Trying to sound like a smarta-- while patronizing people says more about you than about the people you're deriding. And although I do have love for the Coast, I must say you are one large imbecile. 1) Going back 2000 years in history makes no sense whatsoever. Entire civilizations have disappeared from the face of the earth since then. That being said, your arguments still make no sense: a. As many historians- including Edward Said- have noted, there is little-to-no evidence that Solomon's Temple was in Jerusalem. More justifiable accounts put it somewhere to the southeast of Yerushalaim. b. The only reason Palestinians refuse to leave the refugee camps is because they believe their departure will only legitimize Israel's creation. Rather than 'emigrate for 2000 years', the Palestinians stood their ground- which is more than I can say for the Jews in the 1st century AD. 2) We're talking about a solution NOW. How is this conflict resolvable? The only end I see in sight is for Israel to abandon its xenophobia and accept a one-state solution- with security assurances- for both people. Anything else will definitely be unfair to either party; make no mistake, partition is a zero-sum game.

The US trains the so called Palestinian Arab 'police,' gives them arms and bullets' the EU floods the place with billions of cash to buy weapons. Are the Israeli boys being killed and wounded by the US trained snipers with the US provided weapons? There is plenty of responsibility to go around for this latest attempt at genocide against the Jews and the Jewish state.

to reveal your true identity, Hassan. Didn't anyone every tell you masquerading as an Israeli is not brave?

You are sick warped people with a sick warped culture.

1) Israel existed before the Arabs got there. 2) Jews have continuously lived in the land. 3) There has never been an independent Palestinian state. 4) Israel won a war and declared its independence. 5) Just as you say in #53 - America isn't going to return the land to the red Indians as you put it (others would say the Native Americans) and the Palestinians aren't going to kick out the Jews. The sooner they get used to the idea and deal with it the better their lives will be. 6) Gaza was given to the Palestinians so they could build institutions and the underpinnings of a state just as the Jews did in Israel prior to declaring independence. The Palestinians destroyed everything - the greenhouses, the buildings, everything. 6) You can't help those who won't help themselves. Good fences with strong deterrents make good neighbors who will think twice before lobbing rockets again and will think twice before electing those that do again (unless they enjoy a good a$$ whooping).

I love the references by people like you Terry who try to cover up their points of truth by claiming that it came from a notable historian such as Edward Said. I guess you failed to mention that this same Edward Said was an outspoken supporter of Palestinian causes (he himself being raised through christian arab descent) and used to pal around with a guy named Noam Chomsky, a well known despiser of Israel. this is called distortion of the truth through bias. It is used widely by people who try to legitimize the cause of terrorism by distorting history through people who may have had an "educated" background such as Mr. Said. As far as your statment that jews didnt stand their ground in the 1st century does the word persecution mean anything to you? I'd like to see you stand your ground when people who share your same belief are slaughtered around you and forced out of their homes. You want a solution to this problem? it starts with educating arabs that jews are people too and have the right to live just like they do. There will never be security assurances as long as terror organization such as Hamas and Hezbollah run Gaza and lebanon they way they do now.

Dear all, I am very shocked by the vocabulary used in this article to describe Palestinian fighters against the IDF (see "was also killed Thursday during exchanges of fire with terrorists"). Just to remember, Palestinians suffered 1 killed for each 2'500 people living in the Gaza bank. When people see so much violence, all people becomes fighters...But this vocabulary is perhaps not so strange in fact, desinformation and opinion building is a part of the war (maybe the most important today), and today Israel is loosing this war (and more than this war). Please, Israel citizens, don't believe your leaders, PLEASE do all what you can to stop this war, before the world situation becomes worst agains all the Jews in the world (I don't want to cry more people killed) God bless my dear Earth

