But, bigmal, isn't it the POINT that all sides need to try and stop and let go of their old predjudices? Whatever their religion? This eye-for-an-eye stuff has been going on so long that probably no-one even remembers a time when peace was the dominant situation.

Even where both sides are using religion as part of their justification, at a personal level, the justification is the effect of the actions of each side on indivduals.
"Your side took our land."
"Your side threw stones."
"Your side car-bombed."
"Your side launched rockets."
"My family's future was destroyed."
"My children were killed"
"My parents were captured and tortured"
"You bombed our water supply"
"You bombed our hospital"

Who is who? Who are the Israelis? Who are the Palestinians? Who are the Syrians, Lebanese, etc?

All sides have suffered massive losses, pain, injustices of various types over the years. But an eye-for-an-eye is NEVER going to let anyone win. Not when each person has had so much individual pain, and feels someone else should pay for that suffering.

Bigmal and Strewth...

Thanks for providing example of the ingrained attitudes and arguments for each side that has fed the conflict for the past 60-odd years.
If I was ever at all unclear on the point Ayliffe was making, it is now cleared up.

Cheers.

Onya Laurie :) you finally 'get' it... 'eye for an eye' will solve nothing.

Hooray....

Now maybe you and others would get an inkling of why I advocate compensation for lost land and disersion to areas removed from Israel.
Oh.. you might want to check if there is a FREEWAY plan going through your block :) it might get 'occupied'.

I would also advocate that Israel assume full control of the West Bank but Arab inhabitants would be barred from ever 'voting' Israel out of its position. This would be entrenched in a constitutional change. Loyalty to the Israeli State or.....OUTski

Vladimer Putin has the right idea "We dont WANT US style democracy"...hmm...why would that be ? perhaps he sees the weakness of all this muddling around we do with the left and right always at each others throats. Perhaps he sees how the 'free press' (which is never 'free' from the prejudices of its owners and editors) undermines according to political whim.

Democracy can be defined at the constitutional level according to the direction founding fathers want for a country.

West Bank and indeed ALL Palestinians were ruled by the Ottomans. Did they have a democratic choice about that ? err...nope.
Only the Palestinians who have been internally displaced through lost land and agriculture have a genuine gripe and if just 'land' is the issue, its fixable. But if 'Islamic land' is the issue, only deportation and absorption will fix it.

I've emailed my proposed solution to every Zionist person in Australia who I can find on their website and to the Jerusalem Post.

Strewn is the classic example of why there can be no such thing as anything other than an "Islamic/Arab dominance or nothing" approach by him and his pro-Islamic Ilk. He is irrelevant to serious discussion. He is in denial about the movement of history and the current chapter being written.

Laurie, Jeremy29 had some honest thoughts, what are urs ? how do you actually 'solve' the problem ?

I'm most interested in peoples alternative strategies.

Less BLAME, Less SHAME.. and more SOLUTIONS. (Workable ones only)

I understand Nahum's frustration and how other posters see it, but the problem goes back thousands of years and hasn't changed, they just move it around a bit. It's caused by self-righteous indignation, because another god faction is claiming ownership to the origins of their violent myths.

Sadly for Nahum and Boaz the solution is right in front of them. Rid the world of god and we rid the world of a belief system causing more death and destruction than nature. That won't happen as they're all intent on destroying everything, to be most like their god.

The tactics used by monotheists, are as violent as their technology and power will allow. It sickens me to hear people like Boaz trying to make out he's compassionate, yet quick to justify the barbaric actions of those he supports.

When you have so many people from all sides, refusing to take responsibility for what their belief system is doing. Don't you wonder about the veracity of their claims and the state of their mental condition, after all no sane person would wish harm to another.

I would've thought an evolved, truly compassionate and ethical person would do all they could to ensure the survival of those less fortunate than them and the maintenance of their psychological state. However with all the evidence before us, it appears ethics have no place in the minds of monotheists, just illusionary self-righteous morals representing suppression and injury of peoples physical and psychological lives.

Why do those who desire a spiritual life bereft of material wealth as preached by their lord, destroy or support destruction against the wishes of their chosen one. Why do they need a jewish state, except for power and control. But it shows the true expression and approach of god's followers, they can't even accept each other.

Anyone with sense and true compassion would never be involved with this despotic god and the results it provides for the world.

I dont hear the Israelis saying we want to wipe anyone off the map.
I do hear them saying we want a right to exist.

I dont hear anyone from any other religion saying that all infidels should be done away with, particularly if they wont sign up to our idea of religion, or pay the Jizjah tax and be dhimmies.

It is after all Islamic terrorism, not Happy Clappy, or Baptist Ladies Guild terrorism we are dealing with, it is pure and simple Islamic Terrorism. The jihadists are by definition Islamic.

At least the world leaders are now calling it for what it is, root and branch Islamic in origin.

The only differences are whether it is Shia or Sunni, but they all using the same Hymn sheet to source their violent purposes and role in life.

Oh of course Syria is using it it prop up a corrupt and non democratic regime, and Iran is using it to spread smoke screen over their development of nuclear weapons but behind it all,it comes back to Islam.

Bismal you are brainwashed,

Terror! islam! jihad! terrorist! terrorist! muslim! radical!jihadists! extremist! threaten! war on terror! terror! terror! TERROR!

Scared yet? I'll bet you are because you sound like Fox news with the volume up

Guess what mate, terrorism was around long belong Islam even existed, and will still be around long after were dead so you should just wake and realise this is all geopolitics, we are being programmed to believe we are under threat so that we can lay down and accept indefinte war. The sooner you realise this the sooner you can focus your attention on the real threats to our way of life.