Can your brain not comprehend the difference between those who TARGET civillians and those who accidently kill them in the line of fire. Also the difference between a combatant and a non combantant as most of those killed in the Pal number were combatants and those aren't included on the Israeli side ie soldiers. 'Kids' include rock throwing teenagers and those who jump in front of tanks etc as well.

How do u ask the palestinians who r under continous prejudice from the israelis to stop fighting the occupation, the settlers who live around gaza are supposed to leave too, they've stolen arab land in the area, if they withdraw from there, the palestinians will stop launching the rockets for sure! Israel should clean it's house 2- Israel only understand the language of violence, when they've thought they are stronger than hizbollah they tried to oppress them but when hizbollah showed it's really strength in the face of its enemies they got nothing and forced nothing....! am sorry if this looks personal but recently i think that ur wife began writing the articles herself.... :(

you should have wrote this for al jezeera. You are preaching to the quire.

Maybe the Palestinians would like the methods of Saddam since they think he's a hero. Perhaps they would appreciate how all the Arab states deal with problems. I'm sure they admire how Sudan is dealing with Darfur - maybe we should learn from Sudan? Then again, we have many lessons to learn from Russia - Chechniya has been a real example of problem solving. How about Indian policy in Kashmir? In the meantime, anyone who counts on Abbas to do something about Kassam rockets will be waiting a real long time.

there is no occupation its called us winning a war. send them back to jordan or anywhere for that matter

a Qassam rocket denier. They never really happened.

How many more missles must be launced ,suicide bombers explode ,stopped suicide bombers ,unpublished prevented terror attacks happen in order for the author to realize that there is only 1 group of terrorists using different names in order to facilitate the fundraising but ALL of them have the same goal the elimination & destruction of Israel thru terror . Olmerts "partner" Dr. Abbas recieved his DOCTORATE in HOLOCAUSTE DENIAL but it is easier to focus on the extreme NETURAI KARTA thus implicting all observent jews who dress the same while glossing over who we are sending arms to liberating $100,000,000.00 to. negotiating with a people who all celebrate a .successful terror attack & they all mourn Saddam Hussein.

This article is immoral because it does not see the Israeli responsibility for what is happening: - Israel destroyed more than 380 Palestinian village, - expelled their inhabitants for the only crime of being non jews, - kidnapped more than 10'000 Palestinians for the only crime of being non-jews.. - humiliated Palestinians for the only crime of being non-jews.. The only way to stop Qassam against Israel and reach peace is to organise general election in all Palestine/Israel, create one democratic state and abolish all apartheid laws against non-jews. As long as the Palestinians are not treated as full human beings, there is no chance for peace in the region. Israel must stop its arrogance.

the goal of the arab propagandist is to repeat the arab propaganda, by using the victim -the Israelis-as a vehicle to subtly discuss arab propaganda. In your case, as a member of the outer ring of a propaganda concentric circle, (supposedly objective and foreign) you latch onto the Israeli's security concerns to repeat arab propaganda. it won't work ray- so get lost. I need a job as a propagandist ynet!?

IT IS TAKING BACK WHAT THE BRITISH TOOK FROM ISRAEL IN THE FIRST PLACE

It may be unfair that they are being killed at a rate 11 times faster than Israelis, but life is unfair. thAT IS THE DUMBEST STATEMENT EVER MADE. MAYBE THE ARABS OCCUPYING ISRAEL THINK THAT MOHAMED WILL PROTECT THEM FROM THE BULLETS. LSO THAT NUMBER INCLUDES ''WORK RELATED''' INCIDENTS. BUT IT ANY EVENT ALL THE ARABS DEATHS ARE ARABS OCCUPYING ISRAELI LANDS ATTACKS TO ISRAEL. ONCE AGAIN, YOU IGNORANT HANIHAHAH..... TELL YOUR ARABS OCCUPYING ISRAELI LANDS TO EITHER GO BACK TO JORDAN . AND /OR STOP ATTACKING ISRAEL SO THE IDF DOES NOT HAVE TO HUBNT THE PERPETRATORS DOWN. THAT IS SUCH A SIMPLE ANSWER RAY BABY

Hanania finally said something sensible. he still has a long way to go to understand the crux of the problem, but at least he's making some progress.

