Strewth,

If you can only have one of the following, which do you choose?

1) Destruction of Israel; or
2) Peace and happiness for the Palestinian people.

It isn’t a hard question.

When you attack me instead of my proposition, you do nothing to further your cause and my proposition remains untarnished. Whether I am a Muslim, Jew or Nazi, the merit of what I say is in my words, not my character (about which you know almost nothing). For the record though, I am none of the above, but if I fit into any ideological box, then it would be that of Liberal Democracy, a cornerstone of which is free and open dialogue. I sense this is something you do not much care for.

Yuyutsu,

I too have the impression much of the Arab/Islamic world is more concerned with destroying Israel than with helping the Palestinians, as is suggested by the willingness of the Arab/Islamic world to provide military aid in preference to civil aid. I have, however, always been puzzled as to why. I struggle to believe it is some vague “honour/shame” issue, or simple anti-Semitism, but concede I can think of no other likely reason.

Strewth’s rhetoric does seem to be an example of how hatred for Israel, often exceeds concerns for the Palestinians, and he is likely not even an Arab. I am puzzled.

Any thoughts on how this can be addressed beyond simply enduring it?

Kalin,

I am afraid that I don't know of any quick fix.
If you ever visit the middle-east, one thing you ought to bring with you is patience, patience, and more patience.
Step by step, slowly slowly, a long series of gradual confidence-building concessions is needed, many of them more symbolic than substantial.

But here are some raw ideas:

Understanding that the root-cause of the conflict is an honour/shame issue, a good idea is to help the Arabs to feel like "men". Don't deny them victories, sing praises to their heroic achievements even if it was just killing a mosquito at night, and if you cannot afford giving them anything of yours - take something from them and allow them to win it back... with Arab men, how it looks is more important than how it is.

Perhaps Israel could even symbolically ask their permission to stay, then thank them profusely for their permission and generosity (not that they would otherwise leave...). Then both sides could slaughter two innocent lambs (what wrong have they done?!) and arrange a "sulcha" (making-up ceremony).

Another important point is that Israel must remain strong, even after a formal peace treaty: this will help the Arab moderates, who really want to stay out of the conflict, find a good pretext for not attacking Israel. However, to prevent their humiliation, let them believe that they are not facing Israel, but rather the USA which is behind it (whether true or not), and even better, the whole world: after all, there is nothing shameful about not being able to defeat a super-power.

Yoyo,

Before you get carried away by your creepy racist fantasies about Arab men, meditate on the following analysis by an insider:

"It is equally clear to the Israelis and the Americans that unlike the bold Hezbollah, the IDF soldier has lost his will to fight. The IDF is a spoiled, confused and tired army that specializes solely in terrorising civilian populations while being engaged in constant tactical withdrawal. It is not trained to win wars any more. Instead, its tank battalions are mainly engaged in the daily shelling of schools and hospitals. Its Air force uses the best american fighter planes to flatten neighborhoods and shoot deadly rockets at cars in the streets of Gaza. Its command units are expert in abducting democratically elected middle-aged Palestinian politicians. The IDF is basically a heavy army specializing in merciless regional bullying. Yet, it cannot win a war, and as such it has nothing to offer the American empire."

I hope you found it as illuminating as I did.

Strewth,

The only true words in the above are in the last half-sentence:
well and good, the IDF indeed exists only to defend Israel - not to serve the interests of the American empire.

But Shhhhh... whoever wrote this paragraph seems to be desperate to demonstrate that he won - let's not break his illusion so feelings of humiliation will not stand between him and making peace with Israel.

Yoyo,

It was written by ex-Israeli, Gilad Atzmon. You can read the piece and stacks more such illuminating essays on counterpunch.com. But then, you're happy in your own little fantasy world, aren't you?

Strewth,

Being ex-Israeli does not guarantee that what you say is true.

I looked at this site: all I could find of Mr. Atzmon is an article from 2004. This site seems to belong to some disgruntled Americans who discuss American issues in opposition to their current regime: they probably hate Israel only because the current American government is pro-Israel: either way, I could not care less about that silly empire.