I believe, according to my religion, something will happen to finish everything in this world and that something is the Day of Judgment. The bigger weapons may act as a reason to to make4 that happen. Although God doesn’t need any reason to make that happen.

Everyone is struggling in this world.

Israel is struggling for its existence due to the strategies being adopted by Zionists for a long period. It is widely

Muslims are struggling as per their belief that they have to struggle against every action which is meant to harm them. It is wrongly taken by other religions that

If every country follow its borders and remain in its limits, and try to develop resources for itself or go to other country as a worker then everyone is safe.

But when somebody start thinking as God, then decline starts. Other than God, every rise is followed by a fall.

The countries which plan to snatch resources outside their limits, then the main problem arises. Remember the British rule all over the world. It was extended too much that it became difficult to handle. Same thing is happening with America.

All big countries know about the stretegies undertaken by America to develop its economy. There is no country which can resist America’s strategy as America is a strong country. But it is getting involved in too many grounds that a day may come when it would be difficult for it to be a super power. And then other country will take its place and will make the similar strategies which America is following.

Rule of World for Germany, France, Russia and Britain are history now. Currently America is leading. But due to the current stretegies, it will also join former group.

Unlike others, Japan has become a nation with pride after the Yoroshima+Nagasaki bombing by America. Its military involvement in world affairs is zero. Therefore, this country does not carry any hate from any nation.

Near future is reserved for European Union or China, which ever adopts the better stretegies. More chances are for China as it is not taking negative stretegies. Whereas negative strategies are taken against China for a long time to de-fame it or its products.

For every action, there is a reaction. Muslims cannot be eliminated from world. It s a religion and not the country. Country needs land but religion is totally based on ones feeling and understanding.

It is better to make positive stretegies to win love. These brutal weapons can never win hearts.

The idea that a moron like this would find a cancer-causing weapon “funny” is beyond repulsive.

When you accuse Israel of committing war crimes, particularly without specific examples

What’re you smokin’? My blog is full of posts throughout the Lebanon war that list Israeli attacks that easily fit into the rubric of war crimes. There are at least 6 or more in that category. You just haven’t done enough reading. So instead of telling me to “shut up” why don’t you just give your keyboard trigger finger a rest for a few seconds & go read through what I wrote. Then if you come back & tell me I still haven’t provided “specific examples” I’ll know you either can’t read or are a true partisan pro-Israel hack.

war crimes are being committed by Israel’s enemies.

UGH! I’ve already said this myself in this blog. Don’t you bother to read before you bestow such “revelations” upon us? Of course Hezbollah likely committed war crimes which deserve the same scrutiny as Israel’s actions.

Though you are wrong in listing ‘using civilians as human shields’ as a strong war crimes charge. The only folks who accept that this happened are propagandists like you. I’ve heard nothing whatsoever from any credible source that substantiates this claim. And I don’t count Little Green Footballs, MEMRI or CAMERA as credible sources. But the rocketing of northern Israel is certainly a likely war crime.

Not to mention their blatant provocation: Violating internationally-recognized borders and attacking a sovereign nation.

Now that is rich! And you mean to tell me that Israel didn’t “violate internationally-recognized borders and attack a sovereign nation” too? So why don’t we agree. I’ll send Nasrallah to the Hague if you’ll agree to do the same for Olmert, Peretz & Halutz. Whadaya say? Deal?

Your omission of these and other facts…

And you’re an idiot for saying so. READ! I never “omitted” Hezbollah’s crimes. I never defended Hezbollah’s actions. I condemened them. Which is more than I can say for yr. take on Israeli moral obligations. It says loads about me that I criticize both sides & loads about you that you only criticize one side. And you accuse me of not being “even-handed!” You have a lot of friggin’ nerve! I guess I’m going to have to “dismiss your credibility out of hand” as well.

As for the “self-hating Jew” crap. You’re only the 100th (or is it 1,000th) moron who’s written that here. Don’t you people ever work on getting any new material?

When you accuse Israel of committing war crimes, particularly without specific examples, you debunk any and all arguments you make on other topics. The rest of your discussion is without credibility. You may as well shut up.