Hey folks. The issues are simple. Neither side likes to hear them. Israelis should enforce principle and morality among their community; Palestinians should do the same in theirs. As for Zeev. Very popular notions. But blaming Israel is an excuse. The Qassam Rockets are a part of the Hamas strategy to destroy the peace process. (There is the same movement in Israel, just read some of these Talk Backs.) The Qassam Rocket has no goal except to 1) inflict pain and extract vengeance (they can't really because they are so ineffective) 2) undermine the peace process (that's the only thing they can achieve) 3) free Palestine (will never happen at the end of a Qassam rocket). The Qassam rockets are not being fired because of the killed Palestinians or destroyed villages or the expansion of settlements in violation of Israeli agreements. They are being fired because they can be. Their purpose is to cause conflict, not even victory. It's a part of the extremist mentality thatthe only way to win is to destroy the other and start from scratch. Palestinians are not innocent victims. They are also not the only cause of their suffering. But, they play a major role. Instead of being strategic and dedicating themselves to peace, the Palestinian leadership allows itself to be hijacked by the fanatics. That was Arafat's failing. He should have put hsi foot down accepted the peace offered by Israel and worse case scenario called Israel's bluff -- because there is a serious question as to whether Israelis really want to trade land for peace. Some enjoy the continued conflict because they pretend they can keep everything. Arafat should have then negotiated for more. So much for the past. The real threat though is for Israelis. Palestinians have learned how to accept pain and suffering. It is a part of their lifestyle. When it becomes a part of Israeli lifestyle -- and if there is no real peace deal soon, the rising religious fanaticism on the horizon is promising a whopping future of scortched Earth -- Israel faces an uncertain future. That is the fuel driving the fanatics. The belief that they will push Israel into that Hell one day. And all the fanatics on this page are helping, by the way ... so don't just blame Palestinians, or pretend they don't exist. Blame yourselves. That is exactly what this column is trying to say. And maybe more Israelis who support justice, peace and freedom will also stand up and speak out, too. I'd love to hear more instead of the usual suspects here :) There are many Palestinians who agree with me but fear repressive responses from the extremists and religious kooks in our community. Thanks Ray Hanania www.hanania.com

I agree with many talkbacks here, but let's acknowledge Ray's prior article stating that Hamas should step down, and praise this article which states that the Palestinians need to make arrests, stop the Quassams, and take responsiblity for their house. It takes courage to write this stuff. Ray, I don't believe Israel uses excessive force. I believe it uses too much restraint and it tries to target only terrorists and their launchers. It is bending over backwards and getting attacked for it. I hope you wrote these last two articles in the Palestinian press also, and although I don't agree with every point, I appreciate the main messages of both articles.

What brought this change in writing style Ray? Usually you don't write with much insight. Your previous articles were always one sided (for the Palestinian side) without regard to the real story...i.e. Arabs indiscriminately killing Jews for the pure hatred of it and not for resistance's sake. Did your wife really write this article as one post suggests? In any case, it is refreshing to see you're "opening your eyes" to the real problem facing Palestinian and Jews.

Most of those killed were in Gaza where there is NO occupation, only idiots who fire rockets and invite retaliation. When the Palestinians take some of the responsisbilty for there predicament, their lot will improve. When they agree to the 2 state solution, the occupation will end. Israelis have voted repeatedly for an end to the occupation. Israel does not see killing Palestinians as desirable, or it would start with its own Arabs. The figures are misleading. More Palestinians die because Isreali weapons are more accurate and its soldiers better trained in the combat situations which Palestinians create ie israel is winning. Israel is also much better at defending its citizens and doesn't fire its weapons from within civilian areas deliberately drawing fire and risking civilian casulaties-unlike the Palestinians. Israeli hospitals and medics are better equipped and save more lives of the injured. Palestinian deaths also include suicide bombers and those killed in "industrial accidents". If Palestinians could kill more Israelis they would. The figures imply they are sitting around an minding their own business whilst Israel marches in and starts shooting. Nothing is farther from the truth. Numbers mean nothing. Far more Germans died in WW2, than allied civilians. Was Germany the victim? Germans were, and Palestinians are victimes of their leaders, not of their enemies.

and ignore facts as they see fit.

