and not to war. So if these heroes are seen as role models for the present-day Israel and if lessons of history are to be taken seriously, the Jewish nationalism may become a recipe for self-destruction.<br />
6. You say: “Palestinians have repeatedly turned down offers of peace and partition. They brought the Nakba on themselves, Israel has no responsiblity for it whatsoever.” Palestinians were not consulted, but asked to give up great parts of their lands. According to the plan, the Jews were to win land and international recognition, but the Palestinians were only to lose land. If descendants of ancient Canaanites come to you in Israel and say: “You know, according to our book, we are entitled to this land, so we are going to establish our state here with our laws and traditions. You can either stay and submit to us, or move somewhere else.” I’m sure, Ben, you’ll gladly accept their terms.<br />
7. “Justice” means Arabs recognizing Jewish rights to self-determination in Eretz Israel.” Well, that’s a kind of one-sided justice, which in itself is injustice.<br />
8. “they lost their land because they initiated a genocidal war of agression” Yes it was a war, abhorrent as any war is, but it was a war against perceived injustice, a war for the lands of their towns and villages. Israel’s response was at least as genocidal and aggressive.<br />
9. “Israel is prepared to give the Palestinians far more if they will give up terrorism and agree to live in peace with Israel.” Well, the PA has given up terrorism long ago, but I’m not quite sure what they’ve got in exchange. The position of the Israeli negotiators and Tzipi Livni, as revealed in the “Palestinian Papers” indicates quite the opposite: the Israeli side was prepared to give up nothing in return for major concessions.</p>
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		<title>By: aristeides</title>
		<link>http://972mag.com/fatah-hamas-reconciliation-key-for-palestinian-strategy-to-end-the-occupation/13907/comment-page-1/#comment-9454</link>
		<dc:creator>aristeides</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 May 2011 18:38:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://972mag.com/?p=13907#comment-9454</guid>
		<description>Ben Israel clearly describes how he is the problem, clinging to self-exculpating falsehoods.

But the most false statement, the one his own words contradict, is the claim that Israel is prepared to &quot;give&quot; the Palestinians anything &quot;if they will give up terrorism and agree to live in peace with Israel.&quot;

Because Ben Israel denies at the same time that this is possible.  According to Ben Israel, &quot;the Arabs&quot; will NEVER &quot;give up terrorism&quot; and &quot;agree to live in peace.&quot;  Even when they do.  So Israel will conveniently never have to give up anything it has taken. The very last thing he wants is peace.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ben Israel clearly describes how he is the problem, clinging to self-exculpating falsehoods.</p>
<p>But the most false statement, the one his own words contradict, is the claim that Israel is prepared to &#8220;give&#8221; the Palestinians anything &#8220;if they will give up terrorism and agree to live in peace with Israel.&#8221;</p>
<p>Because Ben Israel denies at the same time that this is possible.  According to Ben Israel, &#8220;the Arabs&#8221; will NEVER &#8220;give up terrorism&#8221; and &#8220;agree to live in peace.&#8221;  Even when they do.  So Israel will conveniently never have to give up anything it has taken. The very last thing he wants is peace.</p>
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		<title>By: Ben Israel</title>
		<link>http://972mag.com/fatah-hamas-reconciliation-key-for-palestinian-strategy-to-end-the-occupation/13907/comment-page-1/#comment-9433</link>
		<dc:creator>Ben Israel</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 May 2011 15:01:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://972mag.com/?p=13907#comment-9433</guid>
		<description>Aristeide-The Palestinians have repeatedly turned down offers of peace and partition. They brought the Nakba on themselves, Israel has no responsiblity for it  whatsoever. &quot;Justice&quot; means Arabs recognizing Jewish rights to self-determination in Eretz Israel.  The Palestinians were NOT &quot;unjustly pushed aside&quot;, they lost their land because they initiated a genocidal war of agression against which they fortunately lost. The Palestinians are NOT &#039;oppressed&#039;. Israel is prepared to give the Palestinians far more if they will give up terrorism and agree to live in peace with Israel.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Aristeide-The Palestinians have repeatedly turned down offers of peace and partition. They brought the Nakba on themselves, Israel has no responsiblity for it  whatsoever. &#8220;Justice&#8221; means Arabs recognizing Jewish rights to self-determination in Eretz Israel.  The Palestinians were NOT &#8220;unjustly pushed aside&#8221;, they lost their land because they initiated a genocidal war of agression against which they fortunately lost. The Palestinians are NOT &#8216;oppressed&#8217;. Israel is prepared to give the Palestinians far more if they will give up terrorism and agree to live in peace with Israel.</p>
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		<title>By: aristeides</title>
		<link>http://972mag.com/fatah-hamas-reconciliation-key-for-palestinian-strategy-to-end-the-occupation/13907/comment-page-1/#comment-9431</link>
		<dc:creator>aristeides</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 May 2011 14:51:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://972mag.com/?p=13907#comment-9431</guid>
		<description>I notice that Ben Israel ignores the issue of justice.  Like all Zionists, he is perfectly content to live on a foundation of injustice, on land wronly confiscated from its owners by force.  This doesn&#039;t bother him a bit, and that is the fundamental problem.  Justice can not exist where the guilty party does not acknowledge its guilt and realize it must atone.