Why? Because the war crimes are being committed by Israel’s enemies.

Deliberately targetting civiliians.
Using Lebanese citizens as human shields

Not to mention their blatant provocation: Violating internationally-recognized borders and attacking a sovereign nation.

Your omission of these and other facts leads me to dismiss your credibility out of hand. If you wish to be TAKEN SERIOUSLY, try to be more even handed with your judgments.

Otherwise you come off as a Self-Hating Jew. Truly a pathetic lot.

ad nauseam

You said it.

You compared israel to nazi germany at the top of this posting

A bit more sensitivity in yr reading is called for. I did not compare ISRAEL as a whole to Nazi Germany. I compared the U.S. military’s use of the IDF as a military proxy in Lebanon to Hitler’s use of Franco’s Spain as its military proxy during the Spanish civil war. I was comparing U.S. military practices to Nazi military practices. I was not comparing Israel as a nation or its national values to Nazism. I’ll thank you to not make the mistake of confusing the distinction I’ve just made for you.

What makes you think that Hamas will agree with leaving any of the settlements in place?

Hamas is not a lone actor in this conflict. There are also Fatah & the other front line Arab states that must be factored in. There is no way in heaven that Hamas could buck a consensus agreement among all Arab states to sue for peace with Israel. But this would require a significant concession from Israel–withdrawal back to 1967 boundaries. The 2002 Saudi/Arab League proposal provides Arab recognition of Israel & end of hostilities in return for Israel withdrawal. This is what the eventual peace settlement will look like.

Even if Hamas were to refuse making peace under those terms the other Arab nations would in effect force it to do so. Neither Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, nor Syria would permit Hamas to destroy a peace that they themselves agreed to & are invested in.

I have never heard of the Arab initiative considering territorial adjustments

Google “2002 Saudi peace initiative” & you’ll find it. There’s a Wikipedia article about it as well. The Wikipedia article doesn’t mention willingness to consider territorial adjustments but the Saudis have said as much in the years since the 2002 summit.

There was an unprecedented wave of goodwill in year 2000

Again, you’re looking at it with Israeli eyes but not Palestinian. There was no euphoria among Palestinians for Camp David. It failed you’ll recall. And one of the main reasons it failed was that Israel clung to unrealistic expectations about territory it could retain fr. the Territories. Palestinians were not happy that Israel wished to retain 10% of its territory & was not willing to recognize a Palestinian capital in E. Jerusalem. And then Sharon trampled upon the Temple Mount. Do you think Palestinians felt a wave of goodwill when he did that?

They had flourishing towns then, they had self rule, they had a proposal for a fair land exchange

To say such things shows that you have very little understanding of life in the Territories. You think Palestinian towns were flourishing? By whose standards? Certainly by the standards of today they were. But they are starving to death now. Is that the benchmark we wish to use to determine that the towns were once “flourishing?” “Self rule?” Really. Do you think a people that has little more control over its life than maintaining street lights & garbage collection (I exaggerate, but only slightly) has “self-rule?” Is they had self-rule, then what happened to the Gaza port and airport that were planned? Who prevented these developments? In 2000, Israel still controlled all the most significant levers of power over Palestinian life. It’s never stopped controlling them & does so to this day. As for “fair land exchange,” I’ve pointed out above why this is not so. It was by no means fair & State Dept. personnel like Aaron David Miller, who negotiated Camp David have said as much.

What has changed since then in their mindset?

I am dumbfounded by folks like you who obsess about the perfidy & hostile “mindset” of the Palestinians as if Israel has done nothing whatsoever to merit such hostility. There is far too much hatred on both sides for you to win any argument based on saying that the Palestinians are wholly at fault. It won’t wash. At least not here with me who knows better.

they keep saying day and night they want our destruction?

“They” (whoever that is) DO NOT say that day & night. You may find individual (prob. Hamas or Islamic Jihad) politicians who say things hostile to Israel. But every poll of Palestinian public opinion acknowledges that they as a people do not want the destruction of Israel. Why have you not read such polls? They’re easy to find (including here). Fatah does not want the destruction & you will find NO Fatah politicians saying the things you claim all Palestinians feel. A lot more clarity & accuracy is called for in yr characterizations of Palestinian attitudes toward Israel.