In addition the number of PA civilians TARGETED equals nil as well. But in any case the number that are often given include PA civilians and PA combatants. The Israeli number only gives civilians.

Very good points, Ray. Re: Prisoners held by Israel. It is simply not cost-effective these days to keep prisoners encarcerated unless they have proven a dangerous threat to others(any others). Israel bears a large financial burden for its own security. By rights, they should be in Palestinian jails. Re: Palestinian government moral responsibilities. Pres. Abbas needs to establish "just rule" over his people and consolidate control of their actions. He needs to enforce eliminating outside elements who bring violence(both of word and deed). Only then can some sense of normalcy, prosperity and peace return to his society. Both Israel and Palestine have some issues to work on, each has concessions to make (if peace is truly the goal), but this cannot be accomplished if the mindset of one neighbor is to eliminate the other. Re: Rockets. Israel pulls back and makes land concessions, forcibly removes its settlers and rockets continue(even escalate). And the message Israel is supposed to receive here? If one can live an entire life immersed in hate, one has not lived a life at all. The tragedy of a man's life is not his death, it is what dies within him while he lives. Good article, Ray. Keep writing.

Ray and the other Palestinians who want peace (as well as the left on the Israeli side) somehow cannot come to terms with the fact that their beloved "man of peace" is the head of an enormous terrorist organization. Fatah was founded for the purpose of destroying Israel and has been responsible for most suicide bombings and other terror atacks against Israel over the years. Asking Abas to stoop the Kassams is like asking Muqtada Al-Sadr to stop attacks against U.S. In the end the only difference between Abbas and Haniyeh is that Abbas is sart enough to use deplomacy to weaken and thereafter destroy Israel, thereby getting international and Israeli support in his efforts. I know that it's hard for Ray and the few other Palestinians who really want peace to come to grips with the fact that there is no one in the PA leaderhip who wants a permanent "two-state solution, but that fact remains. Oh, and as for ray attacking me and other right-wingers on this site for being against the peace process, I want to assure him that if there wee a genuinely fair peace process I would not be attacking it. But this peace process has brought us nothing but death and pain, and should it suceed it will bring us vulnerability and put us at the mercy of those seeking our destruction. Think about it Ray: If the west bank is returned as you say it should be, then the Palestinians will be free to launch rockets at Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv, and those rockets will not be Kassams but much more powerful and accurate ones importent from Jordan. In short we will have to depend on our safety on the good-will of the Palestinians, and they have never shown anything even remotely resembling good-will towards us.

Thanks for all the nice words. I jumped to a quick conclusion in my last post, maybe too quickly. There are many great comments here offered in a sense of reasoned discussion. But #17 has the most important question ... beside whether my wife wrote this or not. No, she didn'tr. The issue that Ginette raises is important, though. And I want to respond. This column is really no different than my past columns. You cannot look at columns and then measure on a balance how much praise I give to one side or the other, or how much I concede. The fundamental principles I address are consistent: we both should acknowledge when we do something wrong. Principle is only a principle when it is applied to both sides, not just one. Morality is the same. It should be applied to both sides. We both have our own histories and there is no point in arguing on what we each believe about what happened in the distant past. Instead, either we embrace compromise and the notion of land for peace and two real states, or, we each embrace ths suicidal notion of one-state (from each of our own perspectives) and fight until one side or the other is annihilated (never will happen) or we just keep inflicting pain on each other, some more so than others. I think that within the right parameters, we can heated and passionate debates about politics. But let's focus on politics, not people. Thanks to those who have written with encouragement from both sides. We can't loose sight of ending this the proper way. I think compromise is what is the answer. I have ALWAYS believed that. I have ALWAYS opposed violence, suicide bombings, terrorism, retaliation, collective punishment, retribution, land confiscation, etc., consistently. AND, I condemn on principle, Israeli and Palestinian acts. That's the only way out of this folks. Peace ... Ray Hanania www.hanania.com