Israel&#039;s problem is not &quot;the Arabs.&quot;  It is the Palestinians, the people who were unjustly shoved aside to make room for Ben Israel.  Israel doesn&#039;t owe &quot;the Arabs&quot; anything, but it owes reparations to the Palestinians who have been the objects of 60 years of oppression on behalf of Ben Israel.


Now if the Palestinians are willing to relinquish their claim on more than half of what should be rightly theirs, Ben Israel is still unwilling to accept their offer and make peace.  He still wants it all.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I notice that Ben Israel ignores the issue of justice.  Like all Zionists, he is perfectly content to live on a foundation of injustice, on land wronly confiscated from its owners by force.  This doesn&#8217;t bother him a bit, and that is the fundamental problem.  Justice can not exist where the guilty party does not acknowledge its guilt and realize it must atone.</p>
<p>Israel&#8217;s problem is not &#8220;the Arabs.&#8221;  It is the Palestinians, the people who were unjustly shoved aside to make room for Ben Israel.  Israel doesn&#8217;t owe &#8220;the Arabs&#8221; anything, but it owes reparations to the Palestinians who have been the objects of 60 years of oppression on behalf of Ben Israel.</p>
<p>Now if the Palestinians are willing to relinquish their claim on more than half of what should be rightly theirs, Ben Israel is still unwilling to accept their offer and make peace.  He still wants it all.</p>
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		<title>By: Ben Israel</title>
		<link>http://972mag.com/fatah-hamas-reconciliation-key-for-palestinian-strategy-to-end-the-occupation/13907/comment-page-1/#comment-9429</link>
		<dc:creator>Ben Israel</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 May 2011 14:03:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://972mag.com/?p=13907#comment-9429</guid>
		<description>Leonid-
I agree with one thing you say and disagree with one thing.
I disagree with your assertion that &quot;all the people in the world want justice and peace&quot;. How do you know that?  I suggest, for a start, you read the beginning of Barbara Tuchman&#039;s classic book on the beginning of World War I &quot;The Guns of Augusut&quot;. She quotes at length numerous German thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th century who claimed that warfare was man&#039;s natural state, that wars were beneficial and that the Germans were the master race and had the right to rule the world. Note that this was LONG before Hitler and the Nazis came around.
At the same time the French and British people felt they had a right to conquer and colonize people all over the world and they did so (so did the Spanish, Portuguese, Russians, Dutch and Belgians as well, for that matter).
Today, there are significant elements within the Muslim world (I am not saying whether they are actually a majority or not, that is not really relevant if they have significant influence as is the case in many countries of the Middle East) that says Islam has the right to dominate the world and that non-Muslims should be subordinate to them. This view automatically rejects any long-term peace with Israel.

The thing where I agree with you is where you state  that no peace is possible &quot;as long as radical political Judaism and Jewish nationalism are in ascendancy in Israel&quot;. I am not sure whether you consider Labor Zionism to be in this list, or just modern religious, pro-settler right-wing Zionism, but both insist on supporting Jewish settlement, immigration and a &quot;Jewish State&quot; with Jewish symbols.  True, Labor Zionism claims it will accept a partition of the country, but this still leaves the &quot;Nakba&quot; (which the Zionist Left, not the religious nor secular Right carried out) and the problem of the Israeli Arabs.
You are positing a moral equivalence between &quot;radical Jewish nationalism&quot; and &quot;radical Islamism&quot; but there is no parallel. There are 20+ Arab states existing in the Middle East and Islam is the state religion of all of them, even of supposedly secular states like Syria. Thus, the existence of a right-wing Zionist Jewish state does not affect the vast bulk of the Arab/Muslim world. However, if the radical Islamists have their way, that is the end of Israel.  You must remember that Jews are a very small minority and we have been taught by the world that our culture and sometimes our very lives are on the line and and not going to be guaranteed by the rest of the world.  Thus, if some Arabs are going to live in  a Jewish state with Jewish symbols, I am not going to lose any sleep over it, as long as they have the right to make a respectable living and the right to run their own religion and culture in an autonomous way.
