My reaction is written from Bucharest where I'm participating in the largest EU meeting on human rights. As a human rights activist myself and a senior IDF officer in my past that had served for years in Gaza I would say that I was exprienced the most englihtement and human military government ever forced on ocupied people. It's not that I back the idea of ruling other people, I work very hard these days to achieve the only rightous solution for the people of the region - confederation. It's just that I think that we were not the worst rule the Palestinians had exprienced. The ancient sin was adopting the terroists in Oslo instead of embracing local leaders.

Self-rightous moralizing is so comforting. Ignoring reality is even more comforting. Complex & difficult situations can be simplified by hiding behind rhetoric & disregarding facts. Consequences don't matter. Why doesn't this guy move to Gaza & start a peace movement there?

What a load of philosophical crap! What utter rubbish are you trying to project? What actually happened that led to the occupation? I will tell you. Some army and air force saved your ass from dismemberment. You want to talk peace, return land to its former owners and even give them help to better themselves, fine by me and I am sure by every Israeli and Jew anywhere. JUST LET THEM EXTEND THEIR ARM IN PEACE. That is ALL they need to do! Your rhetoric is that of a person that is bankrupt of logic. A person who thinks that the monster would leave you be if you appeased it. Get real! rewrite your plan to include a safe ending for your people and the land they have torn their hearts for for millenia. Feel something for your own people and country for Heaven's sake!

my very existence as a jew in the middle east is an affront to islam. i am occupying Al-Ruunan, holy muslim land, which is known to be where THE PROPHET let his horse Al-Burak, take a dump, while waiting to buy ice cream in kfar saba. until i return to Poland (!!?!?!) the occupation will never end

in Hevron without being stoned by angry Palestinians.... LOL. No, I don't think he would like to go to Gaza. These peaceniks are few but they sure get a lot of media coverage.

All of a sudden keeping terror from TA and Jerusalem is equated with Nazism. Pathetic and pitiable.

This article doesn't mention that the palestinians are all righteous. That they are not part of the problem, or the problem. It points only out: the living in denial of what is happening at 20km from your home, pretending everything is OK. To watch stupid soaps, go to the Canyon, or preparing your next trip abroad. With the assurance of "they looked for it,they started it all". I sincerely think that if Israelis would be made more aware of what is happening there, all the human rights violations for the sake of security, that we could come must faster to a peacefull resolution. But apparently it is more comfortable to blame the other and continuing to watch Korav Nolad.

I did 20 years of milluim, most of which were in the territories. During that time I saw and participated in things that I found hard to deal with. However, after the total failure of the Oslo initiative I had no doubt that to the Arabs Haifa and elon Moreh are the same thing, and what interests them is not forming a palestinian state, but rather destroying the Jewish one. I know exactly what is going on in the occupationI'm not happy with it, but see no real alternative.

Most Israelis would rather echo the good old German mantra: "We didn't know."

GO BACK TO SLEEP pal

So according to you the Israeli public are total morons who have no idea of what is going on 20km away from them. You are leaving yourself wide open for some insults here by every Israeli WHO CARES about his people and country! Maybe we request that all fun and entertainment TV programs be scrapped and only have 24 hour screenings of the various palestinian areas. But we make sure we focus on the squalid conditions they live in blame it on the occupation and avoid mention of the billions of dollars squandered, the hate culture from cradle to grave and the illogical fixation with the wish to liquidate Israel. Shabbat shalom

all we hear is Israels occupation this and Israels occupations that...when is the real occupation going to be highlighted and discussed...im talking about the palestinian occupation of our temple in Jerusalem..what right does any arab have building a mosque on top of a jewish temple and systematically destroy its evidence beneath their feet...what right has palestinians have making up a foolish story that mohammeds spirit travelled a few thousand miles just to coiencientally ascend to the heavens on solomons temple...was the vatican a bit to far to travel...perhaps the Italians would have had more to say about it as they are majority not jewish...the true occupation is islam planting itself on churches,temples and other religious sites so as to erase everything not islamic...Israel does not occupy it only protects whats rightfully and biblically ours (Israeli/Jewish)

what this article and many others skip over is the fact that the greatest right is the right to life. all others pale into significance. if someone has to wait another hour at a checkpoint so innocent men, women, children, arabs, jews,etc wont be killed then it is sad and heart-wrenching, but the price that must be paid. in israel we have to wait to get into public places and i have sat in traffic for hours because there is a roadblock set up because of a terrorist warning. when i was in london there was a secure perimeter around the city of london during the IRA bombing campaign. policeman all around the world carry guns, batons, etc....why? because to suppress a criminal you need certain tactics. you are of course abusing their human rights by using force to apprehend the suspect but that is how society is run. there are rarely great answers, usually just the best of the bad options. i am of course not calling all palestinians terrorists, but it seems the majority are at least supporters of terrorism and apparently mine, my family and evryone i know, rights to be murdered. when terrorists use ID cards then there will be no need for any of these measures. until then, all of us, palestinian, israeli will have to pay a price so fewer or noone gets murdered.

Of course occupation is a bad thing, both for the ocupier and the occupied. It demeans and demoralises the occupier, and it frustrates and stymies the population that has to endure it. But, really, can someone come up with a workable alternative? Israel is surrounded by hostile neighbours. Perhaps the "occupation" increases the hostility and resentment, but we must remember that these people were not friendly even before 1967. Who would dare to take the risk of releasing the grip, hoping that Israel's own population will not be threatened? The evidence doesn't encourage that sort of thinking.

