… its very sad... I hate any situation where people are dying, whether Israelis or Palestinians… and that’s the tragedy of that place... it never seems to stop… the whole world is blaming Israel for killing innocent people and being the aggressor, but what can the Israelis do ? They are bombing Israeli cities non-stop with rockets... so I wish there was big international pressure on both sides to just stop any kind of violence... it will be harder to convince Hamas to do it, since they are very fanatic, almost a terror organization, but they are just damaging the Palestinian people, so they, plus the international community should put pressure on them to stop. And on Israel as well... I donnow my friend... do you have any idea ?

… well, I think you are right... nobody knows the real story, at least not in Europe or the US. It’s a tragic story of 2 peoples, that are fighting over a tiny piece of land. Both of them want to have a state there, in the same ‘holy’ territory, and none of them is willing to completely give up the control over these holy places, holy to both religions. Parts of the 2 peoples ARE willing to give these territories up, who cares about some hill where Abraham or Muhamad took a dump... but, the religious people on both sides are not willing to give up. AND, over the years, this simple story has been so complicated by other nations (Arab nations, the US, Europe, etc.), by media, by propaganda, by hate, by acts of violence, that now it’s just deep hatred between the 2 peoples, and nobody can think straight and stop reacting. I could tell you that they started (like now with the rockets...), and Israel just keeps on reacting, but every time Israel reacts, with power, that makes THEM react, and so on...

… well, nobody was there first, that’s the problem. The Israeli religious people claim that the bible is a proof that this whole territory, even Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, all that - was Jewish. It was all under king David's kingdom, and it was all given to us - Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob - by god. So the Israelites lived in all these areas (there were also Philistines there, but they have nothing to do with the people we call today Palestinians, even though they took the name from them), and then they were exiled by Rome, and only a few were left there. And with all the other empires ruling the area (including Arabic empires), other people came there, including some Arabs. It went on like that until the early 20th century, when you had Jewish people living in Jerusalem, and many Arab people living there and in other parts of the country. BUT, most of the country was swamps and bare land - no inhabitants. Then, from the 1920's-1940's Jewish people started coming from Europe, mostly because of the Holocaust, and the Jewish population grew, and that’s when the problems started... fighting over lands and ‘holy places’... so who was there first ? Each side claims it was them. But you know what ? Who cares ? The reality is that BOTH of them are there now ! So you need to find a solution, a non-violent one, for these 2 peoples. The Arabs still don’t recognize Israel's right to exist, which is just... stupid. Israel is not going anywhere, so... the 2 need to recognize each other and stop acts of violence and learn to live as neighbors.

… well, I don’t think there is a short term solution. This has been going on for too long, with no solutions... I was just thinking about it… my mom was born in Israel in 1934. Ever since then, throughout her whole life, there have been the same issues with the Arabs ! It never stopped. Can you believe that ? She is now 75... ALL her life she has seen nothing but fights and violence with the Arabs in Israel... so it ain’t gonna change soon... unless the world forces the Arabs and Israel to come to a final solution, which is forming a Palestinian state, and taking some international control over the holy places in Jerusalem. We tried to give Gaza back to the Palestinians, so that they can have their own kinda state there, and look what happened. That’s why Israel is afraid to give them a real state, in the west bank as well. It will become like a second Lebanon - a land full of terrorists breeding... but I think if it’s a state, officially, AND with lost of international control and supervision and pressure, it can become a peaceful state that can live side by side with Israel...

… now regarding the notion that there are other agendas involved, I am sure there are on Hamas' side... they are all influenced by other Arab countries, like Iran (well, sort of Arab), and nobody knows who is pulling the strings there... but the tragedy is that the poor Palestinian people are the victims of all that... as for the Israeli side, I can TELL YOU from living there for 30 years, that the poor government just wants one thing, the same thing they wanted throughout my mother's whole life... to have the citizens of Israel live in quiet and peace, without being bombed or attacked all the time. This specific war started because Hamas kept on firing THOUSANDS of rockets into the towns of the south of Israel. Hundreds of rockets every day... you can’t have a life like that. And if it’s not that, then it’s suicide bombers in our cities. So it’s constant threats and harassment and troubles. We just want to have a year, 6 months, of quiet, of peace, so that people can live their life, and love, and fuck, and do art, and NOT think of war and danger... just have a normal life like anybody else. And until now, the government hasn’t found a solution as per how to achieve it. No matter what they do, the Palestinians keep on harassing us. And then we react with force, and then they react with more harassing, and we react with more force, and that’s the never ending cycle there...

… that’s a nice analysis, I think you are totally right about the world and America (and Israel)... It's a mix of envy, fear, and of course, secret admiration... we always tend to hate the one who seems easily successful... and you know what ? Both the US and Israel are very successful, far beyond what was predicted for them. Damn, I never thought of that ! All these Arab countries are just... jealous !! That’s brilliant. Thanks ! I just understood something... this whole conflict, like other conflicts in this world, is about jealousy... Israel created such a successful, amazing, thriving democracy in that crappy piece of land, that everybody around is green with envy. We always hate the ones who are really successful, when we are not... So what can Israel do now to maybe share the success with its neighbors ? I know it's not our 'fault' and its not our job to do it, but if we want to be smart, what can we do ? Create a better economical Middle East ? Help the Palestinians with money ? Convince the International community to start streaming $$$ to these impoverished areas and people ? I think everything comes down to money, eventually... when you have enough money to live nicely, and eat nicely, you forget about hate and slogans and wanting to kill... you just feel comfortable. That's some food for thought...