The problem is that even with the gift of Gaza back to the Arabs, the Israelies will still have those 200 nuclear rockets ready to fire, under American orders.

So it would be a better gesture for peace in the Middle East with Israel's atomic capacity undone? The only reason that Iran would go nuclear is to match the Israeli's in fire-power. Iran has no designs on other people's lands apart from Israeli rockets. We do not need to use our brains very much to realise that tiny Israel's capacity for destruction must make Iran feel like the proverbial tiger cat in a corner, always ready to fight back, even to die for it.

The sad truth of the matter is, that while the US still has designs on the Middle East mainly for oil and strategem, the Israeli rockets will stay, the gift of Gaza back to the Arabs, only s flea-bite compared to what really should be done to preserve permanent peace in the area.

George C - Bushbred - WA

Brushy.. with allll due respect... READ HISTORY ... do a search on 'Persians'....
for crying out loud... we have had less time of peace since the last war than endured between some campaigns in those days.. as 'if' humanity has changed........ its still going on, we in the enlightened, reformed, Judao Christian West don't really have any doctrinal foundation for taking other peoples lands except plain 'greed'.... Iran has a president who spoke openly about 'exporting' the which revolution to the world ?.. yep..that one the..."ISLAMIC".....

If they want bombs it's for no other reason than they are Islamic and Persian.. on both counts they would wish for 'the old days' of empire...unless suddenly they stopped being human.

Work with us Brushy.. to inculcate true values into our youth.. how about a good place to begin is with 'And kids, you address adults as 'Mr or Mrs or Miss or Ms' Losing those things was part of the death of our culture.. well I for one wish to recapture that and its nothing to do with 'the 50s'

In an attempt to reassure the Israeli right, the prime minister told the Jerusalem Post that he will continue expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which are home to about 400,000 people. "There will be building in the settlement blocks," he said. "Each government since 1967, right, left and national unity, has seen strategic importance in specific areas [in the occupied territories] I will build."
The newspaper said Mr Sharon specifically mentioned further construction in Ma'ale Adumim settlement, designed to link it to Jerusalem despite Washington's objections. He said that Ariel settlement, in the heart of the West Bank, would be annexed as "a part of Israel for ever". The prime minister also said there would be no further unilateral withdrawals. "The Guardian 24-08-05"

You see wrighta, thats what this has all been about - a smokescreen to steal more illegal, but more "valuable" land.
Sharon chose the moment of the withdrawal from Gaza, to send the army
to bisect West Bank South from the North, around 67 kilometres, taking away further Palestinian grazing land and 100's of wells, locking the town of Azzarrya into a narrow enclave.
Gaza itself will be little more than a large enclosed prison, upon which Israel will rule land, sea and air.
This all occurs because America allows it too, Israel is her nuke armed deputy in the Middle Ease and she is prepared to turn a blind eye in return.
These days it is up to the individual to present themselves with the facts. Reading Israels own newspapers is a start, sort of balances out our main stream news of everything we are not told here.

The West Bank settlers were polled several years ago and a substantial majority said they would agree to leave in exchange for peace with the Palestinians. Even without a peace deal though Barak offered the Palestinians 94 % of the West Bank, and would give them further Israeli land to make up for the shortfall. Under Arafat they turned this down.
Yes- Under Sharon, they probably wont get another choice.

But instead of blaming the “Jews” and the evil imperialist yanks, maybe you should look at the Palestinians? Look at their media, their leaders, their religion (oh no, politically incorrect), their education system and maybe even look at one of the 57 Islamic states instead of the only Jewish one, if only for a change.

And of course the Israeli’s will be watching Gaza- when suicide bombers flood out from this area and kill more children and old people, we’ll all be watching- no doubt you’ll be saying it’s the result of zionism, occupation, globalisation, or some convenient excuse…

I'd agree with Mr.Goodenough that HAMAS and other plainly terrorist groups are going to kill Israeli citizens even with this pullout, but I will not and cannot support Israel unless they move out of the West bank and Gaza. I have nothing against Judaism. But I am not a jew, and I don't believe in their claims that God gave them the land. The invasion of palestinian land through settlements is also evil, and until Israel admits this, they are very hypocritical.

The logic that the people of Israel use could be used to imply that all White people should leave the country and we should hand the land back to the Aboriginal people, because it is their land. But that is not going to happen. What white people did to the aboriginies was wrong, and when Israel invaded in the 1940's that was very wrong as well, and you can't pretend it wasn't. Israel, like the modern Australian government, has a right to exist, but it does not have a right to invade the area the palestinian people live in. And until God himself rides down on a magical cloud and shows me a signed contract promising the land to the Israeli's, I don't buy their argument and I don't support the settlements.

When Israel returns to the 1967 borders, then they have my full support. Not now though.

Oh, and one more thing. People always complain that Muslims try to force their religion down the throat of others. This is exactly what Israel is doing with its invasion of Palestine. After what they did (what was proven they did) in the 1940's, they cannot claim they are "morally superior" to the Muslims or to the Arabs.

But yes, Israel has a right to exist, and its citizens have a right to be free of attacks, but Palestinians are people too, and they have a right to be allowed to live on their land.