Lev,

thank you for responding to my questions - no surprise that Marilyn has failed to answer so far.

Re the first question: Generalizing is dangerous, I agree. Of course there is a minority of religious fundamentalists within Israel who dream of a return to a Greater Israel. But Marilyn has argued that the views of these radicals are the views and official policy of the Israeli state. This is absolute nonsense, as I pointed out. On the contrary, Israel has returned territory that it had captured - see Sinai, see Gaza.

To equate the views of a minority of vocal but largely irrelevant radicals with the official position of a country is intellectually dishonest

Spy, so what if Israel returned the Sinai? They had 8,000 people living illegally in Gaza on one third of the land, using almost all of the water and resources and Sharon only made them move so he could expand the settlements on the West Bank. Get a grip boyo.

They control what goes in and out, what babies can be registered at birth, what can be sold, who goes in and out. For example, Israeli journalists are banned from Gaza so we rarely get to see what is happening to the 1.3 million human beings there.

This week the peaceloving Israel Communications ministry shut down a radio station in Ramallah, run by a South African jew, arrested the staff and all because they talked peace and reconciliation.

Most Israeli's refuse to live next door to "arabs" even though they are Israeli citizens and so on and so forth.

WE all need to just grow up. We don't have these absurd nonsensical debates about any other nations on earth so what the hell are we doing siding always with a non-state living on stolen land which brutalises the citizens of the land they stole and then claims they are the victims.

Almost none of the residents of Israel were born when the holocaust happened, the arabs didn't do the holocaust yet many zionists in Israel mention repeatedly the killing of some jews in Hebron in 1929 and never, ever mention the holocaust.

Only 39% of all the world's jews live in Israel and because of their stupidity and cruelty the jews in Israel have less peace and safety than the other 61% who live in 100 different nations of the world.

Let's get one thing straight. Judaism is nothing more than a cult, a god bothering bunch of ninnies persecuting imaginary friends.

Sol The Chef,

In the spirit of fairness, you were talking about the limited number of Arab ministers in the Knesset. Since ministers are appointed by the gov’t and not by the voters it is hardly surprising that an MP siding against his own gov’t isn’t likely to be given a ministership. How many Arab Israeli politicians broadly support Israel’s right to defend itself? I’m not prepared to give numbers but I would imagine it’s a reasonably small pool to start with.

I sympathise with the plight of the Israeli Arabs but when you live in a country at war with your brethren it’s an awful lot to expect absolute and unconditional equality (especially during wartime when the enemy choose to hide amongst the people). Do you know of somewhere that has achieved this feat anywhere near to the Israeli extent? Israel has every right to ensure it’s own security. If only this was the type of conflict where Israel could withdraw within it’s boundaries and pull down the shutters. But it isn’t, (the withdrawal from Gaza shows us this) and it’s either going to be fought in the territories or in Israel itself.

Do you really expect settlements like East Jerusalem, Ma'ale Adummim or Modi'in Illit to be handed over? I agree that some of the settlements, particularly those nowhere near the green line should be handed back. For the others surely a better solution should be a one-for-one land swap. Modi'in Illit was built where before there was only privately owned farmland. Ma'ale Adummim was built on vacant Jordanian owned state land and was only built after Jordan invaded Israel for a second time.

At Camp David in 2000 Barak offered Arafat a Palestinian State initially on 73% of the West Bank and 100% of the Gaza Strip. In 10 to 25 years the West Bank area would expand to 90-91% (94% excluding greater Jerusalem). As a result, Israel would have withdrawn from 63 settlements. Arafat said no.

Marilyn

One suspects that you have experienced something so terrible in your life as to cause you to be such an embittered woman - perhaps by a Jew. Your statements, along with your others, about population numbers of worldwide Judaism and those in Israel are wrong.

The issue of Gaza evokes the same arguments - rather like "beating a dead horse."

