Check why they are prisoners. You will find that these are not the sort of people any rational human being would want loose - in fact, their treatment has been surprisingly humane given the crimes they've committed. Your sympathy for them is horrifying - born either of ignorance or psychopathology.

Talk about politically correct garbage! What happened on July 11? Nothing. What happened on July 12? Israel was attacked by a foreign controlled army that occupies south Lebanon and refuses to cede control to the legitimate government in Beirut. The Iranian/Syrian trained and equipped army violated the international border, killed 8 soldiers, kidnapped 2 others, and launched an attack on Israeli civilian centers using anti-personnel rockets that killed one woman and injured dozens of others. The authore failed to notice, I guess, that Hezbollah is NOT interested in living in peace. In fact, they're not interested in seeing Israel exist at all. Yes, if they could kill us all tomorrow, they would. Their Iranian puppetmasters have said so in as many words. Ergo, this is an act of war committed by Hezbollah. You don't fight wars with silk gloves. We'll use a sledgehammer to kill a fly in this case - cuz these flies kill. Get off of your politically correct horse and look at reality - Israel is ready for peace with Lebanon and with the Palestinians. Have you noticed who is in charge of the Palestinians these days? Hello? Hamas? Hamas does not want peace with Israel. Hamas also wants Israel wiped off the map and they have been trying to kill as many of us as possible since they emerged out of the Palestinian mess. I do feel sorry for the Lebanese - because this mess is Hezbollah's doing, not Israel's. I also feel sorry for the Palestinians, because they could have had a country years ago and be building up their society, but they too would rather keep shooting themselves in the foot. Yes, I support "knocking sense" into them, because the alternative is to let Hezbollah and Hamas slit our throats, like they themselves keep saying they want to do. Wake up and smell the coffee, B Mike!

Mary, just a reminder that on July 11, nothing was happening on the border. On July 12, Hezbollah violated the internationally recognized border, killed 8 Israeli soldiers and kidnapped 2 of them, then launched a rocket attack with anti-personnel warheads on Israeli civilian areas killing one woman and injuring dozens of people. Those attacks continue to this day. Lebanon could have quickly restored peace by getting Hezbollah to hand the kidnapped Israelis over to the Red Crescent, and stopping their rocket attacks. Sorry, Mary, but we Israelis will no longer tolerate murderous attacks from Lebanon. I am very sorry that your country is being screwed over by Hezbollah. Stop listening to your own rhetoric - clean up your country from the Syrian/Iranian occupation in the south, and then maybe we can see a chance for peace - what all Israelis want.

so, how would you defeat Hitler and Tojo ?

withdrawing provokes Arab attacks, your islamic hate culture made you killing machines

1,000 casualties, hundreds of thousands of displaced persons, and scores of pounded villages is a good reason why they hate us.

Khalid says "There will be no peace without justice, and your soldiers are worth no more than Lebanese or Palestinian POW's." You are incorrect, Khalid. First of all, peace without justice is fairly common. Egypt, after all, is at peace internally even though, as a dictatorship, it is intrinsically unjust. Arabs are at peace only when they are intimidated. They do not understand Western concepts of justice; they do understand, though, how to commandeer Western concepts to advance their loathsome goals. Israeli soldiers are indeed worth much, much more than Lebanese or "Palestinian" POWs. For me, one Jewish life is worth hundreds of thousands of Arab ones. Alas, I doubt the government of Israel agrees. The Arabs are the weak horse here. Israel should grant peace only if the Arabs formally surrender all of Yesha and voluntarily move from there to one of their other countries. Until they do, there will not be granted peace. Israel should also annex all land from which attacks come and expel the Arab residents, just as it did with the Golan. South Lebanon is part of Biblical Israel. If it is worth dying for, it is worth living on. We have all heard that the Arabs can lose a thousand times but the Israelis only once. This must change. If Arab attacks are met by defeat AND annexation/expulsion, then every Arab loss becomes a true loss. Rational people revise their views in light of evidence. Peace has brought only war, and no "peace" is good enough for the Arabs because they know only war. War will bring peace because it addresses the core issue: the inherently violent Arab psyche. This is one reason B. Michael's article is so inane. It fails to be culturally literate about the enemy.

