to negotiate the future of the state of israel... olmert belongs in jail not in the the pm office.

when I "think" arabic invaders should go back home to the deserts When you make a law that tells me what to think, it will mean war

has begun.

To answer your question: "how do you think that having a country of your own is going to improve the quality of life for you, your family, the rest of your compatriots." Just to give you a few examples: We will no longer live under military rule and ruled over by a foreign entity that wants your lands and water. We would have control over the Palestinian population registry (now Israel refuses Pals even a Visa to visit their relative even if they carry a passport from a western country. Israeli issued ids to Pals are being confiscated or destroyed from the system so they can no longer live in Palestine if they are gone for over a period of 2 years- E. J'lem residents as well. And I'm talking about entering from Jordan to the WB, nothing to do with Israeli territory). We would have control over our land, housing permits, water supply and well digging (settlers receive 10:1 from Palestinian aquifers). We would be able to go to the neighboring Pal town in 5 minutes than 1 hr through check points). Having an independent state would abolish the apartheid-like regime in the Pali territories. After the Oslo agreement, although there was allot of corruption (Israel is not saint either), the Pals did well. All that should concern you and the Israelis is their security. Otherwise keep your business and your opinions about what we can do to yourself. Despite living under a military rule and our goods and movement is controlled by Israel, since the inception of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994, governmental institutions that are second to none in the Middle East have emerged. They include a very competent Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, a diligent Palestinian Water Authority and a Ministry of Finance that, under the leadership of Salam Fayed, is competently managing very scarce financial resources. An indigenously initiated governmental reform process has undertaken significant improvements in the functioning of the judiciary system, including state-of-the-art courthouses. There are modern procedures for effective local governance and a sophisticated investment promotion organization. The list could go on. In civil society and in the private sector Palestinians have in recent years developed or improved highly respectable organizations dealing with human rights, transparency in governance and institutions dealing with youth, public health and community participation. It is estimated that there are more than 1,000 Palestinian non-government organizations. What is remarkable is that most of these institutions are run by the Palestinians themselves, and that they continue to flourish in spite of daily setbacks and tragedies. The international community, including the United Nations Development Program, has lent a nurturing hand whenever possible, but the intellectual spark and the drive for institutional excellence has come from within the Palestinian society. There has been many mistakes and problems (Pali division, Hamas, groups opposing a peace deal). But we can manage if we can get rid of the ball and chain (Israel) and make sure we have the security forces to handle the rule of law and militant groups. We have a resilient educated young generation born under occupation that have a strong will to succeed. And to #19. We do not have more time. Settlers movement are doing their best to destroy the chance of a 2 state solution and as time goes on with no hope to the Pals for a future, it's a guaranteed recipe to push more people into extremitism.

1) Does abbas see this as an openign to his people taking over Olmerts house? 2) If Olmert hasnt already surrendered everything, will abbas even sing an agreemnt? 3) what about threats for the next intifada? 4)wouldnt it be more appropriate for Olmert to invite Hamas to his sukka, since it is a religious festival, and Hamas will be the rulers of any land which is surrendered to Fatah!

judea/samaria should not be on the table at all

If you organize a national strike and demonstrations by thousands of Israelis in the streets, Olmert will fall. Is there no political party or organization capable to mobilize people? The Left has no problem getting the ##s and the religious have no problems getting thousands to violently protest a gay parade in Jerusalem, but Israeli patriots cannot get enough people to protest the giveaway of their country? Please, take to the streets.

David - I do agree with you on 99% of what you have said and the way you have described the situation on the Palestinian side.. But all those problemse/issues you have pointed out on the social fundementals in addition to chaos, are due to more than 50 years of occupation. How do you expect us to deliver when we are under occupation? How do you expect us to develop when we are under occupation? How do you expect us to function when the Israeli army is setting everwhere in the west bank preventing people to move from one place to another place !! 450 Israeli army check points accorss the west bank, ONLY punishing the inncoient people before punishing radicals !! How do you expect us to function when the Israeli's continued to undermine the power of the moderate leaders within the Palestinian side and indirectly supporting Hamas. YES, we have all of the problems you have mention and I agree with you, we are not in a great case and there is a home work that the peopel of Palestine will need to do BUT where and how to start when the 450 check points accross the west bank is putting all of us in a big jail !!?!?!?? To answer your question (How are you going to make your life better after independence. Realistically speaking.).. My answer is: Life is never better with occupation... First occupation must end. Then to build a state, we will need to build two major systems ; security and economy. Those are the two driving forces for all other sectors within any emerging state. But to build those systems, you need the people to help the leader, and the people will not help the leader unless they see acheivemnts on the ground.. But when I see those 450 checkpoints, I will not beleive in my leader because he is not able to remove those check points, then when I dont beleive in my leader he will never succeed. Here where the Israelis must paly an important role in helping the Palestinian leader... We must build the trust and move into a real peace process and not a faked one...

in that survey the "partition" was splitting what is now Israel from Syria. Apparently the 90% at that time thought they were Syrian at the time.

