BOAZ_David

If the ancient Israelis had been dispersed the Jewish faith would have been lost and, wait for it, there would have been neither Christianity or Islam.

Without Jesus or Mahommet there would have been only Judaism and the Eastern religions. None of these go strongly after converts as each recognises the validity of the other.

The problem with hitting violence with more violence is the scars get deeper and deeper down through the generations. Blood pours, and someone - it is felt - must pay....

Fathers kill other fathers because their fathers killed, and their grandfathers killed.... and now ... their sons and future sons too...

The cycle of violence will continue until we (humanity) learn to communicate...

Communication needs to be two-way, as does the act of "empathy" through listening.

How I wish this conflict was dealt with back there.... when it needed to be... with constructive resolution protocols-and assistance of the so called "peace-makers" in the West ...

I fear the middle-east is out of hand... I fear the Syrians will now have their corruption (under-mining Lebanon's current government) gratified as the Lebanon civic mass turn to Syria's man-power to defend against Israel’s savage human cost in the name of self-defence.

I pray for the mothers and children, and the non-violent direct action - of the students of Lebanon, whose efforts so recently had done so much - as they united and risked everything - to improve their governments conduct by demanding vigorously, good governance and internal "transparency ".

Imagine how defeated they must feel. Tell me this won't imprint depravity - how do we ever expect these "non-violent students" to stay calm... amist this sort of distruction and power-play?

Thank U Ms M, as you have "shepherded" the thoughts of many of us.

So let me get this right.

The discussion is on the invasion of Lebanon and its effect on the region.

And all dee has to offer is the rate of cousin-marriage amongst couples with females giving birth at Auburn Hospital.

Thanks for your contribution, dee. It certainly helps me understand the geo-politics of the region (not!).

Or perhaps dee is telling us that slaughtering civilians is permissible if the victims are in-bred.

Seriously, I wish journalists from the Daily Telegraph would visit these forums. They'll find plenty of extremist fruitloops to report on.

Maybe Bazz is the product of kissing counsins too. That would certainly explain his/her laughably retarded attempt at identifying the underlying problems in the region.

My Collins English dictionary defines racism as: "the belief that races have distinctive cultural characteristics determined by hereditary factors and that this endows some races with an intrinsic superiorority over others".

I interpret those posts which refer to people marrying their cousins as being racist, since the authors of those posts appear to believe that such cultural behaviour is hereditory and incapable of change, except over evolutionary time. In turn, they support the current heavy handed actions of Israel in Lebanon.

The truth of course is quite the opposite. People can choose not to marry their cousins, just as a person of Jewish descent such as myself can reject the Jewish religion or choose to criticise Israel for excessive aggression.

Similarly, MichaelK believes that criticism of Israel's behaviour is anti-Semitic, yet he gives no basis for such an accusation. I interpret his anti-Semitic claims to be just as racist as those that talk about Arabs marrying their cousins.

Shame on all of you who resort to race-based accusations to sustain their argument. I suggest you all go back to Pierre Tristan's original article and debate the points he raised about Israel's response being falsely justified in the name of self defence.

Irfan, the sad thing about this dispute, its that its once again
religious nuts fighting religious nuts in an unwinnable war, so
the majority will suffer. It seems that people only learn through
pain, very sadly.

Its not unreasonable to expect, that if the majority of Lebanese
want to live peacefully, they will prevent their country being used
for firing rockets on Israel. Sure Israel is overeacting, but when
did an Arab country respect weakness?

Sadly, taken to its ultimate conclusion, the Islam/Jewish war has
no winners, just losers. Buffett is correct, we have developed weapons far more powerfull, then our ability to use them sensibly.

So lets say Israel was cornered by Muslim fanatics and in response
turned Mecca and Medina into big holes in the ground. Which way
would you Muslims face to pray then? What would be left of your
religion? Would Islam really have won anything?

Religious fanatics of any description are a threat to all of us.

Its time for moderates in Lebanon to reign in their fanatics, or
the ultimate price will be a lose lose for everyone concerned.