I am bitterly disappointed that Israel government sacrificed life of the IDF soldiers to spare life of the Lebanese by avoiding blanket bombing of the Hizbollah strongholds. Who decided the the IDF soldiers life is less valuable than life of the Lebanese? Let the Lebanese government take care of the Lebanese populations by disarming of the Hizbollah troops. Did you ask families of the IDF soldiers if they were ready to sacrifice live of their children to save lives of someone else children? Stop this BS with inner world of the other side. The rockets are coming from their side and killing Israeli population. Stop them whatever it takes with the minimal losses of the Israeli lives. There is no time for salon conversations now.

>return of the prisonners 3 Lebanese -- the hi profile one being Samir Kuntar, who in 1979 murdered most of a family in Israel (search for Smadar Haran's account in the Washington Post). Hardly a freedom fighter. The other 2 can't be too far off. >palestinian viable state How's that related to Lebanon? And if anything, Gaza was exited just now (see how well that's working...) and there were talks about more of the same. >compensations and acknowledgement for people removed by israel Not any of Hizballah's stated goals. But FYI, after the British left in 1948, the internationally endorsed establishment of Israel was welcomed by a big surprise *party* by the friendly neighbors. Naturally Israel didn't sit idly by. Mind you, about the same number of Jewish people (~600-700,000) were expelled from Arabic countries, most of whom came to Israel and rebuilt their lives (unlike a lot of the Palestinians which are refused citizenship in their new countries in order to perpetuate their misery and use this as a whip).

I dont understand , how can u say that one jewish life is worth hundreds of thousands of arabs one. You want to justify each and every thing in the name of God, Is the God of Israel dont have any love for other races ? Who are Arabs in real .. Childrens of Ismael .. Cousin of jews and Grand Childrens of Abraham. Am i right ? Dont they have the same blood of Abraham. First thing u do think that you are superior to all, like Satan did with Adam. Stop being an ignorant. If u think u can kill all then u could also be killed. This world is from all it will not matters if u r not in this world. Dont talk too much abt winning u could also be defeated. If Roman Empire cant stand, If USSR can be Broken into pieces even after having nukes. On which fake pride u r here . Here u talk abt Arab psyche which is violent and in all urs message u only seems to be war monger , war cant give any solution .. Remember this. why dont u peoples annex all lands from which attacks come , all urs armies have to guard and get killed daily ... Better try that so that Palestinians live inside Israel calmly. Urs comment is the worst since the time i m coming on YNET ,

All right, I'll respond here: First of all, I love the way you respond only to the points where you think you have the upper hand and ignore the others. But be that as it may. /"The predictions you talk about had not come from the anti-disengagement camp." I don't understand. The predictions I talked about did indeed come from the anti-disengagement camp. I mentioned Caroline Glick by name, but I could have offerred a long list., including yours truly (in my small way). / My point was that those predictions did not come ONLY from the anti-disengagement camp. I myself wrote many times prior to hahitnatqut about what could be expected afterward and it almost word for word agreed with what people like Ms Glick foresaw. I did not support the Disengagement because I thought it would achieve anything or bring about an improvement of any sort but simply because the status quo was untenable in the long-run. This is the same basis on which I support and advocate further disengagements. /The sought-for goal was surely a clear improvement in Israel's terror-related situation. / No, it was not. /However, the pro-expulsion forces actually had very little reasoning of any kind to back up their position./ And your arguments were what, please remind me. /By the way, while you might fantasize about carpet-bombing the Pals in Gaza, it will not happen, and using that as a backup plan in case the disengagement would fail was a foolish fantasy./ I garnered no such fantasies. But there certainly are strategies to prevent or avenge attacks on Israel's territory from outside its borders. This is too complex a matter to get into here though. But your central argument, which appears to be that we need to be in the middle of our potential attackers--militarily as well as with scores of civilian habitations--in order to prevent attacks is patently absurd, discredited and unworkable. By the way, your insistence on puting quotation marks around the word Palestinians shows YOU to be the one living in a fantasy world. No matter how much you may want to, you cannot deny the right of a person or group of people to identify themselves as they choose to. Time for a reality check, akhi.