New thinking about Gaza, which once was a proterctorate of Egypt, albeit parlously administrated and rather joyfully abandoned to Israel in 1967, is that this territory be absorbed into Egypt.

Israel reluctantly took control of a densely populated, impoverished and hostile people. The intifada beginning 1987 witnessed Gazans asserting themselves; ultimately resulting in the Gaza-Jericho Agreement of 1994 and Yasir Arafat’s reign with his promise to “build a Singapore.”

The Gazan experiment has proven an unmitigated disaster. Arafat criminally exploited them ... now the Hamas. Gazans have had it undeniably tough.

When Israel departed Gaza, they left extemely viable industries and agricultural centres which the Gazans, or rather the Hamas destroyed.

Many Gazans have fled the area due to the horrors and murders inflicted on them by the Hamas. So bad were the migrations of Gazans - particularly to Europe, the US and Canada - and noteably the well-educated and those with productive industries, that the Palestinian religious authorities issued a fatwa in June 2007, forbidding Palestinian Muslims emigration - unless for educational reasons. In the year 2007, by June in Gaza alone, more than 10,000 had applied to leave that area.

The Gazan relationship to Egypt is both natural and strong. Gazans speak the same colloquial Arabic of Egyptians of the Sinai, are economically tied to Egypt, along with strong famial connections there. David Warren states that calling the Gazans "Palestinian," is less accurate than politically correct. Hamas, itself, is an off-shoot of the Egyptian organization, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Since 1948, US taxpayers have committed US$ 65 billion to Egypt. Many believe that Egypt's absorption of Gaza would justify the cost to the US in continuing to pay them $1.8 billion annually.

DAnielle you live in lala land. I have never been hurt by a jew in my life, but neither have I ever been hurt by an arab. All my hurts were by anglos dear, trust me on that.

I don't believe you are still peddling the nonsense of viable industries left behind by Israel in Gaza - they stopped all the water supply dear. Then they bulldozed the crops and orchards on the way out. Kapeesh? John Pilger has some very graphic film of it and others, including honest Israelis, have made films about it.

Why does Australia and the west obsess so much about Israel? It is a pissant non-state in the middle of arabia which has only plonked itself there 60 years ago. What is the atraction? Much of the population is arabic or north African but we never mention them.

As for Barak, give me a break you stupid twit. Barak offered nothing, nada and zip and then humiliated both Clinton and Arafat and walked out to fight an election.

But here is the real issue. If you own 95% of a piece of land and a few guilty mass murdering nations offer 56% of it to someone that the guilty mass murderers have tried to eliminate and you have not would you accept it?

Do you want the UN to halve Australia and give it to Indonesia or China because they are running out of room or give half to the Tibetans? WE don't even want to share the country with the owners.

Now enough already. NO more propoganda about the thug non-state Israel until she learns to behave like a civilized place.

Marilyn, thank you for responding to my questions.

It's a shame, however, that you can't manage a more intelligent response than asking "so what" and then promptly dodging the issue.

So, I'll ask again - how can you seriously say that Israel wants "Hertzl's dream - all the land from the Litani river in Lebanon, across half of Jordan, part of Syria, all of Palestine and the Sinai and they don't want any arabs anywhere in sight", when Israel has signed peace treaties and withdrawn from territories it previously controlled?

A couple of other points.
First, if you cared to read a bit more deeply about the closure of the radio station you'd know that it was operating without a permit and had the potential to interfere with radio transmissions at Ben Gurion airport. You'd also know that other radio stations have been shut down for similar reasons. But once again, you ignore any facts which don't fit your position.

Second, you take great pleasure in telling us that "Judaism is nothing more than a cult, a god bothering bunch of ninnies persecuting imaginary friends." If you have a problem with religion per se, then fair enough but at least take the time to also mention the role that radical Islam is playing in conflicts all over the world.

Third, Arafat WAS offered a great deal by Barak in 2000. He turned it down. Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia remarked that Arafat's rejection of the offer was a "tragic mistake, a crime really".