and after such a long time, they as a people cannot exist without being a "victim". It would mean self-responsibility and a huge host of obligations, both individually and collectively. It's a phenomenon that has been discussed for decades among sociologists and written up in the Wall Street Journal. Because "Palestinians" have made themselves victims though are the biggest cause of their fate (again - to achieve the "victim" status), they have become addicted to aid packages, free healthcare and education, and a steady diet of blaming others for their position in life.

A lot of jewish israelies believe the arab narrative. That is the problem in a nutshell.

Dr. Gerstenfeld make another good reason why Israel finaly has to fight fire with fire: that's it to defeat the Palestinian narrative with all its 'sentimentality' by a hardcore NARRATIVE of the Mizrahi and the Sephardic Jewish refugees that found a land where they have adapted, constructed, more than contributed their share to what Israel is today, while Palistinians (many of them millionaires : just look at the Tunnelists...) still rely on a world gone mad and still are locked up in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Irak....without any solution in the horizon. Not only the Arabs, in the name of Brotherhood still look at the Palestinian as a hurdle, but the world at large still is playing to their tune, with no end in sight: what an Arab Tradgedy!!

Funny you shouid talk about the 'sentimentality' of the Pals. When Gerstenfeld does nothing else than playing the victim card for the Israelis. Plus, the situation he describes is incorrect as well. So he is also a lair.

dear Buskila, you are such a nice person. But you don't notice that Gerstenfeld does nothing else that to be the victim: "oh, we poor Israelis are the innocent victims of the Palestinian narrative. But we do never anything wrong." Think about it, dear Buskila. Gerstenfeld is shooting himself into the foot (and doesn't even notice it). With defenders like Gerstenfeld, it is obvious that Israel can't win the propaganda battle.

it is the writer who is saying that the Israelis are always the victim of the Palestinian propaganda. His whole text doesn't make any sense, it is just the usual complaint. With the difference that this writer totally got the story about the Gaza attacks wrong.

they are now a side show to whats now going on in the middle east and to be honest i dont think people care any more , with them its poor us all the time

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, the latest National Public Radio figure to create a Palestinian state and Palestinian victims has become one of the strongest advocate for NPR's anti-Israeli position. Her material is taken from the webpages of Al-Jazeera.com and presto within two weeks is her latest radio revelation about how mean nasty Israel's self defense is of so politically incorrect. Her latest position is that Iran and Latin American countries are "entitled" to nuclear weapons. After all American exceptionalist thinkers are in search of new victims. Unlike critical thinking and responsible reporting, Irans' new pets and puppets are now en vogue. Undoubtably the future lies in educational, economic, and environmental cooperation among the nations and peoples of the region. But reporters such as Garcia-Navarro manifest the well funded efforts of the slithering and forked tongue set. Her goal is shared by NPR and Iran, discourage any attempts to build teams and portray Palestinians as weak, helpless, victims rather than encourage and envision a better cooperative future.

Ashton of Europe. So everybody is a "victim"? Everybody got somehow "raped"? There are basically no Bad Guys in this world? If you complain/report a crime you're no better than the criminal? You're right. We are at war with the Arabs and while they choose their methods (no need to repeat the well known) we , the Israelis plan to win this war by all the means we deem fitting our charcter as humans. End of story. Go read a book.

Actually, to win the PR war, all it requires is to be in the right. It's extremely arrogant to think otherwise, to think that somehow the world is being 'fooled' by the Palestinians. Some of you people really need to get over yourselves. Of course being in the "right" will be tough for Israel as long as it remains an occupier. Perhaps one day Israelis will learn this, and when they do, they will no longer have to spend "money, time, etc., etc.," to win the PR war.

defence ministry archive

1. Dwellers of Gaza are Egyptians, who are denied the right of repatriation by the government of Egypt. 2. Arab dwellers of Judea and Samaria are Jordanians, who are denied the right of repatriation by the government of Jordan. End of story.