Michael, you say "As far as withdrawing from the West Bank, etc, I can't wait for the day that happens and I hope it's implemented as soon as possible. But no-one's stupid enough to think that's going to end the conflict." It surely will NOT end the conflict, Michael, it will continue it and indeed increase it. You: "You want my prognosis? Israel is going to withdraw from all the disputed territories and probably compensate the refugees and their descendants. The very next day the Palestinians are going to fire rockets into Israel and Israel is going to pound the sh*t out of the Palestinians again. " Me: Earth to Abu Hitnakut! Might there be a relation between departure of Jews and increases in terror attacks? Hm? To anticipate: yes, withdrawal from land has ALWAYS worsened Israel's position. The earliest example was the Israeli withdrawal from Sinai, which did not bring peace, but which you trumpeted earlier as a great victory. This "victory" became the model of Israeli capitulation, of the stronger country kicking its citizens out and irrationally suing for peace. That cold "peace" has simply made Egypt a strategic partner of the US, which would not have happened otherwise. Egypt has been undermining Israeli security ever since. One thing about all birds: they have small brains. It is time to model yourself after smarter animals.

To who ever wrote this article you must have more time than sense to out this type of garbage into print, absolutley journalistic crap.

It's not that no one thinks like you, but anyone who has a son, or a friend's son, or a relative, would not think to write such things so soon. They say the biggest anti-semite is a self-hating Jew, be careful.

Michael, you suggest that I respond only to points where I think I have the upper hand. My purpose in engaging you is not to win but to persuade, and I will not do the latter with cheap debating tricks. I do have to be selective, though, and focus on what I think are the key points. /** I did not support the Disengagement because I thought it would achieve anything or bring about an improvement of any sort but simply because the status quo was untenable in the long-run. This is the same basis on which I support and advocate further disengagements.**/ What kind of irrationality is this? How can any rational person support something that is costly but that does not achieve anything or bring about an improvement? In addition, what does "untenable in the long run" mean? This is the sort of political mumbo-jumbo that Orwell discusses in both _1984_ and in his essay "Politics and the English Language." It is dishonest writing. I said, "The sought-for goal was surely a clear improvement in Israel's terror-related situation." You replied, "No, it was not." Oh yes it was. You say now that you expected nothing positive from the Disengagement. Apparently, you prefer being irrational to being wrong. But in Yair Lapid's essay (to which I linked in a previous response to you), you say, in typically imprecise language, something else: /** I used to be one of those who thought the Palestinians can be negotiated with; that ultimately we could find a way to live with each other side by side in peace. But we so evidently cannot. Hence the only reasonable solution is to separate from themselves in every respect. Build the barrier, withdraw behind it, and let's both get on with our business on our respective side." **/ What you are saying here is that Israelis (e.g. you) and "Palestinians" will be SEPARATE IN EVERY RESPECT. How can you be separate and go about your business on your respective sides when you are engaged in undiminished terror-related transactions? Sorry, Michael, but you did indeed suggest, in your imprecise way, that the Disengagement would achieve a reduction in terror. /** But your central argument, which appears to be that we need to be in the middle of our potential attackers--militarily as well as with scores of civilian habitations--in order to prevent attacks is patently absurd, discredited and unworkable. **/ The only thing "patently absurd, discredited and unworkable" is the straw man that you say is my central argument. My central argument is that Convergence is a good idea, if applied to "Palestinians" on both sides of the Green Line. You admit in #28 that your approach will not end the attacks against Israelis "for decades, if not centuries, to come." You say that nothing else Israel could do would shorten this time horizon. I agree only with the first of these statements. I will add, though, that you already live outside Israel, and I find it unlikely that many other Jews would remain in Israel if your argument is correct. /** By the way, your insistence on puting quotation marks around the word Palestinians shows YOU to be the one living in a fantasy world. No matter how much you may want to, you cannot deny the right of a person or group of people to identify themselves as they choose to.**/ My use of quotation marks around "Palestinians" shows that I reject Arafat's creation of a people for the cynical purpose of slicing away Jewish land. In general, I don't care one way or the other what people call themselves. However, when ethnic or national language is used merely as a cover for politics, I see no reason to cooperate.

