[E Rocc]

IMHO, he has called it, but at the same time, I think it is becoming clear that a fair number of the Palestinian desire nothing but odds with Israel. To be very blunt, they seem to feel quite happy with a thug like Arafat.

Israel cannot be expected to negotiate or give in to the threat of terror. Were I in their place, I would keep doing what I am doing, since a sign of weakness would only encourage the thugs and hoodlums perpetrating the murder-suicide bombings.

Personally, I think they've been attacking the wrong people, though it was good to see the attacks on Hamas from both Israel and the PA increase.

As far as I can tell Israel's being asked to do precisely one thing: freeze settlement activity. I'd like to see how the Palestinian people react to a true freeze, and perhaps a rollback of particularly problematic settlements like Hebron. If it's positive, then roll them back further.

It's clear from this thread that many Israel-backers aren't the least bit willing to do even that. Clearly we'll need to keep an eye on both sides.

-Eric

[hchutch]

Until the murder-suicide bombings (IMHO, it is a much more accurate term than just homocide bombings) stop, I wouldn't pull the settlements out. I don't give ground in the face of such barbaric attacks, otherwise I could encourage further attacks for new demands down the road.

It's the Palestinians' choice, but they should choose wisely.

[Alouette]

Israel's being asked to do precisely one thing: freeze settlement activity.

I fail to understand how a Jewish family building a house down the road from a Palestinian village, raising their children and studying the Torah, is an "act of terror" of the same magnitude as blowing people up at bus stops and pizza parlors. I simply can't see how these two things are equally evil or that the settlement thing is "more evil" than mass murders.