The sight of an aged grandfather/grandmother or a young child holding up an old key and claiming "this is the key to my home in Jaffa (or Akko, Tiberias, Safed or whetever) is a powerful sound bite on the evening news, heartbreaking and and angering at the same time. The true fact that keys of this nature can be purchased in virtually any fleam market in the world (and especially in the Middle East) is irrelevant--the message that "my home was stolen" is the penetrating one. Few people outside the region who see these sound bites remember the rules of evidence or ask themselves why, if the key holder had a legitimate claim, why he/she didn't sue the government. Few people know that over the years, Israeli courts have ruled in favor of over 20,000 Arab families who could prove ownership, and even fewer care. In this day of instant gratification, slogans and buzzwords reign supreme and facts are ignored because "it's too confusing" or "it's too complicated". Look at most of the Israel bashers and you'll see that few of them have real arguments, just slogans and buzzwords... and they're often not even sure what those mean. It's often said that "truth is the first casualty in any conflict"-- in this case that's all too true.

Palestinians are fighting for their basic rights, which israel as the occupying power denies them. Wake up Israel, Palestinians do not attack you because they like to kill, but because you are occupying their land.

You know nothing about your pet "Palestinians". Ponder this: the PLO was formed in 1964. Does that fact cause any activity inside your "brain"?

They are the occupiers, not us. They never had any claim to the land, and still do not. Two they have been offered land 3 times and have refused. Three they started their attacks BEFORE we were even a country and well before we 'occupied' any land. Four they state that their goal is our genocide and have enshrined it in their charters. In short you are wrong with your claims.

Your respond shows only your lack of knowledge. The PLO was founded as a representation of the Palestinian people within the Arab league, and only became violent after '67. Go educate yourself!

You are right, they occupy the land that the are living on since generation. They have the same right to live there as jews have. There was violence from all groups living in the area, to tell who started is like the chicken or egg question. And to show that you do not care about facts; the charter you mentioned is only from one of the many Palestinians groups, and does not apply to all of them.

1. They lived on the land for over 2000 years. It may have had different names, but they worked the land, raised their families and settled. 2. They were offered half the land they have lived on for years. They said no so you took the rest. Pushed by a political movement that favours one people over another. 3. They defended their land. 4. They want their land back. Why you should think that you are owed it cause you had a short spell on it 1000's of years ago. How about giviung the USA back to the red indian or Australia back to the aboriginee? Your claims are wrong.

The problem is that the "palestinians" are recent immigrants to Israel. The PLO defines "palestinian" as any non-Jew living in Israel 1948 and before. Suggest to them that a "palestinian" is only a person who lived in Israel before 1920 and they will refuse. Do you know why? Because around 80% of the people who are called "palestinians" will revert to be Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis and Egyptians. Suddenly there will be peace and coexistence with the Jews.

They have not lived on the land for 100 years, let alone 2,000. We have been here for over 5,000 years. Why did the UN create a special definition for Arab refugees? That they had to live in the Mandate for 2 years? Because otherwise 80% of them would not be refugees, and that it according to the UK. We took nothing that wasn't ours. The UN Charter and Mandate for Palestine confirm that the land is ours. Where is there a single legal claim for the Arabs? Care to produce one? I bet you won't even try. Ain't their land and never has been their land. Please name a single 'Palestinian leader' prior to Abbas. Arafat was an Egyptian just in case you didn't know. We never left the land and that even the Ottomans agreed on. As for giving back land to aboriginees well you should surrender all your colonies and take back your citizens. Start with Ireland, Gibralter, the Malvinas, etc. etc. I have no issue with the American Indians getting back their land either.

Neither the UN charter nor the the british mandate said all the land belongs the jews. The mandate said the land was meant to build a homeland for jews, but also that the civil and religiuos right of the people living there already must be respected (This would mean nothing else than a one state solution, just in case you like to stick to San Remo).

DNA tests from people living in the area showed, that most of them have close ties to each other (the difference between jewish tribes is bigger then between some jews and arabs). So it is save to say, that the palestinians have the same right to live there as the jews.