"The Palestinian argument should not be resolved just on Israel's terms"

Keep it up, Foxy, but please remember that it is only a strong UN that can do what you want.

And unfortunately a UN can only be fair if it follows Kantian procedure, not just to be backed by the world's strongest nation, but by a democratic Federation of Nations.

Cheers, BB, WA.

Polycarp, in an earlier post I responded to your request to me to "try to explain (to us) exactly how you would respond to this if you were an Israeli." I hope I have answered the question for you. And to put it another way, I would do my best to come up with a compromise that everyone would be happy with. Yes, a big ask, I know, and humanity has not done so well as I might like (I originally typed "we might like", but perhaps I should not be including you) but I do think we (society in general) are actually getting better at it as the years progress. The Israeli/US alliance has got a great opportunity to set the standard.
Having responded to your request, would you now like to tell me what you would do, if you were a 5th generation Palestinian refugee, living in squalor, disappointed after many attempts at peace (and oh so close with the Oslo and Camp David accords), living in a land which belonged to your recent ancestors, which was taken from you by a UN resolution only passed after frantic bribing by the USA (and I don't think the Palestinians even had a vote!)?
Your response might make interesting reading for many of us, and might make your viewpoint more understandable to those of us lacking your clear black and white vision.
It is all hypothetical, of course, but I hope I would try to negotiate a peace deal which was fair and balanced. I hope my first reaction would not be to fire rockets randomly towards the aggressor, but it seems that might be your approach. Over to you.

HarryG,

Your sentiments are admirable, but they don’t acknowledge the reality of the situation.

Israel runs very real risks by not responding to Hamas violence.

Hamas military leaders have taken heart and more importantly resolve from a number of Israeli and Arab actions you might consider sensible or justified.

1) The refusal to respond to attacks from Iraq during the first gulf war damaged Israel’s deterrence

2) The unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza strip was not seen as an act of goodwill. It was interpreted as weakness.

3) The failure to achieve all its objectives in the Lebanon war of 2006 was seen as a further sign of weakness

4) Israel’s preparedness to negotiate is also seen by Hamas as a weakness.

5) Failure to respond to the breaking of the ceasefire further signalled a weakness in Israeli resolve.

6) Arab/Muslim birth rates will result in Arabs becoming a majority in Israel within the next 30-50 years.

These things together have given Hamas renewed hope of totally defeating Israel and achieving all the aims they laid out in their charter. This being the case, Hamas are not interested in peace now. Temporary truces are therefore merely opportunities to rearm and rebuild for the next battle, and not stepping stones to peace as many who should know better would like to believe.

The Israelis, lacking a partner in peace, must follow a short term strategy of stopping the rockets, and hope that the Hamas leadership will see that Israel cannot be defeated militarily. A byproduct of this offensive will be that Hamas will understand Israel cannot be attacked without great cost.

This is a rather harsh way to go about things, but I cannot see any other way for Israel. There is no peace without both parties wanting it. The result is a human tragedy, but hopefully this will encourage Hamas back to the negotiating table and cost less in lives than a never ending low level conflict undoubtedly would.

Of course this last hope is a rather forlorn one, which is why Israel is limited to short term solutions

There was a time when the Palestine leadership was given the opportunity to establish a State of its own, it was rejected by Arafat and later by Hamas government. Their refusal to accept this proposal meant only one thing, the ultimate eradication of the Jewish State. Jews on the other hand argued that Israel belongs to the Jews people until they were scattered by European occupation. These two conflicting arguments will remain as they are as long as there is Islam and Judaism next door, which means that one must ceased to let the other one exist. Refusing to co-exist, empowers this deadlock.
The Palestinians struggled has been fueled by the Arab nations until Egypt backed down, after waging three unsuccessful war against Israel, and recognized Israel. Iran and Syria continued their support for anti-Israel movements led by Hamas to this day.
But what many people failed to see is that this is a war fought in the days of the David to this very day, a struggle of faith or religious beliefs. When you have a state that fights to protect its citizen and an army fighting for martyrdom, there is no solution but to let them fight it out. Europe is peaceful today after all the evil states were brought down! So let Israel or Hamas prevail.
It is hard to fathom the fact that innocent lives are lost in the battle between Hamas and Israel, or in any other conflicts, but innocent Gaza citizens knew very well that they elected a party that vowed to destroyed Israel and signed up for suicide mission in Israel.
Since Israeli pulled out of Gaza and signed a deal with Abas, brokered by Egypt, Hamas kept shelling Israeli towns. For 6 MONTHS, Hamas missiles struck deeper into Israel, an indication that the Hamas had acquired more sophisticated arsenals. Should Israel wait?
Last week, Israel implemented the first responsibility of state, i.e. protecting its citizens. Imagine living in a neighborhood that hits by rockets everyday for 6 MONTHS... with that, IDF received overwhelming support from Israelis to retaliate so be it!

77% of Palestine is contained within the nation State of Jordan.
Jordanians are Palestinians and as such ought to have offered rural or residential land gratis to their compatriots from Gaza and the West Bank.
The Queen of Jordan has been making all these morally toned speeches to the international press but should instead do her own people a favour and offer immigration to the east of Israel where the Kingdom of Jordan, which is Palestine already, could easily take them all in.

Lowenstein and Slezak have put forward such a considered and insightful opinion piece! Kudos to both. It is indeed illuminating to discover that the total of 3,278 rockets and mortar shells landing in Israeli territory in 2008, which has effectively placed 15% of the total Israeli population at risk, constitutes little more than "minor damage" and, clearly, poses minimal risk. Israelis should be able to withstand the barrage of Qassam rockets with sanguine tolerance and acceptance. And if constant rocket fire proves too much for the Israelis to bear - they can always move. Lowenstein and Slezak brilliantly "urg[e] negotiation with Hamas as the legitimate elected government." Peace can only be achieved by accepting Hamas' reasonable terms. Furthermore, the Hamas Charter sets out practical guidelines for the realization of said peace. Article Seven of the Charter notes that 'the Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to the realisation of Allah's promise, no matter how long that should take. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:

"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).'

What is so unreasonable about such a political manifesto? And why do the Israelis still persist in their refusal to negotiate with Hamas? Lowenstein and Slezak are justly outraged. Perhaps Israeli intractability has its roots in the infamous Gharkad tree. The UN Security Council should focus its efforts on finding, and uprooting, this Gharkad obstacle to peace. There can be no other reasonable explanation for the unremitting tragedy that is the Middle East. Get rid of that Gharkad tree - perhaps then, people throughout the region can stop eating grass and feast on olive branches instead.