[EternalVigilance]

Not that I'm actually proposing mass executions, that's a bit extreme. But really don't you think that if all the Sharon's and Arafat's were out of the picture the normal Jews and Palestinians could settle things over coffee? Much like how if all the Christianity insulting atheists and atheism insulting Christians were out of the way this could be settled.

You are hardly the first person to make this argument. I have a hunch your brand of thinking would have fit in quite well in 1920's and 30's German society.

As it was then it could easily be now. Start down that philosopical road, and at the end you will find death camps, and the destruction of nations.

[discostu]

20s and 30s German society was much different than anything I'd aim towards. That was a society largely without rules. The reason to have a sit down is to make the rules, the trick is to make rules that both sides can live with. The problem is that in any conflict you have a bunch of hot heads who don't want to make something that the other side can live with, they want the other side to go away. Get rid of the hot heads and you're left with reasonable people that have a normal capacity for compromise and are willing to put up with each other. But as long as the hot heads reign there can't be a sit down.