Benjamin, maybe Israel does not want to commit violence, as you say. But surely with nuclear-tipped rockets ready to fire, let us say that Israel is much to over-ready for it, which in scientific power-balance language means that the opposition, the Arabs, are morally right to do the same.

No need to take sides here, but if the Arabs can't afford to match Israel, in power-balance theory, Iran as an ally, is entitled to be the Arab's protector.

There are some interesting books in university libaries on the subject, Benjamin. Not so much about GWB's God and Evil, but more about World Court Ethics.

Keith : ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians – So the mass graves and execution squads I am sure we will see them exposed soon. Strange that countries at peace with, having accepted, Israel (Egypt and Jordon) seem not to be having many battles?

Bushbred “ little doubt that US favour of Israel has gone much too far.” Or maybe it in favour of the one true established democracy in the Middle East. But if you want them to support the Syrian and others who’s stated aim is the destruction of a democracy. Well that is sad.

“US illegally allowed Israel not only to go nuclear”. Gee I thought the French provide the technology? But are you saying that the US should have intervened somehow to stop them going Nuclear. So you agree they should stop the Iranians?

“But surely with nuclear-tipped rockets ready to fire, let us say that Israel is much to over-ready for it, which in scientific power-balance language means that the opposition, the Arabs, are morally right to do the same””

So you reckon that in to protect them selves the Arabs morally can do the same. By that same argument the Israelis had the right to protect themselves by using FRENCH help to go nuclear to protect against all the Arabs nations who stated aims was the destruction of Israel. A country that

Israel, the 100th smallest country with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, was one of the very first nations to offer substantial aid and to send medical rescue missions to Islamic people in the stricken tsunami areas. Israel mobilized 150 doctors and relief teams as well as an 82-ton planeload of supplies for Sri Lanka. Israel also sent aid to India and Thailand.

The scientific technology employed by NASA to beam video images from its Mars land-rover back to Earth was developed by two Israelis.

An Israeli group of scientists from the Israel Institute of Technology developed methods to improve the efficiency of solar-hydrogen, non-polluting powered cars.

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Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem where medical staff — both Jewish and Arab — work together to save Jewish and Arab lives.

Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.

An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment.

Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood

Israelis have developed very advanced hydrology technology that allows crops to grow in the most arid conditions. Israel has shared this technology with other peoples, including the Hopi Indians.

The X-Hawk rotorless helicopter, the first helicopter to have the capability to move in tight spaces, is now in development in Israel.

The cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.

Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel. The Pentium MMX chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel.

Voice mail technology was also developed in Israel. The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.

Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.

Twenty-four per cent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.

The Middle East has been growing date palms for centuries. The average tree is about 18 -20 feet tall and yields about 38 pounds of dates a year. Israeli trees are now yielding about 400 pounds a year and are short enough to be harvested from the ground or a short ladder.

The article should read "A country a beakon in its own region."

Source for content I have misplaced. sorry.

Big Fish, you already know that praise has already been given to Israel from this side of the argument. Have had a fair bit to do with Jews as a farmer trading in wool and also made good friends with Australian Jews in
the military during WW2.

Anyhow, this Middle East problem should be handled by a World Court, and not a court made up from political appointments. Certainly the biggest weakness of modern democracies is the allowance for ruling parties to fill positions in a judiciary that should be above politics. Social scientists have been grumbling about this for years - with nothing done.

Further, talking about democracy in the Middle East, Big Fish, there was an interesting article in the Guardian last year about an Iranian female judge, who still retains her position, even though she talks about Iran needing to be more democratic.

Yet at the same time she heavily slates both the US and Britain concerning the way as so-called democratic nations
they virtually take possession, as they did with her country just after WW2, placing in the puppet Shah, and commandeering the oilfields. She believes the Arab countries are quite capable of working out their own democracies.

With our record over the years in the Middle East, Big Fish, the only sort of democracy we will ever allow is the old colonial Dyarky democracy, meaning double-rule, with all key government appointees matched by a British commissar.

The only difference if Iraq is ever captured tne commissars will be American, able these days to do their dirty work from the White House

israel was established by jewish terrorists, european invaders supported by american money and guns.

a 15% population of jews can not establish a jewish state by voting, so the zionists replaced voting with military violence. then, after establishing themselves with mass murder, the zionists ask "why won't our neighbors leave us in peace?"

they are rather like bandits who decide to stay in a home they have invaded, who complain endlessly that the owners, and their neighbors, won't stop throwing stones through the windows.

the zionists will get peace when they invite their moslem neighbors to join them in a secular state of palestine. the south africans managed a similar integration, and it's likely that all the peoples of the middle east would welcome this (only) just resolution of the situation.

if the zionists can not endure the thought of not being members of a religious state of israel, the present state of chronic guerrilla war will continue for generations but end the same way: in a secular state of palestine. this path to the same end will kill and maim thousands more, and make jews who support zionism despised around the world.

Palestinian Jews, Muslims and Christians did live peacefully side by side until the exclusivist Jews took over in former Palestine. This has been very well documented. But unfortunately for the "Jewish State" the people they have been evicting, massacring and victimising since the 1930s are not the pushover that was confidently expected. Slowly but surely the Palestinians are expanding the resistance and acquiring educational and technological parity. The only possible peaceful future will be a secular democratic state. (It works here and elsewhere). Otherwise it should be obvious that an increasingly insane and dangerous Israel will one day face its nemesis. Meanwhile I and my friends are ashamed of our government at present: not only one of only two states to refuse to sign Kyoto, but also one of only seven out of 192 to vote against a UN motion condemning Israel for the recent murder of civilians.