1) Edward Said was a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause. That is not to say that dozens of other historians haven't disputed Israel's claim that Jerusalem is where Solomon's Temple was located. 2) I've lived in the Middle East for a number of years. The Jewish people are not hated- it is the zionist movement that is violently despised by the clear majority of Arabs and Muslims (for good reason, I might add). 3) Persecution? I do agree, Jews have had a long, long history of persecution. So have the Palestinians- for the last 80+ years, at least. The difference: most Palestinians have yet to leave the Holy Land- even for a second. That being said, it actually seems we might have some agreement on the issue nonetheless. Which leads me to ask: politics (and political / armed groups) aside, what exactly is wrong with a one-state peaceful solution in which both Palestinians and Jews accept one another? This is the only agreement that brings justice to both the uprooted Palestinians, and the new generation of Israelis who had nothing to do with their parents' decision to immigrate illegally. Any takes? (not based on "but the Palestinians should [insert prejudiced statement here] instead" types of statements, if you would).

Israel is a small country and the homeland for the Jews. It is the historic Jewish homeland in which Jews have maintained a continuous presence. No one gave Jews an independent state there, they took it back. There was no independent Palestinian state there before. The Palestinians had a chance in Gaza and have failed miserably. The only hope for the Palestinians is a state along side Israel. Hamas' solution of destroying Israel and your solution of replacing Israel will only add to Palestinian misery. I guess you and Hamas must really have some deep seated hatred for the Palestinians and their cause after all...

He gave of himself for our freedom and land. My heart felt condolences. a shundah and very sad loss. So sorry....

You talk about Jews having "maintained a continuous presence" in what I will call Biblical Palestine. I very much beg to differ- except for a couple thousand people, almost no Jews at all were living in the area since the 6th-7th century. The first droves of illegal immigrants came back in the 1880's, only to grow into the cesspool you have today. Palestinians, on the other hand, maintained an independent identity for over 1900 years now- whether you choose to recognize it or not. The fact that the Roman, Islamic and Ottoman Empires had political sovereignty over the region does not in any way indicate a lack of cultural, social, and demographic independence from the rest of the Near East. The only claims Jewish people have to this land, sadly enough, is "God's choice". What irritates me much, much more is this: if all Palestinians converted to Judaism, none of this would be an issue. They would effectively all have the Right of Return- simple as that. The fact that this occupation is based entirely on religious supremacism (and political manipulation) makes it evermore reprehensible.

Palestinians have been an independent entity for 1900 years? Really? When? They have even been an independent entity for one day.

There is no way you could have spent more than 5 seconds in the Middle East and you can't know that in the Arab world that Jew is the same as Israeli.

most of the folks on this thread are fabricating history with the claim of contiguous presence of the jews on this land. Did anyone realize why all adjacent countries are Arabs? Is that a coincidence? It is quite amazing and a very myopic theory that this the jews land. What was built based on fabricated lies will eventually go away. The one state solution is not accepted by the jews because they will be outnumbered with time. If they don't accept the one state solution, imposed upon occupants will be kicked out. it is a matter of time. History has plenty of examples: the crusaders in palestine or the arabs in spain.

Guilt is only a good thing if it stops you from doing something you shouldn't be doing. This is something we HAVE to do, to protect ourselves. Guilt doesn't belong here.

It was wise for Hezbullah to stop the kassams. You don't want a repeat of 2006. You must have something better to do with your time.

Point 1) I can almost gaurantee you that the other "historians" you mentioned had the same bias or outlook on the Israeli-palestinian conflict as Edward Said. The vast majority of historians agree the the temple was located where the dome of the rock now stands Point 2) what is your definition of zionism? is the the jews want and need to live freely in their homeland? zionism is not imperialistic nor does it require the uprooting of another people. It is a FACT that per capita the state of Israel has accepted more immigrants than any other nations in this world, look that up if you want. The state of Israel also allows for its so-called enemies to live and enjoy the freedoms of its citizenship as well as participate in its own government without persecution and in most cases under the full protection of the law regardless of how much they oppose the country they live in. Do you see any Jews having these same freedoms in any arab countries? no in most cases the jewish communities of most of these same countries are heavily persecuted and most have fled because of this Lets call it what it is. As long as palestinians are governed by a body that calls for the destruction of israel we will never have peace