Peter Wedlund http://www.jta.org/user/profile/65899 en-us zsilberman@washingtonjewishweek.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The problem isn't US support to Israel or any other country. The problem is providing political cover for a country to do whatever it likes and thereby facilitate more irresponsible behavior. Do the names Furkan Dugan or Rachel Cory mean anything to Americans? They were both US citizens, killed by Israelis. The first was on the Turkish flotilla, his autopsy results can be found by googling his name. His crime was to be holding a camera when the IDF boarded the ship he was on. Rachel Cory was a peace activist. Her crime was to refuse to move when the Israeli's decided it was time to bulldoze a Palestinian home. Rand Paul means well, but his time would be better spent making sure Congress did not continue to rubber stamp whatever AIPAC wants. The US Congress has never once condemned Israel for any of its action and has criticized nearly every friend we have in the World for any and all things they say or do that are unflattering or negative of Israel. Most of the time I can't decide if the US Congress is just a proxy for Israel or its stooge. Either way, they continue to make the whole US look stupid in the eyes of the world. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Mr. Cohen, it is not peace that comes at the end of a rifle barrel, but merely the end of a battle or war. Peace and the end of a war are not equivalent. Just look at Israel and its continued conflicts with Hezbollah, Hamas and other radical groups. Did Israel not have an end to war in the 1950's? Did Israel not win a war in 6 days in 1967 and the Yom Kippur war in 1973? Has Israel ever lost a major war with its neighbors? So, where is your peace? WWI did not solve any problems or bring real peace, it facilitated in many ways WWII. The Allies realized true peace would not be achieved unless the defeated were treated humanely, provided with help to rebuild their industries, agriculture, infrastructure and strong economic ties were formed with them. The peace was not achieved because of the defeat of the Axis powers; it was brought about by investment, rebuilding, a genuine desire to help and a willingness to forge new economic ties with Germany, Italy and Japan rather than simply punish them. It is ever so easy to encourage hate and fear when there is little tolerance, justice, equality or peace. Is that not the lesson learned from Hitler's rise to power as well as that of other tyrants since his time? By encouraging continued conflict Israel keeps generating the open wounds that others merely pour the salt in to prevent their healing. You play into the hands of those who do not want peace by encouraging and justifying the continued conditions that facilitate war. Among those displaced and disaffected people you are likely to find your next adversary, the next terrorist leader and terrorist group. Feed their ranks and you merely feed their anger and hate. If Israel is concerned about its survival, it should be far more worried about the consequences of its actions and their ramifications. As one of only a handful of nuclear powers in the world, with one of the most sophisticated and best equipped armed forces in the world Israel risks destruction not from without, but from a continual wearing down from within. The longer conflict persists, the greater the risk Israel faces from criticism by others of how it deals with its conflicts, facilitates them and prolongs them. Israel with its far stronger army and far more sophisticated weaponry cannot claim to be the victim indefinitely, fighting for its survival. Even its own citizens and Jewish people around the world will grow tired of the threats, hate, fear and anger that support of that position produces toward them. It is long past time for a change in direction and a change in focus. You cannot be ready for peace unless you are ready to change the way you deal with your neighbors, interact and treat them. That has been the message from the Obama administration. Thus far the signal from Israel has not been a concerted effort toward seeking real peace. Rather, it has blamed others for the failure of the peace efforts and lamented and opposed US pressure that it changes its approach. These actions do not bode well for these peace efforts or the longer term survival of Israel. This is a message from a friend. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Peace doesn't come at the end of a rifle barrel. Those who believe they can impose their will on others will only learn bad feelings die hard and are not soon forgotten. Palestinians in refugee camps in Southern Lebanon have given rise to Hezbollah. Hamas is emboldened not by the success of Peace, but its absence and failure. Obama has been more of a friend of Israel than many realize. A friend will tell you when he thinks you are wrong, an enemy or someone who isn't your friend doesn't care. A friend will encourage Peace which facilitates greater prosperity and growth for you. Someone who doesn't care will say, "it's your problem, do whatever you want". Some may object to the tough talk and efforts to bring change, but the alternative is what, more of the same? Who is the friend, the one who doesn't care or the one who does? Peace is a tough and difficult road from that of conflict, where distrust, hate and anger are the drivers of war. Shifting to the equality, tolerance and justice that drives peace requires great effort and determination that is not always possible without the encouragement of a friend. It is easy to do nothing. It is harder to stand up and try and change the status quo. It is harder still when the very people you are trying to help complain about any and all criticism and question your motives. Success is measured by outcomes and not desires or intentions. Look at the progress made thus far to ease tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. What is the advantage to Israel in fighting Obama instead of working with his Administration to try and bring Peace to the region? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Jonathan Pollard is a US traitor and Jewish spy and he will rot and die in a US prison. These peace talks are between Israel and Palestinians and the Israeli's would make a grave mistake indeed if they ever tried to tie their peace to the release of a US traitor as a precondition or even a condition for peace with the Palestinians. The two situations are totally unrelated and unconnected issues. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get exactly what you want only to end up with far less to show for it in the end. Israeli's would be wise to remember they have no real political power in the world and the vast majority of UN members have no great love for Israel. Israel has been but one vote away from serious retribution by the world community and its support even by that last country is rapidly deteriorating in light of past and recent actions it has taken. There will be consequences for Israel if it does not make serious in-roads towards peace. The US is not going to protect or support a country that interferes with its significant efforts to bring peace and a negotiated settlement to the region. Israel can choose to do as it wishes, but actions have consequences with this US administration. Netanyahu's trip to Russia and his obstinacy toward the peace efforts will not spare him from the consequences of failing to cooperate. Israel has moved very close to losing far more than it could ever hope to gain by its failure to fully embrace this peace initiative. Do what ever you like and experience first hand the consequences. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Livni is a day late and dollar short. Obama for all his good intentions has also come to the party too late to change the inevitable outcome. Looking at the most recent maps of the occupied territories (http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2009/09/14/freezing-israeli-settlements-is-only-lea) the two state solution is already dead. There is no longer enough contiguous space left on the West Bank owned and controlled by Palestinians to produce a viable second state one could call an autonomous region. I'm sure the continued "natural growth" in the occupied territories will soon make even the little remaining Palestinian owned land incapable of supporting any serious 2 state solution in the very near future. Congratulations you now have your answer to the Palestinian issue. I have no doubt the one state solution will result in a failure of the present and last peace initiative for the region. That will leave those displaced by your deeds and actions only one recourse. I sure hope those territorial gains will prove worth the cost Israeli's will end up paying for the next century. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 If Jews wish to live among Arabs then why build the walls around the occupied territories? Why have the roads connecting Jewish settlements that Jews are allowed to use but Palestinians are restricted from using? If Jews wish to live among Arabs, why would Israel take millions of acres of land in the occupied territory for "public use" and give it to Israeli citizens or encouraged its development by Israeli citizens and freeze Palestinians from that land? If Israeli’s wish to live among Arabs, why have they continually ignored US and international requests to stop settlements in occupied territories in which Jewish settlers are given rights not afforded to Palestinians? Is living among Arabs best achieved by affording them the same rights as Israeli’s or by denying them the same rights in the territory where they live with Israeli’s? Myopic views are great if all you want to see is your own point of view and all you want to embrace is your own solution. I refuse to support that behavior, financially or politically. Obama has been interested in cooperation between the parties. The comments by Netanyahu are not cooperative. If Israeli's truly want peace, they would be embracing the Obama administration and its efforts to encourage the peace effort and a 2 state solution. All Netanyahu has done up to now is make it easier for Obama and others to stop listening to him altogether. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Good news finally. Economic and business transactions have always been a great stabilizer of relations between people. If Israeli and Palestinian people interacted on a routine basis, exchanged goods and worked together in various joint business arrangements on EQUAL footing, there would be no or little conflict. The fear arises that feeds the conflict when people are encouraged to embrace a sense of separateness that suggests those people over there are different from those of us over here. When the barriers fall, the interactions grow the peace will follow. I wish them all the best in moving these intereactions and cooperation along. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 You can please ALL of the people SOME of the time. You can please SOME of the people ALL of the time. But, you can never please ALL of the people ALL of the time. Those who are truly interested in peace will be pleased by Obama. Those who merely believe everything is about what they want, won't. It doesn't matter on which side of the fence they are located. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 I would agree with the Jewish leaders, fair is fair and that requires Palestinian’s to be told their actions and statements are not conducive to the peace effort. The Fatah statements raise the level of anger and hate and generate more distrust and animosity that make peace negotiations that much more difficult. I agree the condemnation should have been immediate and equal to the condemnation of Israel and its settlements. The US must be an honest and fair broker or it cannot play the intermediary in this process effectively. I am sure this must have been discussed by the White House and I have no idea what the reason was for the tepid statements that were issued. It may be the White House feels it has a greater credibility problem with the Arabs and Palestinians than Israel and has thus downplayed its criticism of Fatah. Yes, I too would rather see them make a strong statement to both sides thus signaling to everyone a balanced attitude toward the peace process. I am particularly discouraged by the level of anger on both sides and it shows just how difficult it will be to bring peace to the region if at all. No one can make people trust one another. No one can make independent people agree to peace. They must see it is in their best interest to do that and it seems so many people in the Middle East have so much hate and anger today they just don't care about its costs to them or anyone else. These are going to be tough, difficult times and the outcome and the future are anything but certain. Those who really want peace are going to have to get involved and really work to make it happen because it already appears so many in the region on both sides don't really care if it doesn't. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Well, let's get history right. A group of influential people in the Bush administration "claimed" they wanted to bring freedom to the Arab world and they believed you set that in motion by setting up a Democracy in Iraq. There are many who believe Iraqi oil was the main motivation of the Bush administration to invade a weakened Iraq and that is bolstered by administrative efforts to secure oil contracts for US and British oil companies and the planning and building of large, long term military bases in Iraq. It is possible both views are correct and the oil men like Cheney and Bush used people like Wolfowitz and Rice to help justify the need for the invasion for their own purposes. Regarding the Obama foreign policy versus the Bush foreign policy, the difference is extreme. Bush practiced a policy initially of cowboy diplomacy which involves shooting first and asking questions later. It was based primarily on telling others what they needed to do if they wanted to be on "OUR SIDE". Only toward the end did Bush realize that policy doesn't work and then started to change it. The Obama foreign policy is based on "mutual cooperation" and the first step in that policy is reaching out and offering to be cooperative. What many people seem unable to realize is cooperation is a two way street. If people do not reciprocate you don't keep offering more. The US must show a willingness to be the first to reach out to others because of our status in the world and past actions. However, anyone who thinks the Obama policy is a "one sided" affair aimed solely to appease Arab nations has absolutely no clue what "mutual cooperation" implies. Try to remember, Obama was a community organizer who had to resolve conflicts between groups with different interests. He clearly understands the solution to conflict is not achieved by having one side give away the store. It resides in getting all sides to recognize why cooperation is to everyone's benefit and why conflict is not. Pressure is applied by various means to encourage all sides to recognize the downside of not cooperating. Israel may feel some pressure now, but believe me, so will the Arabs and Palestinians if they are foolish enough to think "mutual cooperation" means you get something for nothing. Obama has already put an upper limit of 1 year on the clock for reciprocal behavior. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Are NGOs undermining the government or pointing out issues of concern? Are NGO’s attempting to destroy the Israeli government or are they concerned about problems that are uncomfortable and difficult to discuss or address? Sometimes criticism is called manipulation, extremism or even treasonous. Even when two totally different viewpoints are offered to the same issue there remains only ONE TRUTH. A universal perspective of problems and issues is far better than a myopic one which always provides what appears to be a reasonable answer but not always the correct one. Truth is a frequent casualty of war. It doesn’t have to be but it often is displaced by the hate, anger and fear people feel. Whether you talk about the left, right or middle, people filled with hate, anger and fear embrace a one perspective and a one answer approach to reality. Before discounting the views of NGO’s make sure you don’t close yourself off from valid perspectives different from your own or simply because they express viewpoints you would rather not hear. The truth is not changed by ignorance and neither are the consequences of ignoring it. Dishonest people and dishonest governments lie to hide the truth. Honest people and honest governments have no need to lie or alter facts to make the truth fit their view of reality. Seek the truth, never ignore it even if the truth is disagreeable to you. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 As a US citizen I value the contributions of the Jewish Americans for exactly the reasons Mr. Garber describes. Jews were the first to support civil rights in the US, a problem that should never have been allowed to fester as long as it did in this country. Jewish Americans have also been at the forefront of the ACLU fighting for the freedom of speech, religion, press and assembly that provides Americans a voice that might otherwise not be heard. It is fantasy to think everyone will agree with you or that everyone has to agree with you. What is needed is open dialog and discussion of issues, not fear mongering and hate aimed at cutting off debate. Take a lession from US history during GW Bush. Not enough people realized only a fool embraces the view "my government can never do anything wrong". Of course any government can do things wrong and it will do things wrong unless the people in that country are constantly vigilant. The only thing lost by open discussion and dialog is ignorance. Only those with a myopic view of the world embrace ignorance over understanding or their own personal perspective over a more global perspective of an issue. Limited viewpoints produce limited solutions or more often no solution at all. I see in some of the responses exactly what I have noticed before on JTA blogs and among Conservative Republicans in the US, hate, anger, name calling and efforts to discredit rather than listen. The desire is to put down those with a view different from theirs rather than to understand it. Research shows the BEST answer to a problem comes from the consensus view of the people. This answer is always more accurate than the BEST answer from the smartest person in the group. Ignoring or preventing all views prevents that consensus view from being found. The Jewish people, with their relatively limited numbers in the population are in many leadership positions and have made many contributions to this world in multiple fields. They have achieved this because they value education; the ability to think beyond what they already know and consider other ideas and views and the ability to think past the present. The greatest accomplishments, advances and achievements are not derived from people who see the world from a limited, narrow viewpoint. The greatest advances, accomplishments and achievements come from people who have the ability to expand on what they know and are willing to learn what they do not yet know. Ignorance may be bliss but ignorance is not what will help this world advance or help man to understand God or our place in this universe. It is a shame some view openness and honesty to be faults instead of virtues. I’m sure God doesn’t feel that way. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This is a non-issue. Everyone must make an effort to bring peace to the region. Arab nations must reach out to Israel and Israel needs to stop the settlements so the peace process can go forward. Once peace is realized, the settlement issues will be resolved and the laws, rules and who oversees them will be more clearly defined for everyone. Whether Congress adds or does not add some amendment to this AIPAC letter really makes little difference. Congress has little control over the foreign policy initiated by the White House. The Obama team is well aware of the issues and the direction they must head if they are to encourage peace in the region. Their message has been clear and consistent to all parties. What is lacking thus far is the will and determination of all parties to cooperate and make it happen. Perhaps it will happen if given enough time and determination and everyone keeps trying. Sure hope so anyway for everyone's sake. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama would never do that because it would be hard to convince anyone in the region he was serious about peace if he did. It is interesting this would be suggested based on the record Bush complied while in office. Bush made his first trip to Israel in January 2008 (his last year in office.) The Israeli death toll during his 8 years in office was 1,210. The Israeli death toll over those 8 years was larger than any Israeli death toll over any prior 8 year period since Israel was established. While I know many Israeli's hate Jimmy Carter, the 8 years following his Camp David Peace accords and Peace treaty between Egypt and Israel were actually years with some of the lowest numbers of Israeli deaths. It just shows you that when you do nothing about the conflict, the conflict grows and more people die. When you work toward peace, you reduce tensions and reduce the deaths the result. Bush's primary peace efforts were his early Roadmap for Peace (which he did little to foster) and his Annapolis Conference in 2007. We all remember that Conference because he invited Israeli and Palestinian leaders to Annapolis, welcomed them and left about 2 hrs later to go back to Washington DC. Yeah, this is one engaged guy isn’t he? I'm glad GW Bush has some friends in the world. However his record speaks for itself. He did little to advance peace and much to destroy it. He naively assumed "good" and "bad" were fixed states instead of states associated with our actions and behaviors. This led him to believe everything he did for the US was "good" and those nations he disliked were automatically "bad". A person without a proper sense of "right" and "wrong" is incapable of making sound judgments. Who would really want that kind of individual in charge of anything? Obama once said he would welcome advice from GHW Bush, but not his son GW Bush. I think that pretty much closes the case on this silly idea. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Alex, no peace progress can be made when no one wants to make an effort. I actually have read about Middle East history and have lived through a good part of it. You need to get beyond your own rhetoric. It's your future not mine. It won't change my life if you continue on the present path, nor will it change the reality on the ground. Blame liberal thinkers, blame Obama however much you like. Chastise him or myself as anti-Semitic because we hold views different from yours if you wish. No one forces others to listen. You don't want peace, you want others to bow to your will, so be it. I just will not support it, tell my Congressmen to support it or encourage others to support it. The more I read this type of nonsense by people like you the more convinced I become the US has no business siding with a Jewish state and its culture of Israeli domination over the occupied territories and all people in it. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Obama position has nothing to do with legal rights and everything to do with political efforts to first ease the tension in the region so the peace process can go forward. While we are discussing Jews being kicked out of Jerusalem by Jordan, let's not forget what happened to Palestinians in 1949 when Israel kicked hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of their homes and confiscated their property. I don’t want to get into right or wrong or rehash history. Whether you feel it was justified or not there has been enough pain and suffering felt by all sides. It is time to step back and decide if this should be the path forward from here or if another path is warranted. There is nothing wrong with Jewish people buying land and building on it in Jerusalem or elsewhere. The problem right now is the perception of Israel's intentions. The perception by Palestinians is of Israel's plan to take over and kick out all Palestinians from the occupied territories. The more Israel builds in the occupied regions, the more that perception grows, particularly since Jews and Palestinians are not treated equally by Israel in those territories. I sincerely doubt Obama cares whether Jews live in Jerusalem or the West Bank, so comments about his apartheid efforts and making East Jerusalem off limits to Jews is way off the mark. What Obama cares about is working toward peace in the region and the more tension created by perceptions of Israel's intentions, the less chance there is for peace. You can't reach a peace agreement without trust and you don't build trust if you feed people’s fears and worst perceptions of your intentions. Let's try to be a little more balanced with respect to the issues here instead of simply jumping up and down every time Obama disagrees with Israel leadership on an issue. Obama is interested in peace for the region, not punishing Israel. Once peace is established and there is an understanding about Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza territories and who controls what and with what authority by all parties it becomes easier to work through land issues, property rights and legal recourse so everyone is treated the same instead of some being treated differently than others. The settlement growth and new building are impediments to the peace process which prevents the ultimate goal of equal justice and fairness for all being realized. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama made a campaign promise that from his first day in office he would work toward peace in the Middle East. He can only do as much as people in the region will allow. He can't "make" people negotiate a peace deal, he can only encourage it. I would expect nothing less. That is the direction his efforts have taken from day 1, requesting EVERY country to engage in some effort (not just Israel) and decide if they truly want peace or not. During the Bush years when US and Israel were tight and Bush virtually never disagreed with Israel about hardly anything, how much real progress was made toward resolving any of the present problems? Conflicts between Gaza and Israel increased in frequency so that by 2006 they became yearly occurrences. All I read here is how Obama is naive and doesn't understand the region. Trust me, Obama is a whole lot more intelligent than GW Bush is and he understands things much better than some may realize. If Israel is serious about peace, then these efforts should be good news. If Israel is not serious about peace, it won't take Obama years to figure that out for he will know what has happened, why it has happened and without the blinders of some that prevent them from seeing both sides of the issue. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 What's wrong with talking? The only thing it does is replace ignorance with understanding. You don't have to like or agree with the person you talk to but it is stupid to be unwilling to even try to understand them. Hamas has about as much chance of eliminating Israel as worm has of crushing an elephant. Let's separate the political hype from the real threat. Yes, the Hamas leadership needs to grow up and start facing reality. Some on this board need to grow up and recognize the difference between Hamas (Iranian or Hezbollah) tough talk and their true capability and quit using talk as an excuse for doing nothing. Sometime, tough talk is simply a way to save face when one's honor is the only thing you have left. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Abbas is not being helpful to the peace effort. Arab nations need to start by putting pressure on Abbas to start talking and start moving. Time and patience is not unlimited. People do want progress and not empty gestures. Thus far, after nearly 6 months of effort by the Obama administration to try and move the peace effort forward we seem to be seeing more excuses for doing nothing than efforts to make progress. You try sincerely to reach out. You make the efforts you can. If all the other side cares to do is to tell you to reach further so they don't have to stretch to reach your hand the message is clear enough to everyone. We tried it our way, you solve it your way. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 I stated from the outset that the peace effort by Obama is not just on Israel, but on all Middle East parties to cooperate. Peace takes everyone contributing, and can be ruined by one or more who refuse to do so. The log jam can be opened in measured steps of confidence building. The freeze on settlements, improved interactions with Arabs on the West Bank, Hamas making a good faith gesture by releasing the Israeli soldier, Israel lowering its blockade of Gaza and allowing more food, medical aid, assistance, building materials to flow into Gaza so rebuilding can take place, Middle East nations stepping up and recognizing Israel and exchanging ambassadors, increasing trade and eliminating travel restrictions. With each step comes the possibility of the next step being taken. The Obama administration is right, Arab nations need to give more than just lip service to peace, they need to be actively engaged on that goal. If Israel feels the pressure to stop settlements and does, the expectation is that other Arab nations, Hamas, and the Palestinians will be reciprocating. Otherwise, there is nothing to justify continued pressure on Israel to help facilitate the peace process. You can't have peace if only one nation is willing to make an effort in that direction, every American understands that simple concept. I hope that isn't the case, but only time will tell. If the Arab promises are empty, we will at least know them for what they are and those responsible for the failure will not be able to hide behind empty gestures. Rest assured these nations will be reminded of their failure each and every time they meet Obama or members of the State Department over the duration of his term(s) in office and whenever they begin to raise some objection about Israeli actions. With great power comes great responsibility, but that does not mean those with less power can be irresponsible. That is also a clear message from the Obama administration. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This appears promising. The first time in years we have heard about real progress towards peace. One hopes that a day will come when Palestinians and Jews feel comfortable and secure enough to live where they please. Before that day arrives, people throughout the region (Jewish and Arab) will need to respect the rights and dignity of others. It is encouraging to see the first coordinated movement in that direction by ALL sides. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Suffering has two sides. You can use it to justify more of the same and as a basis for intransigence, hate and fear. Or you can use suffering to justify ending the problems, seeking common ground and as your motivation to solutions to the problems. No one tells you what side of suffering to embrace only that one side has a value and purpose very different from the other. No one can tell which path to travel: the one that facilitates more hate, anger, fear and distrust; or the one that encourages greater cooperation, understanding, hope and peace. The paths are different and the outcomes produced are different. That is just a fact, and facts are neither conservative nor liberal, they are just facts. There is some progress toward peace and that is good. Whether there will be enough progress depends in part how Israeli's view this path: as one they wish to embrace; or merely one to check out before they abandon it for another some are more comfortable traveling. The paths are as different as the two sides of suffering. What remains to be decided is which path the Israeli people wish to follow. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Is there no end to the hatred and fear? I am sure most Jewish people realize this is the work of ignorant individuals in our society. These are stupid individuals who are incapable of thinking or understanding what their actions imply or just don’t care to understand. I hope these vandals are caught and punished, the sooner they are the better for everyone. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 There is nothing new here. Biden has stated what Obama believes -- the way to prevent problems is through cooperation with others, not attacking them. However, we don't dictate what Israel or what Iran or any other sovereign nation does. Biden is not encouraging Israel to take military action against Iran. He is saying that is not the US path and he believes Israel's path is the same as that of the US. However, just like the settlements issue it is the Israeli's who need to make the decision to cooperate with us. It would not be called cooperation if it was based on coercion. I am fairly certain the US will view Israeli military action against Iran with about the same level of support it has expressed toward Iranian leadership regarding its post election violence. This isn't the way to fix the problems, but only add to them. Today, we seek a higher level of understanding and cooperation today that doesn't depend on the old paradigms but new paradigms that recognizes that everything that adds to the hate, fear and anger of others increases instead of decreases these conflicts. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The conduct was inappropriate and it is hard to deny what happened when it is caught on videotape, one soldier holding and another shooting a blindfolded and bound prisoner. This is what happens when people feel empowered to hate, fear and distrust others -- they lose their respect for the rights and dignity of others. The job of the courts is to try to maintain fairness and justice in society for everyone, not for just some individuals. It isn't an isolated incident like this that is the problem. No society can control what others in it might do. It is individuals who excuse it or think it is alright and thus encourage by their words and acceptance of such acts their future occurrence. It is not necessary to mistreat people who violate the laws or rules of society. It doesn't matter if the people are in Israel of the US, that dictum holds true. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Hatred begets hatred. Fear begets fear. Anger begets anger. Escalate the hatred, fear and anger and you will reap what you have sown. George Bush did and the US ended up fighting two wars while simultaneously increasing the recruitment of more enemy combatants who killed more US soldiers and civilians. Those encouraging and making these types decisions don't pay for them. Rather, it is those who must deal directly with the consequences of these actions who do. It is easy to hate. Fear is the human response when people don’t understand those they fear. Good and bad are not fixed states but rather reflections of our behavior and actions. If you embrace bad actions you encourage them in others. If you embrace good behavior, the chances are far better you will encourage peace. What people hate is when they are allotted no dignity or respect by others. Thus far I see many who remain in denial about their own behavior and actions and wish to blame all problems and difficulties on the actions and behaviors of others including the IRC. It is your choice and your path. If your goal is to encourage destruction, death and war blame no one but yourself for embracing the approach you take and the fuel you keep adding to the fires to feed that outcome. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The attitude of Lieberman is irrational and it discourages people from embracing the path leading to peace. The expansion of settlements in question is restricted to settlements that are illegal and outside the territorial boundaries of Israel. Attempting to say "people need room to grow" ignores the fact you can't occupy your neighbors land and then tell them, "I'm growing so I need more of your property." The Ayatollah and Ahmadinejad would love nothing more than to blame the West for their internal problems in order to create a more united Iranian population against the Western infidels. To the extent we can prevent them from being successful at this, we weaken them. Embrace cooperation, facilitate understanding, encourage hope and we erode the support of those who preach fear, embrace anger and encourage hate as a mechanism for consolidating their grip on power in ALL countries in the Middle East. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Based on what is written here, these more radical Jewish settlers are embracing war and hate. It doesn't matter what they use as justification for that position their actions will produce more of the same. Their behavior also creates conflict with those who don't support hate and war. There can only be one set of rules for everyone, not separate rules for one Jewish group and a different set for another Jewish group. If there is to be peace, the rules must be clear, concise and unambiguous. Israel has one option to deal with this. It must remove these illegal settlements and the settlers who refuse to abide by the rules of Israeli society. There can be no misunderstanding or ambiguity about how Israel desires the Jewish people to respect the rights and dignity of its neighbors. Every society has radical individuals like this who embrace their own ideas of right and wrong above the rules and laws of the society in which they live. They create conflict, they cause suffering and they hurt others because they care more about what THEY want than what OTHERS value or believe. All people should have a right to express their views and beliefs, but hate, aggression and war are a last resort to dealing with unresolved conflicts, not what is embraced because you don’t get what you want. Trust is a critical component to peace. That trust is heavily dependent on how you deal with the members of your own family who violate your laws and values when the party being hurt is your neighbor and not a direct family member. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 If one fights history, you always lose. What happened in the past is over, done, finished and no one can undo it. It is the here and now and the future that we must consider for these are the only things that we can truly influence. Aggravating grievances, increasing fear or hate by embracing what WAS instead of what IS won’t solve the problems associated with this land and its ownership. Someone can prove their legal entitlement to every inch of land in question. Law requires one pay for land you wish to occupy, not just take it claiming a biblical right. Jews can live where ever they want, but just please respect the rights and dignity of others to do the same. Don't assume that what happened over the last 3,000 years is irrelevant to the situation today. That might seem a convenient way to avoid today’s reality, but it isn't a practical way to deal with it. Take a lesson from history -- avoiding reality and ignoring the real issues and problems that create tensions, hatred, misunderstanding and fear never makes those issues and problems go away, it only makes them worse. All humans have free choice so each must decide if you wish to contribute to the problems or to their solutions. Solutions lead to peace, contributing to problems leads to war, death and destruction. Choose your path wisely for which ever path you follow you have only yourself to hold responsible for what you encounter in the future and either enjoy or endure as a result. That is just my opinion as an outsider. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Thank you, thank you, thank you. The more who support an inquiry into torture, its use and justification by the prior administration, the better. Obama is completely wrong on this point. We cannot prevent a repeat of the past by ignoring the reasons for why such abuses took place. What is the point of fixing failures in business if you ignore the failures in Government? Yes there are others who do abuse people. It is true that people are not treated with dignity and respect by everyone. However, one should always set their own standards and not let others set our standards us. We should not be seeking the lowest standards for human society, but attempting to establish a higher standard for it. Does God say, "Here are my standards, but chuck them out the window if they don't work for you?" Why then should we allow our leadership to do that with our laws? Is it because they are inconvenient for them? They are too restrictive? Isn't that the whole point of standards and laws? The belief that torture worked and thus is okay is nothing more than silly logic. The atomic bomb works but that doesn't justify its use to deal with our foreign problems. Anyone who embraces such nonsense would have no compunction about doing "whatever it takes" and the next time that attitude will involve far more damage, far more serious complications to the US and the world than it did this time. This time is we barely escaped a world depression and one unnecessary war. Next time, if a US leader feels little or no constraints on what he or she can do a world-wide depression will be the least of our worries. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The UN was formed primarily to deal with international issues and disputes, not to address internal issues within countries. The UN Charter purposes are defined in terms of international issues, not national ones. Iran appears to be a nation on the verge of self-implosion and I see nothing to revel in as this happens, only lessons to learn. The Iranian ruling elite seem more interested in suppressing its opposition with brutality now than listening and addressing the issues raised by Iranian protesters. The very fact the Iranian leadership continues to blame the West is indicative of their inability to look inward to find the answers. This implies they will continue to treat the problem as external agitation requiring violent suppression instead of an internal one requiring dialog and understanding. I hope Israel watches this conflict closely. Watch as the leaders of Iran feed the fires of hate and anger with their violence and make the problems in Iran worse and not better. In their actions, Israel will find its own destiny whenever you follow that path for it’s the same for all who do. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Egypt is talking with Hamas. Mitchell is talking with many in the Middle East. The US has tried to engage Iran and the message is the same: Peace comes with respect for others and dignity for the rights of others. It does not come by encouraging the hate, anger and fear expressed on this blog. Just because you do not see the US speaking this way to others doesn't mean the US expects everything falls on the shoulders of Israel. We are well aware that it takes all sides to make peace and only one side to destroy it. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This extreme language and these accusations about Obama are not going to help anything. If every time someone says or does something you don't like you accuse them of some extremist position it reflects more on your attitude and beliefs than those of Obama. If you will read all the speeches by Obama he has embraced a foreign policy best described as "cooperative development". This is best described as a policy in which you embrace the goal of working with others to facilitate change. You listen, you find common ground and understanding and you resolve your differences by working together. If those of you on this board feel cooperative development is fascist, socialist, communist you are welcome to your opinions. I my view it is the only foreign policy approach that makes sense if your goal is not world domination but world cooperation. I find those who prefer not to cooperate are typically those who feel they deserve more for themselves and cooperation is not the way to get what they want. That attitude leads to conflict and if that is what you seek you will definitely find it by following that trajectory. Excuse me if the Obama doesn't decide to embrace your choice of trajectories but we've already been down that road and we've had quite enough of it. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 I can't imagine any peace if people refuse to respect the rights and dignity of others regardless of who they are. Encouraging fear, embracing hate, promoting misunderstanding and advancing distrust is designed solely to discourage hope or promise of peace. Netanyahu's speech was encouraging, but not outstanding. It reflected a distrust (demilitarized Palestine), a posturing (no discussion of a freeze on settlements) and a pandering (no preconditions to talks) that hinder the broader opportunity for peace. The chance to embrace a peace built on a basic respect for the dignity and rights of others was not even touched or considered by him. A chance for all people to walk and travel freely, be treated equally and interact and engage with one another on equal footing needs to be the goal. No walls, no military check points, no fear and no anger needs to the objective. Just people without labels, without biases, without preconceived views working together and in peace should be the desired outcome. If you cannot see that possibility you can never help it happen. It doesn't really matter if there are two states, or one state occupying another. If people do not see their life differently or improved significantly, nothing will really change. If nothing is really changed, it is in that "no change" wherein all the problems, tensions, anger and hate will continue to reside like a cancer. It won't matter who signed or agreed to what. People hate other people who hate them or who refuse to treat them with dignity or respect. That is just my observation. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 What saddens me if people who think hating, fearing and preparing to respond with violence will somehow address this issue! Hate begets hate. Fear begets fear. Anger begets anger. I have yet to see how feeding a problem solves it. I know some of you aren't really interested in solving it, but are just more interested in shooting it dead it when it rears its ugly head. Unfortunately, that only convinces all who watch they have something to be afraid you -- you. I have never been against responsible gun ownership. If responsible people want to have guns, that is fine with me. I just don't want to get shot by some wacko who shouldn't be allowed around them, let alone allowed to own them. The problem is the NRA has shown more concern about easy access to guns than it has about ensuring responsible gun ownership. The NRA has treated every effort at any regulation as an affront to every gun owner who has a gun. The reason you can purchase a gun without a question asked or about any background check at gun shows is DIRECTLY due to NRA influence on gun purchasing and ownership rules and regulations. Does someone want to please explain to me why the US would even bother having background checks of gun owners by registered gun dealers if ANY person can easily go to a gun show and get whatever he/she wants without a background check? Explain to me how this prevents responsible gun owners from obtaining a weapon? Now explain to me how this doesn't create a loophole so big that irresponsible wacko can drive a semi-truck loaded with weapons through it? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Fear is the enemy. This is what feeds extremism. This is what encourages hate, anger and misunderstanding. It is what feeds the divisions and creates the separations that produce the damage and destruction throughout the world. One can't conquer fear by feeding it. You conquer fear by helping people to understand it. People are not afraid of what they understand. People fear what they don't understand and they respond to that fear not with courage but with cowardice that produces more damage to society than good. The shooting at the Holocaust museum was a tragedy, carried out by a sick man filled with anger and fear. There are many such people roaming the world, encouraged to embrace their fear and act on it. The enemy is those who encourage that fear and/or embrace it either knowingly or unknowingly. It is fear that allows people to ultimately accept a lack of respect for the rights and dignity of others as normal, acceptable and desirable when nothing can be further from reality. Fear prevents people from recognizing reality because it blinds them to the truth and to any understanding of it. This article does not help us move forward, but instead pushes us back by encouraging more of the same. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This probably says more about the lax gun laws in the US than anything else. Any nut case can go to a gun show and buy a gun from an individual gun owner without a background check. You can purchase a small arsenal at a gun show if you like with enough money, no questions asked. This is ridiculous and merely puts the public at risk from every left and right wing nut case in the country. The shooting is a tragedy, but until people stand up and say, enough is enough this will be a tragedy repeated and repeated in this country for years to come. Each year the US loses about 30,000 people to guns. By far and away, the US has one of the largest per capita deaths by guns amongst developed countries in the Western World. Remember, guns don't kill people kill people. To which our response should be: People WITH guns kill people. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The Obama campaign was built on hope, but not fear and not in the belief some are more equal than others. Hitler was a hate and fear monger who used the Jews as a scapegoat to explain the problems of the Germans. The concept of national unity in the US has a very different meaning from the German concept of unity in the 1930's. In fact the present desire for greater unity is pretty much the antithesis of Hitler's view of unity which was unity under German control. Obama is not suggesting world domination by the US but rather world cooperation with the US attempting to facilitate that cooperative effort. I found the Bush foreign policy of "shoot first, ask questions later"; "do as we say, then we'll talk" and the "torture policy" more reflective of instilling fear, hate and anger in the world than the foreign policy of Obama. However, that is just me. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 "All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest." I could not agree more with this line, but the ones who disregard all else are those who refuse to listen to both sides, not those who entreat us to listen and understand both perspectives. The pain, suffering, agony and distress are produced by misunderstanding, distrust, hate, anger and fear. When anyone suggests you respond to what "they think will happen" and not what “they know will happen” they are encouraging that fear. When they tell you they know what exists in the minds of others (like young Muslims) and what they value and embrace to justify their fears ask them for proof, not a description of what these Muslims have seen on TV. I watched the Vietnam War the whole time I grew up. It didn’t make we want to join the army and kill people, just the opposite. There is a reason to be cautious in dealing with the problems in the Middle East. There are many questions about the intentions of others and what they MIGHT do. Do not confuse the need for caution with the need to embrace FEAR. FEAR is for cowards who are afraid of their own shadows. They run not from what they actually KNOW but from what they THINK they know or worry MIGHT happen. They encourage others to do the same for if everyone is afraid, no one is THINKING, they are just RESPONDING to their FEAR. Does this mean I trust Hamas? No. Does this mean I trust Iran? No. Does this mean I can be certain of the outcomes of this peace effort? No. It means I embrace efforts to listen and communicate and by so doing replace ignorance with understanding and fear with hope. It means I believe there are two paths in the Middle East. The current path embraces the present direction that has led to death and destruction, pain and suffering fed by the fears and hate on each side. The other path is the one now suggested by Obama that embraces hope, peace, promise and trust as its cornerstones and encourages understanding, cooperation with the potential for a better life as the result of following it. If we focus on what divides we lose all hope of changing direction and embracing this new path. If we focus on our shared values, hopes and aspirations and use them to build that future, the chance for peace grows and the chance to end the misunderstanding, distrust and hate ends. If all we can embrace are past differences those who win are the fear mongers who support divisions, separations, destruction and annihilation of one side before the other. The paths are clear, it is only the choice that needs to be made about which path to follow. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Why do some Jewish people continue to imply Obama is telling Israeli's they can't have kids and they can't have families because there is no growth? No, there is a demand for a freeze on settlements, period. This has nothing to do with Israeli growth within its own borders on its own land. It has everything to do with growth in occupied territories and the taking of Palestinian lands. Some may like to complain the US is telling Israel what to do. Perhaps, but Israel is the one that must decide if it wants to work with the US and others to resolve the problems and conflicts or if it merely wants to continue doing what it has been doing for the last 60 years -- expanding, growing and taking land occupied and owned by others. It is Israel's choice. The US simply is not going to approve or support Israeli actions that damage the peace effort. If Israel doesn't care, okay. You are an independent country so you can do what you want. The US is not threatening Israel, it is just telling it the US can't support the path it is taking because it destabilizes, increase the anger, hate and distrust of others. The present path of Israel is predicated on the selfish belief that nothing matters except what Israel wants. Let's be clear about the intention and then it becomes clearer why the conflict exists and the support is reduced. You can support building barriers or you can support building bridges. One is designed to stifle solutions the other designed to facilitate them. Israel can choose for itself what it wants and based on its actions the US will decide what is in its best interests. Blind allegiance is not really a smart foreign policy plan regardless of what some Israeli’s might think. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Thomas Braun provides a pretty misleading description of the history of Israel. If one goes back to the original UN 181 resolution that established Israel and the Palestinian Arab lands, the Palestinians were granted far more land than they do today (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_UN_Partition_Plan). The plan was to make Jerusalem an International zone controlled by the UN. The Camp David Peace accords established the Gaza and West Bank as autonomous regions (not belonging to Israel). To suggest that Israel was given carte blanche control over the entire occupied areas by the UN is misleading and inaccurate. Regardless, Israel came into existence and today there are some 3.8 million Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The Jewish population has increased since May 14, 1947 from under 0.5 million to its current 7.4 million people. Some Jews and Palestinians have a long history of living in this area. They have owned land here for generations and lived in relative peace. Suggesting someone has a right by use of force to take the land that belongs to someone else and build on it because they have the power to do that doesn’t make it right. The US is asking the Israeli government to stop the building. Freeze the expansions so a permanent peaceful solution can be worked out between Israel and the Palestinian people. The continued influx of Jewish people into the region, taking over and expanding the borders of Israel until is squeezes everyone else in the region out is not a path to peace. If Jews and Palestinians could live together before Israel was ever formed peacefully, they can live together today side by side in peace. The reason they aren't is not because they can't, it is because many people streaming into Israel have taken the radical viewpoint -- it's mine. I'm Jewish I can take whatever I need. It doesn't matter who is here, who has been here or what they want or think. They don’t matter, only I do because I have the power and I will use it to take what I want for myself. These people are then backed by a Jewish state that has used its military might and given its tacit approval for them to do exactly that. If you removed the Israeli government from the equation the people themselves were allowed to resolve their differences, buy and sell land to define ownership, work together to ensure peace, respecting each other’s views, rights and property the problems all disappear. The problem comes from people who feel empowered to ignore the views, rights and property of those who are not Jewish. It is this problem that must be fixed if the Jewish people truly want peace. No one can make you respect others, but we don't have to support you if you that is your intention. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 I believe Obama understands the situation perfectly. The Israeli government cannot continue to tacitly approve the occupation and developing of land that belongs to Palestinians, period. If the Israeli's want to build settlements in Israel proper, the US has no problem with their doing that. When the expansion they wish to make requires expanding in occupied territory, on what have been illegal settlements that the US protested for years but Israel built anyway, the US must remind Israel to stop and that we told them not to do this for the last several decades. I would hope the Israeli people understand the issue. It has nothing to do with the right of Israel to build and expand housing for Israeli people on Israeli land. However, Israel can't take land, build settlements in the occupied territory and then say, we have a right to expand these already established illegal settlements so there is more housing for our people. If Israel wants to expand housing they need do it on your own land, not in occupied territories. The only thing that will do is add to the tension, hate and anger in the region. This is a property rights issue. I fear many Israeli's still fail to understand the trajectory they are following is not facilitating their security but destroying it. What is the outcome expected from these actions? Does anyone honestly believe such behavior will encourage peace, understanding, trust and cooperation between the Israeli's and Palestinians? If not then why does the Israeli government insist on pursuing this trajectory? The answer to that question underlies the fundamental problem with the pursuit of peace in the Middle East -- people just don’t seem to care anymore what others think or feel but only what “they want”. Until that dynamic is changed no peace will ever be possible. Until people understand life isn’t just about them, but seeing and understanding the perspective of others the trajectory in the Middle East will remain fixed and directed toward its ultimate disastrous conclusion. That is a path the US cannot afford to endorse with Israel forging ahead. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Howard: I think arguing about land acquired over 150 years ago is a little silly. Europeans conquered and took control, period. It happened in North, Central and South America between 1500-1800 A.D. , 200-500 years ago. Today we view the treatment of the Native Americans as pretty brutal and inhumane by today's standards. However, we aren't going to solve those issues nor will anyone by living in the past. Native Americans have the full rights of any US citizen. The US has tried to resolve its disputes with Native Americans peacefully and equitably. Most legal cases have actually been favorable to Native Americans. Israel has a right to exist. No one is arguing that point. The peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan have now led to a general recognition of Israel's sovereignty by the most of the Arab world. The major problem now resides with how Israel deals with its neighbor the Palestinian Arabs. Mistreating your neighbor isn't going to make them your friend or facilitate peace in the region. Taking their land isn't going to improve that relationship. Encouraging anger, hate or fear is going to create more and not fewer terrorists. The US is has always been stuck in the middle of this because of our support for Israel. Israeli's view our efforts as compromising their security. We are always pressuring them toward peace, while the others in the world view the US as facilitating the abuses by Israel. There are few Americans who relish this precarious position in the middle for the US -- we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. Having grown up watching Israel, it has become much less tolerate and much more militant in its attitude toward its neighbors. That has not been a good direction to head and I say that as a friend. The more you do to encourage hate, anger and fear the more you do harm to yourself. Israel must indeed solve its problems and issues with the Palestinians and if we think about that there are only a few paths by which this can happen. The preferred path is that you work with the PA and live in peace. You rebuild the lost trust, confidence and hope that you can work together and find common ground. You slowly dismantle the barriers that reflect the physical manifestations of the distrust, hate and anger as you build greater cooperation. This is the path Obama wishes to encourage. The second path is the one you are on currently. You continue to suppress, take land, abuse and facilitate more hate. The more you try to protect yourself from the fire you feed, the more that fire will threaten to consume you. We know where this pathway leads, it produces more terrorists, more bombings and more snipers because when people have nothing to lose they have no reason not to fight, kill and die. The third path is what more radical elements in Israel already want to do --wipe out or displace all Palestinians, take everything and have more Jewish settlers immigrate into the new territory. This will meet with major worldwide condemnation and ostracism. It will likely lead to sanctions against Israel by the entire world. Your neighbors will be more not less suspicious of your intentions and your neighbors will likely view any peace with Israel null and void. Israel will have solved one problem only to create a new and bigger one. The Jewish community has plenty of people who are very intelligent. However, fear prevents rational thinking. Fear dominates over logic. I see many in the Jewish community embracing this fear and let it control them. Palestinians are out to kill them. Iran wants to destroy them. Hamas has vowed death to Israel. The Arab world supports the extremist efforts to destroy Jews. Hyperbole replaces hope. Fear replaces reason. What MIGHT happen replaces what WILL happen. The irrational replaces the rational. Now is the time for thinking about which path to follow instead of being guided down a specific path and accepting it as the only one. The US is happy to support Israel taking the path of peace. Obama would likely provide additional developmental resources to help that process along and encourage it. I can't see him doing the same for the other two paths. It is Israel's choice, totally your choice. I have never suggested otherwise. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 You need to watch what happens with North Korea. It will be a prelude to how the US deals with the Iranian situation. Historically, the US has not favored direct confrontation and rapid escalation of tensions. We have typically favored a graded response. You up the ante as necessary when countries refuse to work with you, you do not go in and bomb them because you THINK they might do something. Some of you are way too reactionary and have no clue as to how high level diplomacy works. Thus far, I haven't heard of any missiles raining down on Israel from the West Bank, so what makes anyone feel that will be the outcome of a negotiated peace deal with the PA? That is just an attempt to induce fear and justification for irrational behavior. Obama has already indicated he would rather not see a divided Jerusalem. I think most of the US public would rather people be free to move freely without the walls and numerous barriers they now endure. It has not always been this way. The real stresses and tension started growing after Arafat failed to sign a peace deal with Israel in 2000. If people would let go of their fear and focus on rebuilding trust between one another instead of being so hell bent on destroying everything at each turn new hope might yet be realized. Doom and gloom scenarios have a habit of becoming self-fulfilling prophesies. You choose your own path don't blame anyone else for the road you take. No one can predict the future because it is always subject to change. This much I can assure you. The USA is not going to war with Iran, Russia or China. Obama is interested in working with them to help address the conflicts in the world. Continued conflicts are not in the best interest of anyone. Finding common ground is in everyone’s interest. Opposing that goal are people who merely want to encourage fear, tension and hate. Those who wish to encourage greater conflict are out of touch with the changes already taking place in Washington. Read some of Obama's speeches. They are neither naive nor detached from reality. That merely talk about a different approach to how he intends to solve problems -- listening and working with others – cooperatively building bridges instead of barriers, unions instead of divisions and hope instead of hate. The end of the self-interest driven, control at all costs, threaten and brow beat your adversary is over. The US will be more successful by focusing on common interests, common objectives, common goals that unite and solve problems instead of the policies that increase hate, anger, fear and divisions that divide and lead to war and death. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This disagreement is very simple. No one is telling Israel what it HAS to do. Every nation is capable of making its own decisions. North Korea is doing that right now and its closest ally China will deliver its own message to Kim Jung II, I am sure of that. Obama hasn’t told Netanyahu what he HAS to do. Obama has merely informed him if Israel wants US support, Israel needs to stop the settlements. There is a strong reason for this US position I tried to explain, but it is an Israeli decision whether Israel wants to listen and cooperate with the US and understand our position and reasons or not. The US position is simple, it is based our respect of private property and our belief that when you don’t respect the rights of others you are not encouraging cooperation and peace but rather hate, anger and fear. Other than some fringe element, most in the US are not going to accept a position that God gave the land to Israel 3000 years ago so it still belongs to the Jews. Possession is 9/10th of the law. Can any Jewish settlers trace their family history and land ownership back 2,000 years? I don’t personally care if Israel cooperates with the US or not. You are welcome to do whatever you want as an independent country. The US isn't going to take Israel on or invade Israel because it isn't cooperating with the US peace efforts or doing what we think it should. Rather, the US will simply take that $3 billion/yr in aid to Israel to pay off our national debt or redirect those resources toward nations more interested in working and cooperating to find solutions to conflicts. The US will stop supporting Israel in the UN Security Council when it feels the actions and behaviors of Israel do not warrant its support and/or hurt peace efforts. Israel can go its own way without further US help, I don’t think any US citizens would have a problem with that at all. Just don’t assume the US should blindly support Israel both with foreign aid and diplomatic help while Israel simultaneously does virtually whatever it wants regardless of how it impacts the peace efforts in the Middle East. If Israel decides to go find its own solution to the problem, please do. Just don’t expect to receive any US help when your solution creates additional problems and concerns in the region. There is a path to peace and a path to more conflict. You choose the path you wish to take. Most responsible nations believe the settlements are a deal breaker with regard to the peace efforts. It is true that Europeans did take over America after the Native Americans already controlled it. Native Americans did not have any legal system for defining property rights, but certainly their presence was a justification for their legal claims to the land. Most of the Europeans came in and divided North America up into areas they controlled. The US actually purchased a large portion of that land from France in 1803. Florida was purchased from Spain in 1819. The US also purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867. The only land that is part of the Continental US that was taken by war is the southern part which we took from Mexico in the Mexican-American war in the late 1840’s. I know of no one who would argue that >150 years ago power and force were not the basis for making decisions about who controlled or owned what. In spite of that, the US didn't take most of the land we occupy now we purchased the vast majority of our present land mass from Europeans. If your argument is that the policy of might makes right is still in effect today, I think most major nations in the world would disagree with that notion. The leading powers in the world may be unable to enforce the land rights of nations, but most would not agree that a country has the right to conquer its neighbors and take their land. This was the basis for US action in the first gulf war after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Since WWII, the US has practiced an official policy of returning land taken from other nations and leaving nations when asked to leave by their elected officials. The US has returned both Yokohama and Okinawa back to the Japanese that we took in WWII. We removed our navy from the Philippians when that was requested of us by that government. We have offered Puerto Rico independence on more than one occasion. Israel needs to decide now which is worse, going it alone in the world, or trying to work with others like the US. The fear mongering and the constant efforts to proclaim Armageddon should this or that happen needs to stop. There is only one reason to encourage fear and that is to discourage open thinking and discussion of issues. Obama is not trying to ruin the security of Israel. He is trying to help Israel be more secure by finding a cooperative peaceful solution to the conflict. Israeli’s can be part of the solution or they can be part of the problem. Each nation makes its own choice. I am confident the US will provide a detailed picture of how the choices Israel makes will affect the choices the US exercises as well. We are talking cooperation, not control. Work with us or work against us that is Israel’s choice. Just don't think you can do whatever you wish and expect the US with a population more than 40 times that of Israel will simply say okay, whatever you want to do is fine by us we will support you. This is the Obama administration, not the Bush administration. 150 years ago power and force were not the basis for making decisions about who controlled or owned what. In spite of that, the US didn't take most of the land we occupy now we purchased the vast majority of our present land mass from Europeans. If your argument is that the policy of might makes right is still in effect today, I think most major nations in the world would disagree with that notion. The leading powers in the world may be unable to enforce the land rights of nations, but most would not agree that a country has the right to conquer its neighbors and take their land. This was the basis for US action in the first gulf war after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Since WWII, the US has practiced an official policy of returning land taken from other nations and leaving nations when asked to leave by their elected officials. The US has returned both Yokohama and Okinawa back to the Japanese that we took in WWII. We removed our navy from the Philippians when that was requested of us by that government. We have offered Puerto Rico independence on more than one occasion. Israel needs to decide now which is worse, going it alone in the world, or trying to work with others like the US. The fear mongering and the constant efforts to proclaim Armageddon should this or that happen needs to stop. There is only one reason to encourage fear and that is to discourage open thinking and discussion of issues. Obama is not trying to ruin the security of Israel. He is trying to help Israel be more secure by finding a cooperative peaceful solution to the conflict. Israeli’s can be part of the solution or they can be part of the problem. Each nation makes its own choice. I am confident the US will provide a detailed picture of how the choices Israel makes will affect the choices the US exercises as well. We are talking cooperation, not control. Work with us or work against us that is Israel’s choice. Just don't think you can do whatever you wish and expect the US with a population more than 40 times that of Israel will simply say okay, whatever you want to do is fine by us we will support you. This is the Obama administration, not the Bush administration.]]> 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 In the US, Americans respect private property. Allowing Jewish settlements to infringe on the property rights of Palestinians remains an anathema to most Americans and a violation of our Judeo-Christian values and laws. It violates two the Ten Commandments directly – thou shall not steal; and thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s house or anything that is thy neighbor’s. No American would tolerate such behavior by someone else toward their own land or accept the excuse "it's mine now" or "I have to have land so I’m taking yours." Americans call people who do that, squatters. In the old Wild West days the land owner would give the squatters so many minutes to get off their land and if they weren’t gone they would start shooting/killing anyone who remained on their property. Even when there was plenty of land, people did not have a right to just come in and settle on land owned by someone else. If they did the property owner had a legal right to defend his property. It seems many Israeli's still fail to appreciate just how strongly Americans feel about private property rights issues and how adamantly we feel about unwarranted Jewish settlements on Palestinian land. Yet, the settlements continue and some in Israel continue to feel they have a right to take whatever land they want. So long as that attitude remains and the Israeli government gives its tacit approval to this behavior the relations between Israel and the US will grow more and more strained. There is absolutely no negotiation on this point. Settlements are an act of expropriation of land already owned by someone else. If Israeli's want the land they need to purchase it from its present owners, not simply take it over. If the Palestinians don’t want to sell the land, Israeli’s can’t simply ignore the rights of Palestinians and steal their land from them. If they continue to do so they will find themselves without any US support. Perhaps the Israeli community needs a reminder of