So Khalid, on a NON-Muslim, Israeli site, you and other Muslims should have FREEDOM of speech, but not Americans? Sudan's Muslims vehemently opposed to human rights for infidel NON-Muslims, have taken hundreds of thousands of Black, indigenous Christians as slaves who are subjected to horrific atrocities by their Muslim masters. FREE THE SLAVES PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY CELEBRATES 9-11 TERROR ATTACKS US taxpayers are forced to finance the Palestinian Authority who hate Americans and mass murder Jews-Palestinian Authority Muslims CELEBRATED the cruel murders of 3,000 American innocents on 9-11. In the war against Jews, the US provides weapons, including thousands of US assault rifles, ammunition, and ongoing military training to Palestinian Authority security services WHO HAVE MURDERED MORE JEWS THAN HAMAS. Financing, arming and training terrorists breaks US Law and are shameful crimes against humanity which must stop! See: 'Stop funding terror with our tax dollars!' http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56959 and: 'Fatah Militant: U.S. Training Was Key to Intifada's Success' http://www.nysun.com/article/60989 It is evident, the advanced military training the US eagerly gives to PA/PLO terrorists will one day be used against Americans. Palestinian Media Watch Palestinian Authority celebrates 9-11 terror attacks September 12, 2007 by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook The Palestinian Authority continues a long tradition of celebrating the 2001 World Trade Center terror attacks by publishing cartoons in its official daily that glorify Osama Bin Laden and the attacks, or mock the suffering of the U.S. This year's cartoon shows Bin Laden smiling while making the “V” for victory sign with two fingers in the shape of the burning Twin Towers. The PA daily that published the cartoon, Al Hayat Al Jadida, is owned by the PA and controlled by the office of Mahmoud Abbas. The only text on this cartoon is "Exclusive to Al Hayat Al Jadida," which means it was prepared specifically for the official Palestinian Authority daily... The Palestinian Authority has a long history of celebrating the 9-11 terror. The world was shocked by televised scenes of Palestinians celebrating the attacks in the streets the day they took place. A December 2005 poll found that "65% of Palestinians support(ed) Al Qaeda actions in the USA and Europe.” (Fafo – Institute for Applied International Studies – Norway. Survey Dec. 22, 2005). Earlier this year, a former Minister from Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party wished Al Qaeda success in its attacks against the U.S...We are fighting the Americans and hate the Americans more than you!" [PA TV, Jan. 1, 2007] The official PA media's repeated glorification of Bin Laden is a reflection of the deep hatred of the U.S. by the Palestinian population. This hatred is the result of years of hate incitement against the U.S. by Palestinian political leaders (such as the hate promotion by Abu Ali Shahin cited above), by the PA media and even in official Western-funded schoolbooks. PMW has documented this anti-American hate promotion in many reports and bulletins. It should be noted that the U.S. continues to fund PA institutions and the Palestinian Authority itself, and to support it politically, while ignoring the continued Palestinian hate promotion against the U.S... http://pmw.org.il/Bulletins_sep2007.htm#b170907 STOP Inciting Children to Murder! http://www.teachkidspeace.com/flash.php

I disagree. You sound reasonable, but things are a lot more complicated and your honest wishes for a good future may be thwarted by realities on the ground. Much of what you blame on the Israelis is already firmly set in Palestinian culture and is part of Arab culture in the ME, only magnified several times in the territories. That will be hard to change. I'm thinking of issues like corruption, school curriculum embracing hate, and the sacrifice of children's lives, and issues like the inclination to settle disputes by violence. You have educated several generations that way. How could you stop that from perpetuating itself? We see that other Arab countries that haven't undergone Israeli occupation are just as hateful and will be ready to attack Israel at the first opportunity. It's part of the culture. Hate of Israel is the only unifying factor, it seems. Israelis are afraid. I hope you understand that. They have every reason to feel afraid. I don't think they enjoyed the occupation or the roadblocks. It has been hell for Israelis too. But they had no choice after being attacked so many times. So I'm back to my deep belief that the idea of a state for a collection of factions (you have groups with irreconciliable goals now) that lack preparedness and unity, in addition to suffering from significant social and political problems, is a recipe for disaster. So we'll have to agree to disagree, Samer. I thank you for replying to my TB and for your courteous tone.