In spite of the spirit of Oslo which attempted to negate Jewish nationalism, it is doing fine. Anti-Zionist parties like HADASH do not draw more than 1 or 2 seats from Jewish voters. Avrum Burg is attempting to set up an all-Jewish anti-Zionist party, it has not registered in public opinion polls, so the Arabs are just going to have to get used to the fact that Israel is going to remain a Zionist state. If they can not reconcile themselves to it, there won&#039;t be a peace agreement.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Leonid-<br />
I agree with one thing you say and disagree with one thing.<br />
I disagree with your assertion that &#8220;all the people in the world want justice and peace&#8221;. How do you know that?  I suggest, for a start, you read the beginning of Barbara Tuchman&#8217;s classic book on the beginning of World War I &#8220;The Guns of Augusut&#8221;. She quotes at length numerous German thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th century who claimed that warfare was man&#8217;s natural state, that wars were beneficial and that the Germans were the master race and had the right to rule the world. Note that this was LONG before Hitler and the Nazis came around.<br />
At the same time the French and British people felt they had a right to conquer and colonize people all over the world and they did so (so did the Spanish, Portuguese, Russians, Dutch and Belgians as well, for that matter).<br />
Today, there are significant elements within the Muslim world (I am not saying whether they are actually a majority or not, that is not really relevant if they have significant influence as is the case in many countries of the Middle East) that says Islam has the right to dominate the world and that non-Muslims should be subordinate to them. This view automatically rejects any long-term peace with Israel.</p>
<p>The thing where I agree with you is where you state  that no peace is possible &#8220;as long as radical political Judaism and Jewish nationalism are in ascendancy in Israel&#8221;. I am not sure whether you consider Labor Zionism to be in this list, or just modern religious, pro-settler right-wing Zionism, but both insist on supporting Jewish settlement, immigration and a &#8220;Jewish State&#8221; with Jewish symbols.  True, Labor Zionism claims it will accept a partition of the country, but this still leaves the &#8220;Nakba&#8221; (which the Zionist Left, not the religious nor secular Right carried out) and the problem of the Israeli Arabs.<br />
You are positing a moral equivalence between &#8220;radical Jewish nationalism&#8221; and &#8220;radical Islamism&#8221; but there is no parallel. There are 20+ Arab states existing in the Middle East and Islam is the state religion of all of them, even of supposedly secular states like Syria. Thus, the existence of a right-wing Zionist Jewish state does not affect the vast bulk of the Arab/Muslim world. However, if the radical Islamists have their way, that is the end of Israel.  You must remember that Jews are a very small minority and we have been taught by the world that our culture and sometimes our very lives are on the line and and not going to be guaranteed by the rest of the world.  Thus, if some Arabs are going to live in  a Jewish state with Jewish symbols, I am not going to lose any sleep over it, as long as they have the right to make a respectable living and the right to run their own religion and culture in an autonomous way.<br />
In spite of the spirit of Oslo which attempted to negate Jewish nationalism, it is doing fine. Anti-Zionist parties like HADASH do not draw more than 1 or 2 seats from Jewish voters. Avrum Burg is attempting to set up an all-Jewish anti-Zionist party, it has not registered in public opinion polls, so the Arabs are just going to have to get used to the fact that Israel is going to remain a Zionist state. If they can not reconcile themselves to it, there won&#8217;t be a peace agreement.</p>
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		<title>By: Leonid Levin</title>
		<link>http://972mag.com/fatah-hamas-reconciliation-key-for-palestinian-strategy-to-end-the-occupation/13907/comment-page-1/#comment-9421</link>
		<dc:creator>Leonid Levin</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 May 2011 09:46:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://972mag.com/?p=13907#comment-9421</guid>
		<description>Ben, thanks for your response. This is my response to you. I don’t turn around, I just say that we should do justice unto the Palestinian people. No, it won’t solve all their problems, so what? Nothing will solve anybody’s problems except themselves. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do our part in solving problems.
“You yourself say Israel’s existence within ANY borders is an injustice as they see it.” This is not what I said. I said that they perceive their treatment, expulsion, harassment as injustice. They want JUSTICE AND PEACE, and I want PEACE AND JUSTICE for ALL. Give them justice and there is no reason for war. In fact, all people in the world want justice and peace. It’s that simple. When they get justice, it’s possible to talk about how Israel can be a beautiful, flourishing, democratic society for ALL people living there. If they get an equal share in governing the state, they’ll take the responsibility for the state and won’t have any interest in destroying it.