Does "peanut factory" includes the famous peanut farmer?

blah, blah, blah. There is not one person in Fatah or Hamas or any other terror org that wants peace with Israel. They are upset that the West has discovered their dirty little secret of indoctrinating their very young with horrific lies and the death cult. They all have no regard for human decent life. The pulout and rocket fire from Gaza proves this to be indisputable. TRANSFER. see wwwjerusalemsummit.org This is the brilliant plan that will relieve the suffering of Israelis and Palis. The Oslo accord is illegal. For a contract to be binding, there must be a meeting of minds. And we all know what really is on the Palis' minds. 75% of the Palis say they will take the money and run from TRANSFER. They will be the richest refugees in history. TRANSFER is the only sane, safe and fair solution. Look it up. Even the Isr. left can't argue with the TRANSFER plan.

B"H Regarding "Abbas and the rockets", I think Ray is catching on to what this conflict means for the Jews. There are Jews who believe in a democracy (the majority naturally) and think that a democracy is an instituion where the mojority gets to define and roughly ensure impositions on the minority Jews even. Then there are those Jews that are more in favor of a republic, where the land holds value and representation is based more on where one lives with the control of arms then in what quantity overall within the state. It is the divide between the Senate where the land is divided and each piece of land is represented versus the House, where the population is represented overall. This is a democracy versus a republic. The United States formally has a republican form of government and is not a pure "democracy", although there are "democratic" and "republican" parties that favor one or the other approach fundamentally. Those expelled during wars naturally would like to go back. But there is a key question: is it not a better situation if people can take responsbility for themselves on a collective government-level versus an individual level? Those Jews living in exile by choice think democratic collective responsibility is not yet important enough to move to Israel and participate in a "majority"-led democracy (with its numerous faults and benefits). They rather leave the ruling if their land to other religions and focus on other aspects of living. So long as the Jewish and Arab populations were mixed, there will be religious conflict. But more importantly there will be conflict in governance concept. The concept of celephate versus liberal democracy are two different government systems. A liberal democracy is not found in Arab countries yet as a stable practiced government system. That is the challenge of Iraq and Afghanastan. That is the threat to Iran. That also goes somewhat against the concept of a Messianic King who is a single leader and not necessarily subservient to the majority. Even with the brothers Abraham and Lot, they came to conflict and it was necessary for separation because Lot's sheperds were fighting with Abraham's shepards. I think indeed that the Arab struggle is perceived a lot like that of Lot who wanted everything and chose the land that had the green to it. That green turned to fire and brimstone. In any case separation is sometimes necessary even among Jewish brothers. I think that Israel would very much want to setup a state that lies to its side in peace with it, so that it can be a Jewish democracy and there can be an Arab democracy to its south or east even. In that manner, Jews can take collective responsibility for themselves like they are able to do in no other democracy. In a democracy, the majority rules within some bounds, and there is no collective majority but in Israel to rule within a democratic fashion. That is the main concern with the Arab population, that it would eliminate out the only concentration of Jews in the world that permits Jewish rule over the land and also the local population. It is collective responsibility that is the focus of any talk, the ability to face collective punishment and collective reward. There is no state without collective punishment and collective reward for its citizens and residents. I think Hamas was not a population Israel felt it wanted to fully subdue militarily, and so it broke it off into the territory where it lobbs missiles from. Similarly with Abbas, who resides in territory of Israel. Population is the key to self-governance. The centers of population need to be held responsible for their government and their arms in order to be a democracy. What needs to happen is Hamas needs to be split off as a disputed "territory" and populaiton since it is the center of dispute.

The compliments were well deserved when you can be objective on either side and not just one. However, it is true in your past columns you always mention the word "compromise" for both, Arabs and Jews. But my argument here is: How can we talk or even believe in compromise with the Palestinians if all they talk about, all they dream about, all they think about is annihilating the Jewish People and "wiping Israel" off the map (yeah, like this will ever happen!). You must have been living in Chicago for too long, you forgot what your brothers really want. Their idea of "negotiating" is one Israeli life in exchange for 1500 (actual terrorists, most of them). This is no negotiation, this is bloody murder... There is this man appearing on some talkbacks, his name is Attila, he is from Istanbul, Turkey and he is the most gentle, the most pacifist of all his Muslim brothers. And he, in all his wisdom, sees the real problem. He says everyone knows how to love and to hate but they chose to hate (on both sides). Sometimes, I am so fed up with hateful posting from Jews and Arabs alike that I stay away from Ynet reminding myself that we are all humans.