Do not ask "why do they hate us?" Rather, ask "why do they not fear us?" We can do nothing about the hatred of primitives, but we can do much regarding their confidence.

Did you just immigrate to the country, just wondering.. Fascist dont accept any of what you are saying.. live in la la land.. christians and muslims didnt live in peace in lebanon... that is so, so true.. now what are you talking about... you missed that fact...

Now how do we get rid of nassrallah.. send him back to Iran...

Fascists never really are satisfied with much.. remember the neville chamberlain so called peace deal.. thats just emboldens fascists. go back to the drawing board, we need a new solution.

Did hizbullah have for the rockets over the previous years.. anyways hizbullah will be disarmed and hopefully christians and muslims get along in lebanon and its all happily ever after.. you do know that christian lebanese dont like hizbullah..

In general, Faisal, I do not respond to anyone who writes "u" and "ur" in place of "you" and "your." Why, after all, should I respond to a teenager or to someone vulgar enough to think that such usage is cute? However, I admit that I am flattered by your statement that my comment "is the worst since the time i m coming on YNET." I rather liked my #37, as it reflects changes in my thinking over the past five or so years. I like how Muslims suddenly reference Torah when they think they can gain an advantage thereby. It's purely opportunistic of course. Faisal, it's not true that Arabs are my cousins. Copts might be, but they are few and far between nowadays. Anyway, I naturally prefer a brother to a cousin, even when the brother is Abu Hitnakut. If, though, you want to talk Torah, then you should know that the Torah approach to the Arab enemy is no different from mine. For I say only that Amalek must be driven from the Land, and that if an enemy is coming to kill you, you must arise earlier and kill him first. Go pedal your talk about pride, etc., to the nearest Christian.

JPS, a reminder that on 11 May 2006 – "United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan's Personal Representative for Southern Lebanon today expressed concern at the recent increase in violations of Lebanese airspace by Israeli aircraft after a period of relative calm in the area." http://domino.un.org/ So save your propaganda for your own dimwits and respect other people's borders before you expect them to respect yours.

Thank you Ynet for providing your readers with the opportunity to hear the opinions of ant-Zionist Arabs like B. Michael. Good to know just how correct the Israeli right actually is.

The lesson of this war: No settlements will be uprooted again ! Israel needs secure borders ! Any withdrwal will cost us with human lives, destruction of houses and thousands of displaced and uprooted. Don't ever believe words of peace coming from the moyth of a hyenna.

"And the Palestinians do have control over the Gaza borders. It's not our problems if the Egyptians don't want them crossing into their country." Give me a break. Israel has full controll over Gaza's ONLY link to the outside world (Rafah crossing) and this has been highlighted by it's closure since 25 June when Gilad was captured. Are you telling me it's a coincidence that Egypt chose to close the borders on that very day and until now? Israel controlls Gaza's seaspace and airspace as well - I would hardly call that a withdrawal. This is the problem with most Israelis: We keep saying end ALL the occupation and we will not attack you, and then you continue the occupation and wonder why we're attacking you, and further you even blame us (as you did) for future attacks after the occupation has ended when the lands are still occupied, it's really really puzzling, this strategy.

After reading this article, you made me feel that there is still hope for peace. It’s the perceptive people like you that will bring sense into a senseless war and government brutality. Please make your voice rise above all other voices, your voice is what Israel needs to survive peacefully with its neighbors.

