Ami Eden, national editor of the (US)
Jewish newspaper, "Forward" challenged
the establishment Jewish organisations
in the 'New York Times,' in 2005.

"It is time Jews recognise that the old
strategies no longer work," he wrote.

"Jewish organisations and advocates fail
to grasp that they are no longer viewed
as the voice of the disenfranchised.
Rather, they are seen as the global Goliath,
close to the seats of power and capable
of influencing policies and damaging reputations.
As such, their efforts ... increasingly appear
as bullying..."

It is now up to the US and the international
community to force both Israel and Hamas
to meet face-to-face, listen to each other's
grievances and negotiate with honesty.

Only then, and on the condition that both
of them achieve safety and security will this
conflict be resolved.

It's now up to the US and the internationl community
to take action.

According to the Guardian, looks like Obama and the Clintons are going to try the old Sermon on the Mount trick part of which is not only in a modern sense helping anyone broken down on a shared Palestine road be it Arab or Jew, but even trying to sympathise with your enemy just a bit, even having a go at that old philosophy, Sharing the Blame.

Actually it is said that this philosophy really originated with the Greeks, whose wise men from the Great Library of Alexandria influenced the young Jesus while he was in Egyot with his mother.

Anyhow, might be an idea for even us rough bushies to try and pray that Obama does give it a go.

Here's Hoping, BB, Buntine, WA

Philip Tang: << HAMAS, an Islamists organisation bent on destroying secular democracy and establishing shariah law and the caliphate world-wide >>

While Hamas is certainly an odious Islamic organisation, its charter doesn't say anything about establishing a worldwide caliphate. You don't need to stray into hysterical Islamophobia in order to demonstrate that Hamas is a major part of the Palestinian problem, rather than its solution. Like your claim about Hamas' election, it doesn't help your case when you tell porkies.

Ditto with those who insist on erroneously comparing the Hamas charter with 'Mein Kampf' - those who do so have obviously read neither.

I quite like palimpsest's suggestions. Although somewhat unrealistic, they at least provide positive goals to which Palestinians and Israelis might aspire if they ever come to their collective senses.

Idiots who babble on about "Lefties" and "destroying" Hamas only demonstrate their ignorant prejudices. While Hamas is a radical Islamist organisation, it is a direct product of Israeli excess. The Palestinian electorate is hardly likely to oust them while the idiotic Israelis are busily demonstrating that their claims about Zionists are true.

HarryG,

Exit polls suggests election might have been rigged.

"Two exit polls showed the ruling Fatah Party winning the most votes in yesterday's parliamentary election, with the Islamic militant group Hamas finishing a strong second. Fatah took 46.4 percent of the vote, while the Islamic militant group Hamas took 39.5 percent, according to a Bir Zeit University exit poll. An exit poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Public Opinion gave Fatah 42 percent and Hamas 35 percent."

“The polls carried out by Bir Zeit University and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research had large sample sets of 8,000 voters and 17,500 voters, respectively. The margin of error was 2-3 percentage points at worst. However, the discrepancy between the exit poll predictions and reported election results in terms of the total vote is 20 and 25 percentage points, respectively. In a statistical sense, the odds of this being true for one exit poll is one in a hundred million. For two separate exit polls to be so far off is essentially statistically impossible.”
http://www.spiritoftruth.org/palestinianelection.htm

More importantly, democracy is effective only if political parties are committed to it. HAMAS is not committed to the democratic ideal because the party's emerald-green banner bears the Islamic slogan, "There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his prophet."

HAMAS is using the democratic process to establish shariah law, killing minority Arab Christians, Palestinian Jews, moderate Muslims and those who do not agree with its Islamic ideology. In true democracy, there is the rule of law and the rights of the minority are respected.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/jan/13/hamas-not-answer-palestinians/

HAMAS is also killing its own people, the Palestinians.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4Q-znnAPyI&feature=related
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6041204945834291260

FATAH on the other hand is a secular organization (wife of Arafat is a Christian) fighting for the rights and freedom of the Palestinian people against the Zionist and capitalist West. There is evidence to suggest that the HAMAS was initially supported by the Zionist and capitalist West.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10456.htm

First Step; understand that Israel will not be disappearing any time soon. Then make peace with them..and the problem's solved.

Mac claims Israel has nabbed land and hung onto it tenaciously ever since 1967. except that when Egypt made peace with them..they returned the Sinai and the problem was solved!

Fatah has decided that peace is best and that israel is not going away; the problem is in the process of being solved.

Now, plenty of lefties like CJ Morgan deny they are lefties but still adhere to groupthink and 1970s lefty ideas of Zionist Entities and nasty Jews. Despite Hamas being disowned by almost everybody, western lefties champion them. Apart from Iranian and Syrian thugs..and lefties like Mac and CJ the world has rejected them.

Murdering hundreds of Fatah supporters has not made Hamas the "bad guys" in the eyes of these lefties..which tells you plenty about how they (the lefties) view opposition in authoritarian thug-run hell-holes. And probably how THEY would deal with anyone not marching to their tune. Not much to debate with such lefties is there? Cheers.

PS. Should any lefties feel agrieved at being cast as supporters of repressive Islamofascist political murderers, feel free to severely criticise Hamas..in addition to Israel of course!

In addition to the good references provided by Philip Tang this is closer to reality than the ignorance displayed by the author.

http://www.meforum.org/article/2048