To the Palestinian People; In connection to this fine op-ed by Ray, I call your attention to the NYTimes article of Dec. 31 by Greg Myre titled "Amid Political Upheaval, Israeli Economy Stays Healthy". In a nutshell Mr. Myre explains that despite terrorism by Palestinians and Lebanese, Israel's economy is booming. The stock market is soaring, unemployment is down, interest rates are 4.5% which is lower than the USA , the GNP is a robust 4.8% and inflation is a low 1% per year. The Palestinian economy however has contracted this year by 10%-15% and shows no signs of improving. The lesson to the Palestinian People is clear; keep screwing around with terrorism and complimenting petty dictators in the ME and pretty soon your land will be my land. The only real friends you have are moderate Israelis and Diaspora Jews. Those psedo leftists and Eurotrash who champion your cause will not get you peace or an independent country. Do the right thing; throw out Hamas, free Gilad Shavit now and sit down with Ehud Olmert and Yitchak Peretz now before it is too late.

I travel to Israel and Palestine almost every year and will be there this January ... maybe you will come to see some of the standup comedy shows I am working on in Israel. However, I think you are correct on one side but incorrect ont he Israeli side. How can Palestinians believe peace is real when so many Israelis deny Palestine exists, deny Palestinians have rights, refuse to refer to the West Bank and Gaza, refuse to acknowledge they have ANY rights in East jerusalem, and don't even show the territories as Palestinian territories on their maps. It is wrong for Israelis to demand from others what they refuse to give. You cannot demand compromise if you are not willing to compromise. I'm not saying ALL Israelis, but more than enough to prevent peace, too. I think Israelis need to address these fanatics int heir own community. Yes, some Palestinians celebrate killings of Israels, but so do some Israelis celebrate killings of Palestinians. As for the Turksih writer. God bless him for being a moderate. But don't make the mistake that many Israelis are doing in turning away from the difficult problem of dealing with Palestinians and seeking solice int he comforting words of non-Palestinians. The conflict isn't with Islam -- yet -- it is with Palestinians. I hope that we can resolve this BEFORE the conflict changes to Israel versus the Islamic World. That is your real threat, and it is also the real threat facing secular Palestinians like myself who are willing to compromise and make genuine peace with Israel, if Israel would stand strong by its compromises and stop seemingly playing a negotiating game (giving with one hand and taking away with the other, like expanding settlements while claiming to be agreeing to return land for peace.) Let's both be honest and let's BOTH be willing to accept criticism and acknowledge our faults. All I see here especially are Israelis who refuse to ever acknowledge anything that they have done wrong, and who refuse to criticize themselves. I know Israelis don't like criticism, and that is part of the drive against me, because I DO criticize Israeli policies and have done so consistently and based on principle. But I have ALWAYS criticized Palestinian policies that have been wrong and I have stayed close to the Palestinians ecular movement. I even served on term as President of the Palestinian American Congress, elected on a platform of supporting the peace process in 1995 unanimously by the 22 chapters around the US. Hamas fanatics opposed me, but I refused to knuckle down to their fanaticism and still do. But I found that Israelis often fail to give secular Palestinians like me support for our moderate views and our support of compromise because they hate to hear ANY criticism at all. You can;t be like that and expect this conflict to come to an end. Just read the extremists' posts ... they are not interested in asking real questions. They simply want to provoke confrontation by pushing buttons. Let's stop pushing each others' buttons, start looking at each other and being honest, and discussing how to overcome challenges. The guy who wrote that Israel is doing well because a pro-Israel writer says so in some column is a little misleading. If youw ere doing so well, why waste your time addressing this issue? Anyway, best regards, peace and Happy Secular New Year. Let's hope 2007 is better than the last. Ray Hanania www.hanania.com