you are so out of touch with the Israeli and American Left.

What you call “the Israeli & American left” & what I do are 2 diff things. Labor party? That’s left for you. Benny MOrris? ANother leftist. Tzipi Livni? A little pink around the edges. Barack Obama? A flaming leftist. We know your type my friend…PEP. Look it up.

I’ll tell you what, when Israel permits Israeli Palestinians citizens & non-citizens the right to build homes and other infrastructure on their own land then I’ll concede Palestinians should allow Israelis to rebuild in the Jewish Quarter. When Israel stops stealing Palestinian homes & evicting residents from them & replacing them w. settler theives, then the Palestinians should allow Israeli Jews to rebuild in the Jewish Quarter. Till then, you’re the pot calling the kettle…

the Sharon stroll, I think it was unwise, though not warranting the second intifada.

You’re just a typical liberal willing to tell a people suffering under 42 yrs. of Occupation & theft of their property & patrimony what resistance is justified & what isn’t. You’re completely obtuse & don’t have the right to tell a Palestinian a single thing. “Unwise?” Really.

We accept Assad as the representative of Syria.

But you don’t accept Syria’s legitimate claim to return of its conquered territory, do you? You don’t call for negotiations with Syria & return of the GOlan in return for peace, do you?

they have no democracy and hence, are not morally legitimate rulers.

I see. So every king & queen of England was not a “morally legitimate ruler.” Is that what you claim? Do you know how recent a development democracy is? Was every form a government that preceded it morally illegitimate? By what God given right does anyone have to pay any attention to anything you say? Who gave you the right to call anyone morally illegitimate. When I see you screaming from the barricades at Naalin & Bilin or Sheikh Jarrah about the moral illegitimacy of the Israeli Occupation & demanding that it end immediately & that Israel return to 67 borders, then you’ll have an ounce of moral authority. Till then, spare us yr nattering.

Fayyad because he’s a has improved the lives of Palestinians and is the current PM of the PA.

You’re a flamin’ hypocrite. By what democratic process was he made PM of the PA? What election put him there? Fatah in a putsch, actually took over the PA & Abbas put him in his position. The Palestinian people did not & Fatah has not had an election since. YOu forgot about that didn’t you?

Actually, the last election made Hamas the dominant democratically elected force in the PA. What happened to yr belief in democracy? Or do you only believe it when people elect those you approve of? I thought so.

You think the Palestinians approve of Fayyad and that he is “good for Palestine,” because he conforms to your ideas of a Palestinian leader, precisely because he does not push for the end of the occupation and Palestinian national rights. He doesn’t present any strong challenges to Israel. You like him because he’s like Abbas, only a little smarter.

You should also know that most Palestinians see through Fayyad. So put him out of your mind, he’s not taken seriously.

Where did you even get the word “towers”?

If you are as knowledgeable as you profess, please tell me on what legitimate basis (morally, legally, historically) the Palestinians have to object to the rebuilding of the Hurva synagogue?

Yes, Israel is and always broke the status quo. Look around, its surrounded by a bunch of tyrants.

[You can’t bifurcate yr moral/political views & claim ...]

One sign of intelligence is the ability to hold two conflicting ideas at the same time. Yes, I oppose the settlement movement, but still believe Israel and Jews have a right to Hurva Synagogue which is in East Jerusalem. I wish they would have invited Muslim and Christians to the opening ceremony.

As for the Sharon stroll, I think it was unwise, though not warranting the second intifada. The Muslims have at least some legitimate claim to the Temple Mount. I have no objection with the Waqf administering it. But the Muslims have not claimed the Hurva synagogue as spiritually important to them, hence the destruction of it twice before.

We accepted Sadat (and currently Mubarak) and the Jordanian monarch as the legitimate representatives of Egypt and Jordan respectively. We accept Assad as the representative of Syria. Yet they have no democracy and hence, are not morally legitimate rulers. I accept Fayyad because he’s a has improved the lives of Palestinians and is the current PM of the PA. He has also described a vision for a good and just Palestine, like many liberal Palestinian and non-liberal activists have described to me.

