You are too foolish to be moronic. Anyone with any sense of history knows that the problems between the Jews and Arabs are religious in nature, and at the core of the struggles in that area. You deny that, as you are unable to accept that religious belief is at the core of most conflicts in that area. Lots of countries have been at war with one and other, and have ended up being friends and allies. Not the Arabs and the Jews. They will never bury the hatchet, as long as they continue to practice their respective religions in the light of hate, and not in the light of peace, love, forgiveness, and understanding. You can't go there, because your life is a Godless communists existence. You don't understand the nature of religious experience, and the degree to which it shapes opinions, especially in the Holy Lands. You try to be political in your arguments, without understanding that religion is the basis of their political thoughts.
Optional, pigs will fly before a dimwit like you can claim to be better informed than me on a topic which I'm debating. You continue to accuse me of being a communist, even though I have stated, unequivocally, that I'm not; and even though the statements I have made logically rule me out of being a communist (not that logic appears to have much force with you). Then you make childish cracks about my leftist leanings -- as if the issue of political philosophy has somehow been slamdunk settled. Here's a wake up call Optional, it a bit more than just a "sense" of history, it takes actual studying and understanding of it. Something, needless to say, you appear to thoroughly lack. If you're just intent on being a mindless little bitch -- and I've no other reason to suspect otherwise -- go and piss on someone else's leg; I'm done with you. (And grow up, too.)
Maybe there is hope after all? If you're willing to admit the possibility that you've only heard one side of this story, you have a strong chance of re-evaluating your views once you hear the truth. If all you've read about Israel has come from sources like the Guardian/Observer/ www.iap.org (This is the Hamas english website. Very effective propaganda to the uninformed.) ,you've never even been exposed to the truth of the matter. Good luck... if you successfully change your mind about Israel, you'll have climbed to a much higher level than the typical leftist.
Good site for informed views from/on Israel: http://israpundit.blogspot.com/ Including this long-term view that I think some of you might find interesting - optimistic based largely on the new correlation of forces following the removal of the Baath regime in Iraq: http://israpundit.blogspot.com/2003_05_01_israpundit_archive.html#200287224
Tit for tat. Optional said : "You argue for shit." and "Fool". Alfonso responds in kind and that is how endless arguments are started. Next thing we know we will be sending each other some bombs (viruses) in our PM's. Anyone will at some time or other feel frustrated but calling someone else names isn't the way to go about a discussion. I have respect for Alfonso. He is not a Msfe with a closed mind. Whilst Alfonso was very firm in the way he looked at things, he has stated that he's prepared to look at some websites (offered by Rearden) which put the Israely point of view so much more succinct in providing details than I have seen in the other posts. freealways
The perfect solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Since the Palestinians want a homeland and it doesn't seem that chopping Israel up even smaller than it already is, is a satisfactory solution, Let's give France to the Palestinians! The French have already stated that nothing is worth fighting for. Besides, France has better irrigation and soil than the West Bank and Gaza strip. It's the perfect solution. The French won't even fight back. And how about a new name for this Franco-Palestine? How about Frankenstine? Peace, RS
it just goes to show that a bit of brainstorming can help one come up with solutions other than the obvious ones. Well Error404, considering the fact that France has occupied, colonised, many countries in the past they couldn't possibly object if the shoe was on the other foot for a change, would they now ? There is already a substantial part of France's population which is Muslim so a slight increase in the number wouldn't be really noticed very much. freealways
Within a decade, You'll see Islamic race riots in France that make the Rodney King riots look like child's play.
Logical solutions always require logical circumstances. Just as long as the indigenous French people keep records of their recipes, the whole transition should be pretty smooth. Most of the better French chefs are probably in NYC already. Charred goat sandwiches on croissants, and crepes with baba ganoush will become standard fare there. Tourists will have to brown bag it. Camels will have the right of way on the Champs-Elysées, but other than that, as you say, not much of the change would go "noticed". We always will have Quebec to keep the language alive. Peace, and salaam au revoir, RS