Its about time the issue was opened up for discussion.
It is also ironic that the American Bible belt has aligned itself with the Jewish state after the biblical accounts of the Easter Crucifiction of their 'son of God'.

I am more inclined to have sympathy with the Palestinians whose extremists have been driven to revenge with suicide bombers and it is little wonder that Arab nations seek Nuclear Power and possibly nuclear weapons when Israel has the capability sanctioned by the US.

The phenomenon of declaring critics as Anti-semitic has parallels in critics of Aboriginal organisations in Australia. non-aboriginal critics are declared racist for having the temerity to speak on issues involving corruption and mismanagement.

ATSIC might still exist if valid criticism by non-aboriginals had been heeded and rectified.

The moment Israel stated that it wanted a wholly Jewish state, the UN decision to give away land belonging to other people, should have been revoked. Racism, war crimes, targeted murder, the starving of a nation of people, makes the Palestinian areas look like a remake of Warsaw.

To think that a people who had been through so much, would turn around and commit the same attrocities against their own neighbours, suggests that the state of mind that the Jews were in when given this land, was not one fit to begin a new nation. Today we would call it Post Trauma Stress Disorder.

If anyone wants a real taste of the extreme fundamentalist cruelty that has evolved in Israel, one needs only to partake in the forums that Haaretz has daily in its newspapers. To post a comment in disagreement with any Israeli policy, brings on attacks that are mind boggling, especially from the youth.

Israel should be bought into line with all other international laws, from nuclear inspections to assassinations. There are war crimes committed daily, and what happened in the second world war with the holocaust should have no impact upon todays laws, put in place for that exact reason. Israel shows no duty of care to diaspora Jews that become victims because of their Governments policies.
America has lost the plot, its own people are having their welfare and social services cut while billions of dollars in military aid go to helping Zionism bring us ever closer to a third world war.

Our own main stream newspaper owners are also guilty of completely bias reporting and coverage....if we knew the truth it would shock all into calling Israel to judgement. A good example is the cherry picking of the Iran Presidents speech regarding Palestine, one only has to read the full text of the speech to see the propaganda at play.

For a very different take on the Mearsheimer and Walt article:

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html

there is this:

http://www.slate.com/id/2138741/

from Christopher Hitchens.

Ah yes, Piggie, so you'd hitch your star to Hitchens, late convert to the neo-conservative cause, eh? Allow me to quote from George Packer's The Assassin's Gate: "After the terror attacks, he broke with comrades such as Chomsky and Said...became a vocal Bush supporter, and...girded himself for battle with what he called 'Islamo-fascism'... Having spent most of his life attacking American foreign policy, Hitchens had come to the conclusion that 'after the dust settles, the only revolution left standing is the American one. Americanisation is the most revolutionary force in the world.' " Some guide as to what's what in the US or the Middle East.

There is an old adage that "the enemy of your enemy is your friend"

The muslim extremists have clearly demonstrated that they regard Australia as their enemy. Long before we went into Iraq, Osama and others of his ilk ststed that they would attack Australia (I think our intervention in East Timor was the stated reason).

Another old adage is that "the friend of my enemy is my enemy".

On this basis Israel is a friend of Australia, and Palestine is an enemy.

No difference between USA and Isreal both need a cold shower, and to introduce some humanity into their governments.