This is why they bombed us in 1996 1995 at the hight of the peace process - to fail it - can’t you see that?

You’re quoting me 10 year old history when even a year in the Middle East is a lifetime. Is Hamas bombing you now? Besides, you think that Israel has done anything whatsoever to give Palestinians the impression that you want peace? I’m sorry, but again, you will never get me to agree that Palestinians are at fault for all the lost opportunities. Fault goes both ways as far as that goes.

I don’t want to go into detail about yr claims about Hamas. But they are absolutely wrong. You know nothing about Hamas. You have developed yr impressions of it prob. fr. reading the pgs. of Maariv or the Jerusalem Post. I’d strongly urge you to search this blog on the keyword “Hamas” where you will find many posts which provide first hand sources (many from Israeli media sources which you appear not to have read or to have ignored if you did) that contradict your ideas about Hamas.

To be clear, I do not find Hamas a fine, upstanding organization. I wouldn’t vote for them in an election. But I’m not Palestinian. Those who are did vote for them in the last election. I believe in democracy. God forbid, if Avigdor Lieberman or Benyamin Netanyahu became PM, I would detest it–but I would have to concede it was an expression of Israeli democracy. Palestinians deserve the same consideration from me, from you, & from the world community.

I would however hope to see more websites trying to promote the understanding of palestinians to Israel too, because otherwise they will never understand that Israel is not pure evil, that we are willing to negotiate in good will, and that we all have everything to gain from peace in our area.

There is nothing wrong with your hopes. I share them. But let me turn the tables. Would you hope to see more Israeli websites promoting understanding of Palestinians? Do you know how many there are? There are some, but they are few. And they are dwarfed by sites which demonize Palestinians.

I believe there need to be more efforts on both sides to “undemonize” each other. I have created directories of Israeli and Palestinian pro-peace websites which you should review. And please do not make the mistake of believing there are no or even few pro-peace Palestinian sites. Do not make the mistake of thinking there are fewer pro-peace Palestinian than Israeli sites. That would be a mistake. There is good will on both sides that is often overwhelmed by the hatred emanating fr. both sides.

You sound like a person of basic good will. So I should apologize for anything I may’ve said to you that was overly harsh, intemperate or intolerant. I get that way when I hear people speaking from what I feel is ignorance rather than knowledge on complex subjects like this one. Sometimes we have good will but not all the facts. I hope you will try to learn more about Palestinians before you generalize about their attitudes toward Israel & Israelis.

You compared israel to nazi germany at the top of this posting (scroll up to see where). For the differences between the two I would like to recommend wikipedia’s tens of entries on nazi germany, find the differences yourself.

What makes you think that Hamas will agree with leaving any of the settlements in place? They demand unconditional evacuation of all territories, in return for a Hudna, a limited truce, not even a recognition of Israel. I have never heard of the Arab initiative considering territorial adjustments - where did you get this from, i would be happy to know since it is a remarkable development.

The mistrust between us and them (sorry but this is how it is) is not baseless. How do they feel about us right now? Why did they have to bring it down to this? There was an unprecedented wave of goodwill in year 2000, why did they instead embark on a deadly adventure with the second intifada when we least expected it? Did they not have our trust then? The main problem is that we did trust them, only to be disillusioned by savage suicide bombings. They had flourishing towns then, they had self rule, they had a proposal for a fair land exchange and would have gotten all the land, based on territorial adjustments - same as we are willing to do today and even more. The Jerusalem problem could have been solved creatively - this was the actual break in trustbetween us and them. What has changed since then in their mindset? What makes you think they would settle for what they didn’t want to settle for 6 years ago when there still was trust between us when they keep saying day and night they want our destruction? I don’t find this good grounds for an agreement - so all we’re asking for is a hint at a change of mindset on the Hamas part.

Unfortunately, Hamas never agreed to a deal with Israel, not now, not then, and there is no way you can twist that around. This is why they bombed us in 1996 1995 at the hight of the peace process - to fail it - can’t you see that?

