Jeremy29, The Israelis don't want war? You are clueless.

Its very easy for you sit back and say 'tough bikkies' to the side you want to lose in your comfotable existance. Have you ever considered what it might be like to live under occupation of a foregin power? To have the constant threat of a superior military force on your doorstep? Having to line up for up to four hours a day just to go to work and be treated like a criminal?

Start thinking about the reality of the situation instead being some sort of armchair cheerleader.

There are two ancient precepts that apply to the middle east situation today as much as ever.

The first is that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The second is that the friend of my enemy is my enemy.

The result of these precepts is that Israel is our ally and the palestinians are one of our enemies.

plerdsus: There are 2 even more ancient and relevant precepts that apply to the ME today and have always applied to comparable situations: 1)Taking over a country already inhabited by another people WITHOUT their consent leads to a justified resistance against the takeover; 2)Failing to own up to your crimes and make amends for them only prolongs the agony for both abuser and abused.

Can anyone tell me the difference between what the Israeli Govt is doing in Palestine and what the Germans did in WW2,for which many were tried and shot,but then there only Palestinians arn,t they,the attude sounds familiar dont it to the attiude of certain people in Germany 1932-1945

If there is a cease fire in operation how on earth can a soldier be captured, especially from his own territory?

It looks as if more blood will flow in the ME as a result of the actions of both sides.

Colin is Awesome!

I don't know if Australia is plaugued with the same problem we have in the US with the media. When the second Intifada started, the level-headed news agencies began reporting the conflict unbiasedly giving accounts of both sides. It was the first time I had ever seen that.

Then it became publicly known that Jewish groups began "boycotting" the media because it wasn't completely Israeli-friendly. Because our government is run by lobbies, the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most powerful lobby in Washington, ran a nationwide campaign with other pro-Israeli Jewish groups to get the media to show only the Israeli side of the story. It worked and still continues to this day. In fact, two Professors from prominent United States universities wrote about that and the reason our relationship with the Middle East is the way it is. It can be found at the London Review of Books online at http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/print/mear01_.html. Academia is so scared of Jews in our country, it didn't do what it should have done and let these brave souls get lambasted by extremist Jewish groups across the country.

I have read numerous articles from Australian papers online and they are so fervently pro-Israeli. I don't understand why.