So what's your great message to the world? That Israelis and Palestinians need to make peace? That war is bad? That Arafat was corrupt? That Hamas are terrorists? These are given facts that everyone knows, at the end, your article is nothing, kalam fadi.

There is indeed a bottom line. You make a mistake ,you pay dearly for it. I am sure that you, as I have done, have made mistakes, I paid for them, as you did also. Their payment is tragic, but it is a function of their mistake. The world has its ways.

Probably that last Christian Arab in Arab-occupied Bethlehem (he didn't yet get a visa to emigrate to Argentina).

is that Israel has the upper hand, means if Israel wants to make peace with palestinian people, no one will stop her.

..when he revises history and defends the lifetime terrorist and two-faced liar, Arafat....

"Arafat...a great revolutionary ..."? Ray, don't quit your night job. Your "political commentary" is infantile, at best. Stillborn, at worst. I'm certain that you'll claim the moral high ground, so rational debate with you is impossible. Keep telling jokes; you need to earn a living.

are we talking "peace of the brave"? Leb-Isra-Pal?

"Here is an....article by Hanania in which he calls the Israeli Army and leaders "Nazi-like" and looks forward to "correcting the original injustice of 1948 and restoring Palestinian control over all of Palestine," in other words, to the destruction of Israel." See Hanania's original article "Sharon will fail" at this link: http://home.comcast.net/~jat.action/PCUSA_Hanania.htm

How revolutionary is Arafat when he says lies in English and says the truth in Arabic, by stealing BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, by ripping of dog's heads infront of children to show how to be heartless and cruel. His Fatah and Martyers burgade and his Black September at Munich. I wish he was executed and his head put on a spike. This has no business on a JEWISH ISRAELI SITE

Is that Hannayia of the Hamas government your brother? I see you are still pounding the same old faded premice. No my dear a one country--with an Arab majority---is not the answer. It might make peace but you and I know that most of the Jews would be dead, or that Dimi (sp) state, And oh yea? what kind of award winning? You sure aren;t funny.

Their elected leader killed over 100,000 in Iraq, but the voters did not "pay dearly" for their votes, as #2 said.

In the past you claimed that Israel has unfairly punished the palesetinians for the actions of the few, the Hamas. But even when the palestinians have now VOTED in Hamas, you stamp them with "innocent". Stick to lame jokes...political analysis is not your strongest asset.

The Palestinians collectively voted for Hamas so they deserve collective political punishment. Grudging humanitarian aid should be given but it is an irony that Jews should help the Arabs who elected a government that is hellbent on their destruction. Would the Arabs ever do this if the tables were turned? Actions have reprecussions. The Palestinians are lucky that Jews treat them better than the Arabs in other Arab countries and the Palestinains treat the Jews (Iranian declarations anyone?)

does not happen to be the reality. as long as the situation is viewed from that incorrect perspective, nothing of value can be said. the reality is that Israel is the homeland of the Jews. the palestinians should not even be there, at all. and this is not my idea, not the Israeli's idea, this is God's "idea". Israel belongs to God. God gave Israel to the Jews. the problem is that Israel is too influenced by the rest of the world and if every Jew in Israel knew that Israel belongs to Jews, there wouldn't be these problems. attitudes change when perspective is based on reality and truth.

Israel wanted only to make peace. Israel gave and gave to the palestinian people and they spit in Israel's face, they rejected every peace effort on Israel's part. the palestinians are the ones who's actions gave birth to the idea that all arabs should leave Israel. what a great idea.

Ray, change comes from the people and quite frankly the 'palestinians' are insane. They do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. If things aren't working change them. The government that the people elected deomcratically, have chosena group of people to speak on their behalf. Therefore, collective punishement is justified. Secondly, arafat was a selfish, greedy, homosexual, back-stabbing liar who supposedly spoke for the people, but in actual fact stole their money, let social services go to the dogs and his words contradicted his actions. But now that he's dead you want to put him on a pedastal.

peace takes two partners and the "palestinians" CAN and DO stop Israel from making peace.

Hamas, Islamic Jihad etc etc wills top Israel. As long as the Pals don't reject violence and these groups there is nothing Israel can do, except build a wall. The author says that the Pals need a chance, how many chances have they had already? Kick Hamas out of office, disband the terror groups and show that you are serrious! So much money has been squandered, so much time wasted, so much energy spent on breeding hate and destruction. Let the "pals" make the next few steps, let's see them act like decent ppl - I am confident that Israel will oblige

inherent oxymoron!

Great column. This column is being circulated widely, Ray. Forget the naysayers. We need hope and we need voices for peace who rise about the viciousness and the hatred, the anti-semitism and the anti-Arabism that persists on these comment pages and elsewhere. Don't give up. It does strengthen our belief that peace is possible. Whether or not I agree or disagree about issues in your column, the context and the vision is inspiring. Shalom and Salam as you continually write. Name withheld

elect a terrorist organization to rule over them and destroy Israel and the Jews must find courage for peace. Another Arab nonsense.

Dear number 3, i'm not planning to immigrate to anywhere,i'm staying here forever and ever AMEN! i never supported Hamas, and never will i support any theocratique government on this planet! let me be clearer : Every predisent or minister who claims to work in the name of god doesnt have any legitimacy in my eyes! Your Knesset is full of such specimens! and trust me, we are millions in my case! So stop bullshiting the world about this " all palestinians are terrorists" , its not credible anymore! an other article on this news paper refers to you as the most racist people on the planet,with all due respect, i prefer to be called a Terrorist rather than a Racist! anyways...nobody is perfect, starting by myself!