There certainly aren’t many Jews beside you who oppose the rebuilding of the Hurva Synagogue.

And you know this because of what actual survey you’ve done of sources?? What’s that? You didn’t do any research? You just based it on yr own right wing views of what Jews do or don’t believe? Why am I not surprised.

BTW, I’m not opposed to the rebuilding of the synagogue in the context of an overall agreement on the sharing of Jerusalem. I also wouldn’t be in favor of any major Muslim changes to the Temple Mount for the same reason.

It’s dome is higher than the Dome on the Rock BECAUSE IT IS BUILT ON A HIGHER PIECE OF LAND.

So let’s see, the dome of rebuilt Hurva is taller than the Dome of the Rock, yet it doesn’t “tower” over it. I’m missing something here.

It isn’t even close to the Temple Mount.

I was basing this information on something I read. It’s in the Jewish Quarter which is close to the general area of the Temple Mount & is certainly visible from it, which is how people know it “towers” above it.

I notice a lot of ARAB WORKERS at the site

A lot of Jewish workers built armaments for the Nazi war machine. Does that mean they approved of what they did? Arab workers are paid a living wage for their work. They care little about what they’re building since there are so few jobs to be found for them in Palestine. I wonder if this is sacred work why don’t you find Jews to do it?

Even far Left Israelis accept the Israeli presence in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City.

Are you sloppy or just lying. I don’t have a problem with an Israeli presence in the Jewish Quarter as long as there is no subterfuge to gain access (i.e. steal) to property there (which has happened quite often). I have a problem with provocation & destablization of the status quo.

You are far left

The ONLY people who ever use this term to describe my views are those who are quite far to the right who don’t recognize anyone to the left of them as being anything other than extreme or far left. My views are far more mainstream than yours. And btw, if you claim my views are anywhere close to Hamas I’ll ban you here as this violates my comment rules. You better be careful & precise when you characterize my views. If you mischaracterize them you’ll lose yr privileges.

The Hurva synagogue is not the Temple Mount. It is just some old ruin

What do you know about Jerusalem? Very little apparently esp. if you can call a religious shrine a few hundred feet from the Temple Mouunt “some old ruin.” Every square inch of ground in the Old City is contested by all sides. Any change of any kind destablizes the status quo. Israel understands that which is why it deliberately does so on a regular basis. But apologists like you attempt to piss on our back & make us think it’s rain by refusing to understand what even your nationalist Israeli pro settler friends understand.

I understand the provocation, and I still find it morally baseless. Just because it is going to provoke Hamas to a “day of rage”, it doesn’t mean that its wrong. Hamas does not decide what is right or wrong.

Once again you prove that you have absolutely no clue what Palestinians believe. You don’t care. That’s fine. But don’t tell us you give a fig about peace in this region. YOu’d rather argue (baselessly I might add) about the moral purity of Israel’s position while all around you goes up in flames. You are clueless, hopeless, impossible. And what an absolute disaster yr views represent for Israel & the Palestinians.

How are my views right wing? I agree with Friedman with his support of Biden’s condemnation of the settlement plan proposed.

You can’t bifurcate yr moral/political views & claim you’re left of center because you oppose building 1,600 new housing units in E. Jerusalem while you refuse to understand the tinderbox nature of the Old City & how ANY material change in the status quo acts as a match in a tinderbox. You never answered my question about Ariel Sharon’s little stroll on the Temple Mount. Was that “morally justified” too? Of course you believe it was. If you didn’t yr so called argument about Hurva would go up in flames.

I know Fayyad has little support. But at least he has the backing of Abbas and America. Like it or not, Fayyad is the only one who has brought real improvement to Palestinian life, and that is why he makes a good statesman

Palestinians don’t consider him a stateman. Only Americans and Israelis on the center right do. So who does this “statesman” represent? No one. Certainly no one within what should be his own constituency. Do you not see the bankruptcy of yr position?