Why play their game Michael? They are wolves who should not be anywhere on Jewish soil (including all of Yesha), and they threaten Jews while feigning reasonableness. "If you do such and such, THEN we will not attack you." You see, Steiner, a proud Jew would say, "Oh, you won't attack ME? I will expel you and everyone in your village, and I will deport any "peace activists" who try to interfere." Two expulsions of Arabs and the message will be loud and clear. You'll see that while true peace is impossible with wolves, they can be quieted down very, very easily. But no, you want to continue mishandling this situation for "centuries."

and the arabs think exactly the same as you do, opposite way round : after oslo agreements, israel kept expanding settlments for what ? they ask. No matter what we arabs do, cease fire and they'll expand settlements and provoke us anyways. So do the effort of understanding that the fear and hopelessness is the same on arab side. You see iran's president saying the world would be better without israel. And unfortunately there's some rabbis and ministers comparing arabs to a cancer, to poison, saying they're unpure, and their land should be burnt. And this is what the arabs get on their TVs. for years, i've been thinking that israel is going to keep killing arabs and negating their rights, regardless what arabs do. i think you're one of those who can take a step back and analyse coldly what's going on if you put a small effort int it, and maybe someday you won't define yourself as someone above who understands what's going on in all these people's heads. You'll be disappointed by leaders and manipulators of both sides and you'll have faith in both sides population's will for peace. i think that because i was on the same way as you few years ago. Once you're strong enuf to admit that despite extremist speeches and despite propaganda, your "enemy"'s main problem is live in peace, and not destroy you, and once there's more people like that on both sides, then peace walks a huge step forward. If you believe israel should do what you think is right towards palestinians, means withdraw from the occupied territories, give palestinians their rights (of course not to return, but compensate), even if you believe palestinians are going to keep attacking israel the day after and you'll have to go to war again, well this remains an excellent start. Because then you're attached to doing what you think is right towards your neighboors rights, even though you don't trust them. And i understand it's so hard for you to trust them ! just as it's so hard for me to trust in israel's will for peace, but i do that effort everyday, despite what's going on and what i ear or read, even in israeli newspapers. Then maybe someday you understand that arabs are people just like you. The only Jews they see are in tanks, destroying their homes, and the only arabs you get to see go blow themselves in city centers. No surprise then that there's no confidence and no hope. But trust me, these people want no more than what you want : justice and security. And once they achieve that, the hatress will disappear. Because it's too, too tiring and it's been too long and it's just useless to hate your neighboor for ne reason. Arabs aren't dumber than you are. Palestinians and lebanese are particularly educated. Just understand that there's no reason for a forever lasting hatress between them and you. In israel, at school, i think they teach the kids : we want to make peace with them, but they don't want to, so we have to beat them. That's a pervert point of view, that does really really bad. Of course they want peace. Not at any cost though. They have their pride and they want their rights. anyways. You have no hope, you have no trust towards your neighbours, but your head is still on your shoulders and you still have some morals. You're the kind of person of both sides i wanna tell : please, do hope and do trust your neighbours.

they are not "less hawkish". They are not more either ! they're just the same. Telling generalities about a nation like you do (treating them of manipulators) never helps. Unfortunately, this is the usual cause of massacres and ethnical epuration and massacres. Sorry to say, but this is what lead the European nazis to massacre the Jews in WWII. Because they had a group of people , "the Jews", they believed was "manipulator, liar, greedy" and all. I ain't comparing the shoah and the war between israel and arabs, of course not. I'm saying that from history, we learnt that we shouldn't decide to judge a whole nation, and there's no way one can say some nation is good and some nation is bad. All nations are the same : they do want peace and security, rights, just because they do want to have a nice life after all. they're told much lies about their "enemies". Americans were about irak, french were about algerians, israelis are about lebanese and palestinians, and so are arabs about israel's real views.

What the author of the "article" opposes is very simple to understand. He does not like the organization which is called the State. But much more he does not like one particular state. The Israel. He has many symphatisers, one of them is better known for his warm: "Even if the jews had been only in Tel-Avive will nether agree with their existence there" Abdel Nasser, 1965.