And thousand of demonstrators at funerals of members of Palestinian mass murder organizations, hardly the crime of the few. But Ray, Israel makes no punishment; we are simply protecting ourselves against those mass murderers. Peace will come when all Palestinians, including you Ray, acknowledge the RIGHT of the Jewish state of Israel to exist.

The "collective punishment" cries can no longer be used. When the majority of Palestinian Arabs elected the terrorists to government, the rest of the world must respect that choice and react according to it's values. Israel respects the choice of the Palestinians, and decided if they elect a group sworn to Israel's destruction, then Israel won't fund it. America respects the choice and says they won't fund terror either. So did the European Union. When you collectively elect terrorists, you can't cry when the world won't continue its handouts. And you can't keep expecting the world to look for alternate people to deal with, who claim to want peace, other than your elected officials.

The collective punishment done by Israel over decades, which is true terrorism, completely dwarfs all terrorism done by all the Arab terrorists to Israel combined. Look at a typical place in Israel. It looks a lot like Southern California or a historical site. Look at the average place in the territories; it looks like a war zone, torn up buildings pock-marked with shells or machine-gun bullets. There is a maze of checkpoints. The Palestinian media regularly report beatings at the checkpoints that I don't see mentioned in the Israeli media. That is terrorism. Israel makes being a Palestinian hell. My solution: As its permanent borders, Israel takes the 55 percent of land offered to it in 1947 by the UN, which immediately negates all the 80+ UN resolutions against it and the International Court of Justice judgment against it, and becomes a good world citizen. The Arab nations would welcome Israel in a moment and the Palestinians would have their long-sought nation and peace. Too bad it won't happen, but it would make the entire world a much more stable place, in a moment.

Different Talk for Different Folks. Dis iz typical Hanania Here the headline for Israelis and Jews says: Palestinians, Israelis must find courage for peace His other headline for the same article but for naive Americans says: Israelis must seek peace, not conflict Here the link: http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-ophan264716959apr26,0,7521643.story?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlines The same tactic as in “War on oil prices” look #19 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3246405,00.html Clever, Hanania you almost fooled me...

Hanania and Arafat corruption “He was not, however, a very good government bureaucrat, and his government was plagued by corruption.” Hanania, you too easy on your friend Arafat. Not his government but he, who controlled every penny ( or agora) in Palestinian coffers. This is the fact. Just read about Arafat's Swiss Bank Account “Rather than use donor funds for their intended purposes, Arafat regularly diverted money to his own accounts. It is amazing that some U.S. officials still see the Palestinian Authority as a partner even after U.S. congressional records revealed authenticated PLO papers signed by Arafat in which he instructed his staff to divert donors' money to projects benefiting himself, his family, and his associates.[3]” the rest is here, Hanania http://www.meforum.org/article/645 Also read this: “Consider that Nabil Shaath, the PA’s current foreign minister, was cited back in 1997 for financial mismanagement. Today, he owns a super-luxury villa in the middle of Gaza. Mrs Arafat lives in ostentatious luxury in Paris with her mother and staff, funded from EU-provided budgets. Arafat’s hand-picked prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, came under investigation as the owner of a cement company that supplies Israel with material for building settlements and its reviled security fence. “ the rest is here: http://www.israelnewsagency.com/arafatcorruptionisrael120316.html

Hanania and Camp David Hanania sez: “Had Israel's former Prime Minister Ehud Barak made a genuine concessions, such as really offering to return or share East Jerusalem in 2000, Arafat might have been able to embrace that peace and then enforce on his own people a compromise on the delicate issue of the Palestinian Right of Return.” Ron sez: Hanania, this is BS. Arafat never intended to make peace with Israel. Read Ross, Ben Ami and Clinton, smarty. By the way, Arafat was never very interested in the refugees problem. He was much more concentrated on Jerusalem. I saw him once saying to the current president of the Palestinian Authority, "Leave me alone with your refugees. What we need is Jerusalem." See, he was not very keen on making much of a progress in the question of refugees. Arafat was, and remained until his last day, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, a deeply religious man, a Koranic man that saw Jerusalem as the core dispute between the Palestinians and the Israelis. He was not very interested in the territorial question either. I saw him, for example, in Camp David, saying to President Clinton, “I am ready to give away 8% of the West Bank for the sake of the Israeli blocks of settlement, so long as you give me a solution on Jerusalem.” So he was that kind of leader. The refugee problem was not so central in his mind. Shlomo Ben Ami: “He didn't give a damn about international law. It was not whether or not the agreement was based on international law or not that concerned Arafat. In my view, this is my interpretation of a man I met many, many times. I might be wrong, obviously, but this is my firsthand interpretation of this man. He was morally, psychologically, physically incapable of accepting the moral legitimacy of a Jewish state, regardless of its borders or whatever. Arafat was incapable of closing or locking the door of his endless conflict between us and the Palestinians. And this is the bottom line.” “I mean, he thought of himself as a great strategist, and this is where he failed time and again, and he betrayed the cause of his own people, because at the end of the day, today, the Palestinians are becoming the second Kurds of the Middle East, a nation that is moving away from the chances of having a state.” Shlomo Ben-Ami is the former Foreign Minister of Israel Transcript http://democracynow.org/finkelstein-benami.shtml