i happen to have friends and family in israel and, having lived there myself, i don't just judge from afar. read my previous post. israel can defend herself against anyone in the region, including the bumbling palestinains. the settlements were created in a different time and things have changed since then. even military leadership says they can maintain a strategic and military advantage without the high ground of the golan (which i oppose giving up). it was taken to gain the military advantage and now technology has made it obsolete. why do you think sharon has reversed himself on the settlement enterprise? the palestinians have turned gaza to their advantage. now, after the disengagement, the advantage is back to israel. and, like i said before, even with kassams and other more powerful munitions entering gaza through egypt israel is in the driver's seat now. she can do what she wants when she wants - the key being her fortitude to exercise it (which israel seems to have little of, these days). the real question is why sharon does not respond to each kassam overwhelmingly. in typical israeli fashion there has to be either a certain amount of rockets or an attack which takes a certain amount of lives before there will be an appropriate response. this has been true with most every prime minister so to complain about the kassams is kind of ridiculous, given the way israel tends to regard low-grade attacks.

... jerk, not aa! Why? Well, because: 1. The Palestinians won't die out. - There are around 8 million Palestinians scattered throughout different countries around the world (Thanks to the Zionists!). Over 4.5 million of these Palestinians are refugees. MOST Palestinians are children. Over 50 per cent of the registered refugee population are under the age of 15. - It is more than 55 years since the first exodus of Palestinian refugees. In the refugee camps, there is a clear sense of identity amongst the Palestinians. Those born in the refugee camps know the names of the villages (in Palestine) which their grandparents and great-grandparents were forced to evacuate. Although living in refugee camps, many Palestinians still hold the keys to their original homes and dream of returning to them one day! 2. Israel can NEVER live in peace as long as the will of jerks like you prevails, that is as long as Israel doesn't comply with the International Law or the will of the International Community and allow the Palestinians to have only 22% of their historic homeland, that is a contiguous and sovereign Palestinian State in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, all of which are occupied Palestinian land according to International Law. 3. If you don't appreciate or learn to respect those Palestinians who stretch their hands for peace, this means that you only understands the language of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and likewise! 4. Only with a just peace, including a just solution for the Palestinian refugees, will these Palestinian organizations have to comply with the will of a majority in the Palestinian population - which is for a just and lasting peace. 5. Still there is a large sector in the Israeli society (e.g. recent polls) which advocates giving up the occupied Palestinian land mentioned above for the sake of peace, and unlike you there are many Jews with sanity and reason(http://www.cactus48.com/truth.html).

An estimated 850,000 Jews from Arab/Islamic countries were scattered throughout the world due to persecution. They were absorbed and received help from Jewish communities. No one was abandoned in a refugee camp and while they lost their homes, businesses and communities, they did not advocate the destruction of any country or group of people. With all the money paid to the Palestinians over the past 55 years from well meaning donors, it is inexcusable they still live in poverty and in pitiful refugee camps. The Arab World abandoned them and scapegoats Israel to deflect attention from their own internal problems. What international law do the Palestinians abide by when they use terror on a daily basis to annihilate Israel? Why don't you make a list to document how the Palestinians extend their hands for peace. These hands and voices of peace are invisible and silent as long as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, al-Aqsa Brigade or any other group terrorizes Israel. There is no peace with people who support terror. The Palestinians who sincerely want peace will suffer until they take control and make their voices heard.