well said B R A V O.

I'm not sure that there's any point in having a discussion with anyone who doesn't get a good Monty Python reference. Doesn't make for a very good argument (of course I could be arguing on my own time).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb_qHP7VaZE

The Judean Peoples Front is from the hilarious comedy film ''The Life of Brian''. It was made in the early 1970s and created a sensation because at that time Christianity and the churches were still taken seriously by people in the west. ''The Life of Brian'' makes fun of Christianity ( and by extension of religious fanatics in general ). I've been reading Ynet news for a few weeks now to learn more about Israel and I cannot think of a better film than this one , to sum up my impressions of many of the talkbackers on Ynet and the stories about Israeli society.

I'm not sure about "blasphemer." Maybe you think me a blasphemer. I think you are naive. You wrote, "it does indeed look like we'll be compromising with our cousins sometime in the future." I hope you are wrong. I read this a good deal from my fellow Jews. "Our cousins." "Our brothers." Is a Muslim suicide bomber your cousin? Arabs in the territories celebrated the 9/11 sneak attacks. There are on-line videos of these celebrations in the streets. How about the millions of Muslims and Muslim Arabs around the world that celebrate, sympathize with and support suicide bombings and murders of innocent Jewish women and children. Are these your / our cousins?

These are the ideals the Israeli democracy should strive for and live by if it is to have self respect - the vast majority of Israelis fulfill these ideals but there are a minority who unfortunately do not.

Taking private property whether it be in he name of the state or religious ancestral claims is stealing. The rights of the living come before the rights of the dead. Stop the killing and the extermination of an indigenous culture.

People, this guy is a plant. I second JUDAH (31).

Happy: No Israeli will have to kill you, because your hatred will do the job. I am looking forward to reading about your fatal heart attack.

Nice article. It's not often an Israeli journalist speaks the truth about the settlers. If Israel ever want's to regain some sort of world credibility, then it has to rein in these religious freaks, and comply with International Law in regard to withdrawal from occupied territory.

I will tell you what is "no shame": that the Left has lost anything positive and is now a knee-jerk hate-filled anti-Israeli organization. No shame is when you, Mr. Ussishkin, and your leaders like Yariv Oppenheimer and Jamus gathered one Saturday evening to condemn Shayetet 13 and support Hamas and the Turkish Jihadists who tried to murder them.

Why do not you shoot down Settlers who attack Druze in IDF? I just read Israeli police started raids on Druze village you should respond hard They killed a Druze girl who tried to save her honor after rape by border guards just firing one shot at border guards spot and killed fiercely What kind of people Druze are, and they just keep supporting ISrael? Did you ever read Potemkin event in History? Civilian riots and DRuze in IDF makes a unified power to top down Israel. Go ahead act in honor.

the deception and the use of excessive force will not remain forever the one way for the Palestinians to survive is by regaining our self-determination and freedom . Steve, You believe in things, and you must know, that others have also their own beliefs, you can't impose on us your beliefs! Steve, I wonder if you believe everything in the Koran,it is necessary to know the answer, because there are serious things the Koran say about Jews or do you believe some of the Koran, and ignore the rest, so then your argument is invalid . Yes, there are bad Muslims, but also there are the Jews and Christians as well, i don't know one of the Muslims set up a memorial to Osama bin Laden, while the Jews did with the Jewish terrorist Baruch Godstein! If your house is made of glass don't throw stones on others .

...John Cleeses'brilliant reply from Monty Pythons ''argument clinic'': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMlv3ripSM along with the Life of Brian , another ''must see; skit for people interested in the ME

Salma, to answer your question, no, I do not believe everything in the Koran any more than I believe everything in the Christian bible; yet the Christian bible is in no way comparable in its harshness; in its condemnation of the Jews as is the Koran. Muhammad, unlike Jesus, did not say things like, "I was only sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel." After making the hijra, the migration to Medina from Mecca, Muhammad urged the Jewish tribes living in Medina to accept him as a true prophet of God, along with Israel's ancient prophets. The Jews did not accept Muhammad's pretensions to prophet-hood. Muhammad then turned on the Jews in fury, killing many, dispossessing them of their propertyand wealth, taking their wives and ultimately driving the Jews out of the Hijaz (Arabia) entirely. This animosity against the Jews is reflected in the words of the Qur'an itself. We are portrayed by Muhammad as sons of apes and pigs, Sabbath breakers, disobedient, greedy, insolent, a people who love life more than death (unlike the Muslims who love death more than life), accursed of Allah; the Muslims are the best of all peoples, having taken our place as Allah's beloved people. I understand your point. In light of what you call "the rest" in the Qur'an, it makes my argument that Allah gave Holy Land to the children of Israel invalid, because the Jews are accursed of Allah; a rejected and despised people. That is why you hate me and my people, the Jews, because Allah hates us. You hate the Jews because Allah and his apostle hated the Jews. In sum, no I do not believe the Qur'an. I must however accept what is written in the Qur'an as a guide to every Muslim who is faithful; who reads the words of the Qur'an literally.

islam and judaism must reconcile by the islamic people understanding the jews only can handle at the very most twenty five square kilometres of land and even that will have an islamic presence far greater than any country in europe . But both theologies must humanise massivly and redirect those forces of aggression and belligerancy justly and mercifully otherwise the death and destruction will be catastrophic.

Thank you, Rafiq, for your dedicated years of honest and ethical reporting.