Hamas, as unfortuate and disconcerting as it may be, does not want to negotiate for peace. They want to get it all, and get the rest later, with no long term commitments. And they say it openly day and night. I’m not saying that we can’t work out anything with Abbas though, and I support trying it at least, but the chances are quite slim that he can pull this through. I don’t trust there will be a change of mindset on the Hamas side of the map following a deal, but the reason I am for it is that it will finally get Israel off the international hook, quiet down our conscience and may perhaps be a better environment for extremism within the pal population to decrease. I would however hope to see more websites trying to promote the understanding of palestinians to Israel too, because otherwise they will never understand that Israel is not pure evil, that we are willing to negotiate in good will, and that we all have everything to gain from peace in our area. What do you say, do you think you can help in un-demonizing the Israeli side too, as you try to do to the pal one? Don’t you think it will help create a better chance for understanding and good will?

you have entered a cycle of discrediting whatever does not support your thesis that Israelis are the modern incarnation of nazism [sic] and that Hamas are a group of folk dancers.

David: This is a preposterous mischaracterization of my actual views. I am a progressive Zionist. I do not believe Israel has anything to do with Nazism. Never used the word in that context & never will. You must be confusing me with someone else. I’ll thank you for arguing with me only about views I actually hold & things I’ve actually said.

As for Hamas, you may read many statements in this blog condemning violent acts by Hamas, Hezbollah & other groups which fight or have fought against Israel, esp. Israeli civilians.

Regaring the DIME weapons…you have agreed that organs are mutilated by normal weaponry too

Again, you’re not reading what I wrote–at least not very carefully. Conventional weapons kill & maim, yes. But they do not do so with the savagery & intensity of this new weapon. Why do you think the U.S. has not tested it in actual battlefield conditions? Because it doesn’t want to? Of course not. It knows that there would be a hue & cry fr. the international community that would bring the U.S. military into even more disrepute than it now enjoys. That’s why it’s farmed out the battlefield test to the IDF which has almost no moral compunctions in terms of which weapons it will use against its “targets.”

Option 2 - Use this DIME thing. The targeted person gets mutilated and dies. The 12 y/o bystander standing 10 meters away gets terribly frightened but is not hurt by the blast.

Let’s change the terms. Instead of standing 10 meters away the bystander is standing a mere 8 meters away, which is within the kill zone. Then both the militant AND the civilian are killed in the most savage death imaginable. Make no mistake, while conventional weapons kill, they do not kill as horrifically, as painfully & as hideously as DIME does.

If using this weapon can reduce the number of people hot by it, provided that SOME weapon needs to be used

W/o intending to you’ve gotten to the crux of the matter. No weapons would need to be used if Ehud Olmert sat down unconditionally with Bashir Assad, Fuoad Siniora & Mahmoud Abbas and told ea. of them he was prepared to do what was necessary to bring peace NOW. As I’ve said repeatedly here in this blog, the only defense against enemy weapons is peace. That’s the true way to disarm yr enemy.

Instead of debating me about which weapons systems are moral & which are not why are you not demanding yr government negotiate now with these nations? Why are you not voting for parties that make such a demand? Why are you not demonstrating publicly for such a political position? Only when you can tell me you’ve done some or all of those things then you can come here & boast that you’re a “center-left” Israeli. And if you oppose any of these positions then you have no right whatsoever to use the “left” portion of that hyphenate political description of yourself.

I for one HATE reading about another innocent bystander hit unnecessarily.

DIME will also kill innocent bystanders. It might kill a small percentage less than current weaponry. But those it does kill it will kill far more horrifically than current weapons. In sum, DIME is NOT an improvement. It is not preferable to more conventional explosives.

And I’d like to know how you defend causing cancer to both militants & bystanders who are hit with DIME as you surely will (remember that 100 out 100 lab rats got cancer when given a dose comparable to what would be used in weaponized form). Don’t you think getting hit by the weapon in the first place is punishment enough? Do they have to be punished further 5 or 10 yrs down the line–if the initial blast hasn’t killed them–by some horrific form of cancer?