If every isreali were to take part in occupation duty, then on the one hand, they may see that the occupation and its methods are absolutely necessary and that they are doing their part to protect the state. The occupation would also be more effective with more hands on deck. They would better be able to defend the occupation diplomatically to the outside world and simply ignore the "naive" peace activists. On the other hand, they might learn that the occupation and/or its methods are immoral, and that there might be no real justification before the master of the universe (if they're religious) or to their humanistic principles (is "secular"). Thus bteer solutions may be found much more quickly to ensuring isreali security. The more involved people are in the occupation the more brains at work trying to find a better way - either an end to "occupation" or a more moral "occupation" (doing only what is absolutely neccesary to save isreali lives). Why would anyone have a problem with thios brilliant win-win idea??

Tststst, why such an aggressiveness. I didnt say nor do i think that the Israeli public are morons. I just think that the end does not justify all means. And I don t care if the other side spend billions of dollars indoctrinating for hatred. I think Israelis are tired of all that pressure, wars, ... and just want to live a "normal" live. Why do people of Tel Aviv do not go down on the street and protest for the government to protect the people of Sderot, why is there no massive money gathering for those people or for the people in the north on the border of Lebanon. I think because people prefer to concentrate about their everyday life, and although knowing what is happening there, prefer not to reflect on it, nor do something about it.

The Arabs know how to end the "oocupation" they just have to put down their guns and bombs and tell the Jews, "we accept the Jewish state of Israel and want to live with you in peaceful harmony and cooperate to address regional issues and make lives better for everyone." we don't hear that from any Arab leader. If we did, the Israelis would grab it and there wouldn't be a "harsh occupation."

You fail to understand the German mantra "We did not know". The Germans admit that they wanted the 'Jewish Problem' solved but deny that they intended or knew that it would be solved through Genocide. The reason they give for believing that the Nazis would solve the problem humanely was because the Nazis never said otherwise indeed Nazis (like Iran) still deny genocide. The mantra should be understood not as "we did not know what happened to the Jews" but rather as "we did not want to know what would happen to the Jews". The "we do not know what would happen" mantra applies to those anti-Zionists who do not care to know what would happen to the millions of Jews in Israel should their wish that Israel "should be wiped off the map"

With great interest I read your article of yesterday. I am happy that people like you exist and preavh like you did in your article. However, the fact remains that jews have never been clever people to learn anything from history or from their own experiance throughout history. Therefore you and me witness what you just wrote about those "many". I shall not bore you with my speech. I only want to tell you that jews will never ever enjoy the feeling of security. Not because you are suppressing me and my other countrymen. I urge you to look deeper into yourself once again to find out. The other thing is that day you fear. Well, the previous era witnessed your "resurrection"; something you never learnt to take care of properly. During this time you set the example of bringing to justice any one whom you consider criminal. Therefore, you should, naturally, expect that the day shall come when jews will be brought to justice for their crimes against humanity which you´re taking astray. Be sure mr. Ariel Rubinstein that that day is coming, no doubt about and I look forward to witness it. You know it, I know it.

One of the sad thing about talkbacks is, I doubt the author's themselves read them, and definitely they don't reply to them. But my question to Mr. Rubinstein is, given that what you say is definitely true, and all Israelis should see firsthand what is done by us in the occupied Palestinian territories, but why do they have to see it as a part of their military service? Why don't Israelis come to Bil'in or come with ICAHD or Ta'ayush or work with the Machsom Watch or the many other ways that Israelis can experience what the occupation does WITHOUT themselves having to act as part of the occupation themselves? It seems very silly and shortsighted, Mr. Rubinstein, to on the one hand admit to the ethical problems of our occupation, while on the other hand, calling for people to be part of that occupation.

How about ending it instead of serving in it. That would save more Israeli lives as well as Palestinian ones.

Using phrases like, "you jews", and other typical clichés And enjoying the "Revenge" the jews will suffer. What did jews to you? From where that hate? Apparently this anger it is a lot more deeper than the israelo-palestinian conflict.

he will have to suffer the consequences of his ideology.

It is not aggressiveness, its emphasis. :-) Lets not complicate things. Matters between the Israeli government and its citizens are one thing. And heaven knows how much we can criticise that! Matters between Israel and its neighbours ,who are hell bent on destroying it, is another. That you should ask for Israeli citizens to dedicate themselves to contemplation of the palestinians' suffering is unfair. That is a government's duty and should be in context with the facts on the ground. Self interest is in human nature unfortunately so let Israeli citizens seek solace in small pleasure. That Israel should encourage a path to peace, we all endors and I believe it does. We all have good intentions towards the other but sometimes the other has the opposite feeling. Criticism of Israeli policies by its own citizens will only convince its enemies their animosity is justified. It will be more productive if this energy were channelled into convincing the enemy that Israel is prepared to make substantial concession in return for peace. Are still awake? ;-)

It is clear which side of the fence you stand on. I stand on the opposite side to you and am confident historically my side will be found the morally correct one. I will add by saying that events will eventually transform those on your side to distingwish right from wrong, which would not have been necessary should you have taken the trouble to check out facts.

I wonder what logic you have applied to yout post?

What talkbackist # 20 says is very true, how about you send a talkback with your answer to his question. I too would like to hear the answer as I am sure many other do

One way or another, you self-hating Jews will be made to know that our common destiny is as one in OUR land- including Judea, Samaria, AND Gaza. When the day comes, let no Israeli tell the Master of the Universe or his conscience: " I didn't know that You commanded us to inhabit and rule OUR land. This week's Torah portion deals with the spies badmouthing OUR land. You have learned NOTHING.

You are a sad, sad little man. I imagine you sitting and fixating on the Jews and how they have wronged you and the world. Thinking about Henry Ford's wisdom and reading a translated copy of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Maybe admiring Ahmadinajad and Hamas and Hezbollah for their bravery in standing up to the Jews. Licking your lips in anticipation of judgement day, when, like the judgement day in the 1940s, brought misery to the Jews. Am I on to something, Michael?