bushbred - suggest that you enrol youself in a critical thinking course and if your post reflects your overall grammatical skill; I'd suggest you clean that up as well. For the other's, rehashing all the reasons why Donna and her group will fail; not one of you has provided a constructive alternative. But that's not what you are about, is it? Its about maintaining the rage and prejudice in a endless cycle of assertions that have the novelty of a broken record.

If you don't have the courage to break out of the square of your prejudice and bigotry, then stay where you are and take comfort in your catechism of negativity. Meanwhile Donna and her group will cut the Gordian Knot and do what movers always do - change the world!

Have some respect for you rightist elitist hangers-on, but must say it will get you nowhere, but just eventually more war - war. Please do some well proven academic study, and you might even find a recipe for a decent peace, not a peace held together with fully loaded US and Israeli missiles, with nuclear warheads ready standing by.

As the great writer Tacitus said of his countrymen - these Romans, peace to them is not the quiet after winning a battle, but after putting a whole population to the sword.......

Yes, even modern elitist minds do have such thoughts as Tacitus mentioned.

Good article Donna,
More of the same please!

Boaz,

Don't u get tired of being anti-peace, anti-harmony, anti-everything that other humans promote?
People try to bridge gaps between humans by better communication and focussing on what we have in common. Yet all you seem to promote is differences, division and disharmony. I mean, are you a happy person? do you sleep well at night?

Peace,

F.H. you of all people should realize that I'm sufficiently read in history to know that what Donna's group is doing is 'warm hearted' but naive.

I don't 'oppose' such overtures, I just think they are a waste of time. Why ? Because no amount of Donna's mob marching with a banner is going to change Hamas Charter Part 3 Article 11 "Islamic Waqf"

Mate.. arguing with me won't change it. But don't you agree that such things are imporant to consider in a debate such as this ? There is absolutely 'zero' room for negotiation in the Hamas position. You know it, I know it.

Peaceniks are in every society, they just don't have a clue about how the world works. They live in some sentimental dream time that has never emerged in history...ever.

The only exceptions I can think of, are when genuinely faithful Catholics and Protestants marched together in Northern Ireland. But was the IRA marching with them ? Nope, or the Protestant Paramilitaries ? Nope.

Peace can exist between people, but not between nations when those nations are founded on the perceived or real oppression or disenfranchizement of the other. So, the most which can be hoped for is that little groups of peaceful sympathetic Jews will meet with and be friends with similar Arabs, but is anyone brave enough to think that the Arabs are not hoping the Jews will come over to their view ?

If they did, they would be kicked out of Israel (socially at least)
because they simply don't realize the eventual outcome of embracing the Arab views about things.
If the Arabs come with 'Right of Return' (and compensation) and the Jews come with 'Right of Return' (and compensation) (to former homes in arab countries) how far do you really think it will get?

Boaz,

You are saying what I am saying:
Hamas is a result of people like Donna being 3 or 4 decades late.
Hamas and similar angry organisations wouldn't have the chance to survive let alone come to power if Donna and people like her started their efforts with their palestinians counterparts in the sixties.
Late is better than never anyway, but at least she is lighting a candle.

Peace,

David,
If we extend your example of northern Ireland; then we have a little dilemma for you. The result of these 'christian' women who had been at war with each for 200 / 300 years; marching for peace was that the gunman of both sides are sitting down together as patriot politicians. Or it that you have a problem with the prospect of the women of the book from both cultures, marching together to ignite change?

Your rather strangely transparant attempt to divide these two great cultures on the basis that the Jewish culture will stand with christianity against Islam both astounds me and leaves me a bit speechless. But I think you can safely assume that the families in Israel and Palestine have other things on their minds.

The world is moving David; its almost apocolyptic in nature and it has had the effect of questioning old truths and that is why you are fighting a rear gaurd action. The days of Australia as a christian nation are over; we are a multicultural nation and that is a demographic fact - the disputes of are we or are we not a multicultural nation are over; we are!