Olmert will not meet Abbas before Gilad Shalit is released or he will be thrown out of office and encourage more kidnappings

First, this is bull. Second, it is once again preposterous. All Olmert needs to do is announce that he will meet with them in the context of negotiating to free all IDF hostages (in Gaza & Lebanon). The only Israeli who won’t agree to such a stance would be the rightists who hate Olmert as it is even without taking this position.

And pls. don’t try to use the lame argument that negotiating to free Shalit or anyone else encourages more kidnapping. Negotiating is what will free them. The only thing that will free them. And negotiating peace is the only thing that will end the violence overall.

Olmert does not regard Syrian calls as serious so long as Syria keeps harboring Mashal

NO. Olmert does not regard Syrian calls as serious as long as his U.S. masters tell him they aren’t. The preconditions have been cooked up to justify policy that has another basis entirely than what is publicly admitted. It is inconvenient to the Bush Mideast agenda for Israel to negotiate with Syria (Iran’s ally). Hence, Israel creates preconditions & says the old Khrushchev Nyet. Don’t believe me. Read Haaretz’s Shmuel Rosner who quotes Martin Indyk as saying precisely this in the post I wrote last night. Both of these sources are highly pro-Israel & so have no particular ax to grind as you might feel that I have.

As soon as he tries to build some confidence between us, and peove that he is not bent on our demise

He has only said this 20 times in the past month or so in various world media outlets (a number of which have been featured here). He very explicitly has said he wants peace & not war with Israel. He has said that the outstanding issues that divide the 2 countries (from Israel’s side they would be support for Hezbollah & Hamas (Meshal), & recognition of Israel) can be resolved in 6 months max. This is a man who’s telling you to sit down & talk. He’s practically waving white flags at you & yet you & your PM sit on your respective rocks & pout Nyet.

I do however think it unrealistic to move 250,000 people out of their homes, however unfair it was to put them there in the first place.

Proposals like the Geneva Initiative & even the 2002 Arab League/Saudi proposals allow for territorial adjustments which would enable Israel to hold onto the biggest settlement blocs containing the largest number of inhabitants. So there would be no mass evacuation of 250,000. I don’t know the precise numbers but I’m guessing that perhaps 50-150,000 might be evacuated. And much of the evacuation would not have to be forced since Israel & the U.S. would undertake to provide compensation to those who were willing to move back within the Green Line. This would encourage most who needed to leave to do so.

right now it looks like they [Hamas] are not ready to stop just yet, but if they ever do, I still hope someone would still be listening because the people in Israel have unfortunately lost confidence in it.

You are so self-centered that you cannot stop for a second & consider how your country & its government is viewed by the Palestinians. Do you think there’s one whit of diff. bet. how you’re viewed there & how they’re viewed by you? I guarantee you that for every ounce of mistrust & hatred you will find of Palestinians within Israel you will find 10 among Palestinians for Israel. So what does this prove? Do you really believe that merely because Hamas is mistrusted in your country that this let’s your country off the hook & frees it fr. any responsibility to negotiate for peace?

if I can ask you something - please stop the hateful retorics [sic]…

My rhetoric is not hateful. It is CRITICAL. It is unfortunately you who cannot distinguish between the two. Your nation is on a collision course with self-destruction. I am trying to prevent that in my own small way. If you want to ignore the advice offered by me and scores of other progressive Israeli journalists, politicians & bloggers, you may do so. But calling us “hateful” does not get you off the hook & allow you to justify ignoring our warnings.

some balance and humility is somehing both sides really need right now.

And you think the comment you wrote provides “balance & humility” as far as the Palestinian or Arab side goes? If you do, I’m sorry to say you’re in cloud cuckoo land. Your comment only indicates you understand about half of what is necesary to bring peace. You don’t give a shit about the settlements or the Territories. That’s a good start. But that doesn’t make you “center-left.” To get there, you actually have to do something to end them. And that I haven’t seen from anything you’ve written here. You merely wring yr hands & say how bad things are for Israel & how much you’d be willing to give up to get peace. But you stop there. That’s the fatal flaw of yr argument or understanding of Israel’s predicament.