So we will continue to see this behaviour escalate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r6phqEj4ps&feature=youtu.be

Hi loudmouth2. Thanks for the comment. I believe there are faults on both sides: the Israelis for taking land that does not belong to them and the Palestinians for not being prepared to negotiate a sensible compromise. In this case, two wrongs do not make a right and my view is that the international community needs to come down hard on both sides and force them to the negotiating table.

Hi Bernie,

I agree, but once people get into the joys of grievance politics, once they've discovered an insoluble dilemma - and provided they have self-interested parties as allies (or enemies of THEIR enemies) - they can play that victim game for as long as they like.

In the case of the Palestinians, both al Fatah and the PLO, in their different remnants of Palestine, can blame each other for all the consequences of not coming to the negotiating table. As time passes and the possibility of an agreement, as you suggest, becomes less feasible, they can play that game in the growing certainty that there will not be a solution.

On paper, which is about as far as it will go, there seem to be two alternatives to this situation:

* either Israel and Palestine become one secular state with equal rights for all;

or

* they form two separate states, with all Israeli settlements either being abandoned within an independent Palestine, or being administered under Palestine law and control.

Neither of these will ever get off the ground. So it will be stalemate and sniping for at least another seventy years.

Joe

Off Topic Again with Eden-Monaro's 2019 TPP margin corrected:

A Western entity has encouraged me to do an analysis of the EDEN-MONARO (E-M) By-Election result and to share it with you, using less formal wording.

SUMMARY

Main takeaways are that Labor are winning by a decreased (two party preferred (TPP)) majority. But Labor are only won on preferences - most significantly from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (SFFP). Main reason for that is SFFP voters being dissatisfied with Government's Bushfire performance – especially ScoMo’s holiday.

IN DETAIL

It is not surprising Labor won because in this situation. If the Libs won it would have be the first Fed Gov win beating an Opposition held seat candidate, in a by-election, for 100 years.

Looking at: http://tallyroom.aec.gov.au/HouseDivisionPage-25820-117.htm

- Labor only won due to preferences. Most significantly/oddly from the SFFP. Libs would have won if they negotiated the usual preference deal with SFFP. A significant number of SFFP voters have likely been burned out, or very threatened, by the bushfires (holidaying ScoMo's main mistake).

- Labor won with just over 2,000 FEWER First Preference votes than the Libs

- Labor won on a margin of less than 1% (ie. 0.41% or 766 TPP votes - so far - as postal votes still being counted). Labor won E-M in 2019 by a slightly larger margin, of 0.85% TPP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Eden-Monaro_by-election#Two-party-preferred_history_since_1996.

- The Lib candidate speaks/presents well. She needed more media airtime to display that during the campaign.

All seems a case, in E-M, of Labor going more to the centre-right (virtually no left-union concerns in E-M, as only significant union activity seems to the nurses) and ScoMo government going to a COVID stimulus centre-left major policy (which may have picked up some young JobKeeper and JobSeeker votes).

So could be said Albo is popular, but only just and by a decreased projected majority. Shorten may snatch leadership back in time for 2022 Election of may wait for Albo to lose 2022 Election then Shorten takes the helm again as Labor leader.

Pete

ISRAELI FOREIGN POLICY for us dummies:

1. All agree with David to support paper signed in 1917 to justify anything, REALLY?!
________________________________

2. Israeli invasion of West Bank soon would be ideal Israeli caused International Crisis

to boost ELECTION prospects of Israel's best friend and ally, TRUMP, by November 3, 2020.

The author is deluded again because nobody is presently proposing to provide sovereignty to the Jewish people. What is actually proposed by Netanyahu/Trump, is to annex more lands to THE STATE OF ISRAEL.

Get the difference?

The state of Israel is NOT the Jewish people.
The state of Israel does not even represent the Jewish people, certainly not their majority. In particular, the state of Israel represents neither observant Orthodox Jews (who still patiently await the Messiah), nor Reform Jews (living mostly in America) who are disgusted by the belligerence and inhumane insensitivity of the Israeli government, but have no vote to avert it.
Further, a QUARTER of Israel's citizens are not even Jewish!
Further, many of those currently named "Palestinians" are in fact descendants of the original Jewish People of the biblical heartland. Also many of those currently considered Jewish, are not descendants of the same.

Now speaking of the "biblical heartland", we must note that while the bible spans over 3000 years, it was only for about 100 years out of that period (mostly during King David's and Solomon's reign) that Jews had sovereignty over the whole of the land of Israel.

Never mind, I have no objection for Jews, if so they wish, to (re?)claim sovereignty over parts of that biblical heartland that do not belong to the state of Israel. BUT, if they do so, then they need to do it THEMSELVES, in person, they must take over such lands, build them, cultivate them and most importantly, defend them, using THEIR OWN blood, sweat and tears. They have no right to ask Israel to do so on their behalf, they have no right to spill Israeli blood on their quest, they have no right to shame Israel internationally and corrupt it from within. Are you willing for such a deal and challenge, David Singer, or are you only a parasite hooking onto the state of Israel and sucking its blood?