“That is why no peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will be possible, at least as long as radical, political Islam is viewed as being in the ascendancy as it is now, in the Middle East.” I’m afraid you forget the other part of the equation. One can equally say that no peace will be possible, as long as radical, political Judaism and Jewish nationalism is in ascendance in Israel. Why don’t you talk about that?
Now I responded to you and expect an honest response from you.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ben, thanks for your response. This is my response to you. I don’t turn around, I just say that we should do justice unto the Palestinian people. No, it won’t solve all their problems, so what? Nothing will solve anybody’s problems except themselves. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do our part in solving problems.<br />
“You yourself say Israel’s existence within ANY borders is an injustice as they see it.” This is not what I said. I said that they perceive their treatment, expulsion, harassment as injustice. They want JUSTICE AND PEACE, and I want PEACE AND JUSTICE for ALL. Give them justice and there is no reason for war. In fact, all people in the world want justice and peace. It’s that simple. When they get justice, it’s possible to talk about how Israel can be a beautiful, flourishing, democratic society for ALL people living there. If they get an equal share in governing the state, they’ll take the responsibility for the state and won’t have any interest in destroying it.<br />
“That is why no peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will be possible, at least as long as radical, political Islam is viewed as being in the ascendancy as it is now, in the Middle East.” I’m afraid you forget the other part of the equation. One can equally say that no peace will be possible, as long as radical, political Judaism and Jewish nationalism is in ascendance in Israel. Why don’t you talk about that?<br />
Now I responded to you and expect an honest response from you.</p>
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		<title>By: Ben Israel</title>
		<link>http://972mag.com/fatah-hamas-reconciliation-key-for-palestinian-strategy-to-end-the-occupation/13907/comment-page-1/#comment-9420</link>
		<dc:creator>Ben Israel</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 May 2011 09:09:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://972mag.com/?p=13907#comment-9420</guid>
		<description>Leonid-You have fallen into the trap so many Jewish &quot;progressives&quot; like those here at 972 have made for themselves. On the one hand, you point out that the Arabs view Jews who made aliyah and built Israel as alien invaders and that we should &quot;understand&quot; that, and then you turn around and say we should give PART of Palestine back to them and &quot;let them return to their villages&quot;, neither of which will solve their problems.
If you believe that, then why should they ever make peace with Israel? You yourself say Israel&#039;s existence within ANY borders is an injustice as they see it. Abbas himself said that the creation of Israel is the greatest crime ever committed in human history. YOU want &quot;peace&quot;, THEY want &quot;Justice&quot; and that means struggle to the death.  You can&#039;t expect them to acquiesce to the &quot;greatest crime in history&quot; (don&#039;t forget that it was a supposed &quot;moderate&quot; that made that statement).
That is why no peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will be possible, at least as long as radical, political Islam is viewed as being in the ascendancy as it is now, in the Middle East.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Leonid-You have fallen into the trap so many Jewish &#8220;progressives&#8221; like those here at 972 have made for themselves. On the one hand, you point out that the Arabs view Jews who made aliyah and built Israel as alien invaders and that we should &#8220;understand&#8221; that, and then you turn around and say we should give PART of Palestine back to them and &#8220;let them return to their villages&#8221;, neither of which will solve their problems.<br />
If you believe that, then why should they ever make peace with Israel? You yourself say Israel&#8217;s existence within ANY borders is an injustice as they see it. Abbas himself said that the creation of Israel is the greatest crime ever committed in human history. YOU want &#8220;peace&#8221;, THEY want &#8220;Justice&#8221; and that means struggle to the death.  You can&#8217;t expect them to acquiesce to the &#8220;greatest crime in history&#8221; (don&#8217;t forget that it was a supposed &#8220;moderate&#8221; that made that statement).<br />
That is why no peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will be possible, at least as long as radical, political Islam is viewed as being in the ascendancy as it is now, in the Middle East.</p>
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		<title>By: Jorge</title>
		<link>http://972mag.com/fatah-hamas-reconciliation-key-for-palestinian-strategy-to-end-the-occupation/13907/comment-page-1/#comment-9419</link>
		<dc:creator>Jorge</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 May 2011 08:55:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://972mag.com/?p=13907#comment-9419</guid>
		<description>How is it that non-Palestinians speak confidently about palestinians beliefs and stands as if they are spokespeople for them.  I bet most of those making the claim have never talked to palestinian</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>How is it that non-Palestinians speak confidently about palestinians beliefs and stands as if they are spokespeople for them.  I bet most of those making the claim have never talked to palestinian</p>
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