how Hitler regarded German expansion prior to WWII. It was called “Lebensraum” or living room. Germany needed to expand and thus had a right to take over neighboring countries. The Western world has not forgotten either the justification or the consequences of this aggressive behavior by Germany. The Germans had a sense of entitlement to take what they wanted not because it had a legal right to do this, but because it had the power to do it. The Western world has not forgotten the outcome of that behavior. As we now turn our attention to Israel we see this behavior being repeated on a smaller scale, but repeated none-the-less and with a similar justification and outcome. These settlements do nothing but increase the tension, hate and anger of Palestinians. Americans can empathize with the Palestinians on this issue because our laws have been based for over 200 years on Judeo-Christian beliefs of respecting private property rights. These settlements reflect a behavior that most Americans find completely unacceptable. They reflect acts that by design signify “I don’t care what you want, it’s all about what I want and I’m going to take what I want because I can.” That attitude will never be accepted by the vast majority of the US public. It will always be seen precisely for what it is – an act of aggression and exploitation. The Obama administration has passed that message on to Netanyahu and made it clear this issue is one that is not negotiable. Settlements either stop or US support for Israel will be significantly curtailed. The US is not going to support a rouge nation. The US can't if it intends to work with others and support greater cooperativity among all nations.. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Joel, there are clearly concerns and reasons for people to be cautious. Potential threats do exist. I'm not in denial about the existence of problems nor do I think Iran has acted as a model citizen. In fact, I believe just the opposite. This is why Obama is concerned and why we should be cautious. Do not confusion caution with FEAR of Iran. I am not afraid of Iran. I certainly don't lose sleep at night worrying about Iran attacking countries in the Middle East or trying to conquer the world. They couldn't even defeat Iraq which has <1/2 its population. I doubt they would take on Israel or the US which are far better equipped militarily than Iraq was in the 1980’s. Is it possible for Iran to build nuclear weapons? Sure it is. If Iran can be persuaded to not head in that direction, that would be best for the entire region. Iran has also stirred up trouble in the area through its support for radical groups. Therefore, efforts to get Iran to act more responsibly and not encourage greater problems in the area would be welcome. We should not become so gripped by FEAR over our concerns about Iran that our FEAR drives our decision making process. Iran is not the only nation in the world that has stirred up trouble or developed a nuclear capability. That is not a reason to bomb them or add to the conflicts already existing in the region. We are wiser to engage Iran and get the Iranian leadership to recognize how certain actions they carry out are received and how they are harmful to stability in the Middle East and ultimately harmful to Iran's own stability. Iran is well aware of how they can diminish the stress and strain in the region they have just decided not to do it. We need to get rid of the hyperbole, discuss our differences, find out common ground exists and how we can resolve some of these issues. The more we beat the drums of war, encourage people to assume the worst and do nothing to lessen the strains and tensions these actions produce, the more likely we will reap what we sow. It is time to sit down and act like adults, find out how to best stop irritating one another and learn to live together. There are always potential threats. If we can diffuse the tension and ease the strains we can reduce the potential threats and keep them from becoming real threats. It requires a little give and take, a willingness to bend some and to listen. If we do that we will likely change the course of events so they do not lead to war or conflict. Most people are reasonable if you are willing to be reasonable. This is the dynamic Obama is attempting to develop right now. I believe Obama is concerned that Iran may develop nuclear weapons and he probably does consider a nuclear armed Iran a direct THREAT to peace in the region. No doubt he has already conveyed that to the Iranians and he would like to prevent this concern from ever being realized. Obama is no appeaser. He will act decisively if he must, but he will attempt to reach out to Iran so action is not necessary. Obama has two goals. The first is to try and reduce the tensions that have existed between Iran and the US since the late 1970's. His second is to make absolute certain the Iranians understand his position and concerns so they know precisely how their future actions will affect his future response. This isn't really about threatening the Iranians. It is more an explanation of why the US views certain actions by Iran as aggressive overtures that require a US response. If Iran chooses to ignore these US concerns they do so at their peril for the US cannot afford to make empty promises. One way to avoid conflict is by talking to your enemies. The other is to make it crystal clear how specific actions by them will result in specific responses by you and why. This is how we eliminate fear. We clarify to our adversaries that we wish to work with them, but if they do not wish to work with us at least do not create problems or difficulties that add to the problems and require us to respond to your actions. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama said exactly what I figured he would say. Israel is not helping matters by contributing to the hate and anger in the region. The essence of allowing humanitarian goods into Gaza is Obama's desire to decrease tensions, not facilitate anger and hate. It is the same reason Obama does not support Israel taking any unilateral action against Iran. Peace is made in small steps that first build trust and cooperation that can gradually result in agreements, treaties and eventual stability. I expect Obama to place as much pressure as possible on the Palestinian leadership as he does on Israel to try and make this happen. Progress between Israel and the Palestinians will help to encourage greater cooperation with Iran. Promise and hope are great antidotes to fear and hate. When people lose hope and promise there isn't much to encourage peace or to facilitate stability. Fear and hate encourage death, destruction and war. Isn’t it long past time to change that balance and mindset in the Middle East? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 I think the Jewish community needs to read three speeches by Obama. His Berlin Speech in July 2007 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/24/obama-in-berlin-video-of_n_114771.html), his Philadelphia speech in 2008 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/18/obama-race-speech-read-th_n_92077.html) and his recent speech at Notre Dame this last Sunday (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090517/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_notre_dame). Obama is not interested in conflicts, but rather elevating the level of dialog in order to resolve conflicts. He is not interested in feeding the fears of Israel or anyone else, but rather getting them to calm down and act more rationally. He understands the divisiveness of issues and their sometimes intractable nature. However, he does NOT SUPPORT the dialog of fear, hate and anger as the means or approach to dealing with these issues. He is about building bridges and not more walls. Obama wants to discuss issues openly and transparently without the hyperbole and fear that polarizes people and prevents real progress on issues. People who want to keep the status quo and encourage fear, hate, anger and mistrust in the Middle East are going to HATE Obama. He is going to be the nemesis of those individuals who care more about their feelings and concerns than anyone else’s. Those who are truly interested in Peace will find him a breath of fresh air. We will see after today where Netanyahu stands. I suspect this fundamental discussion will be the basis of their meeting today. It will be a meeting of the minds on the general principles for how Obama would like to move the Peace process forward. I would agree that even Obama can do nothing if the people he must work with do not want real progress or want progress only on “their terms”. This is what he must determine first. The next step depends on what he discovers following these initial key discussions. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 First, there is a HUGE difference between CAUTION and FEAR. Second, Ahmedanijad does not call the shots in Iran. He is a mouth piece. Third, threatening to blow up or blowing up your neighbors yard makes your neighbor more certain he needs to build weapons to destroy you as a threat, not less likely to build weapons. You blame your neighbor for all the problems but you don't see yourselves as adding to them. Your fear makes you blind. Too many Jews let irrational fear dictate their actions and thoughts. Even Obama can't help a country so gripped by fear. You are becoming your own worst enemy. Yes, you do have to take risks for peace. You do have to take chances. You do have to develop trust and maintain hope. The alternative? You further isolate yourselves until you find you have no friends left in the world and everyone is your enemy. Read some of these comments. Even Obama is no longer a friend to some because he doesn't do what they want. Israel is militarily the 5th or 6th strongest nation on Earth. Not good enough. Israel has over 100 nuclear weapons and is only one of 9 nations with such weapons. Not good enough. Israel receives over $2 billion/yr from the US for military aid. Not good enough. Obama wants to facilitate peace in the Middle East. Not good enough. At some point in time you will learn what the US learned. Power entails more responsibility, not more freedom to do as you choose. It does not provide you with more rights to tell others what "they need to do" but more obligations to figure out what "you need to do" within a community of nations. Israeli support in the US is deteriorating. Even now less than 50% of the US population supports Israel and its actions toward its neighbors. Continue on your present path and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what is going to happen next. Without sufficient US support Israel will have lost its last friend in the world. Then you will have everyone to blame for your problems. See how easy it becomes. See how easy it is to get sucked into your logic of who is the problem? 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Iran has no incentive to build nuclear bombs if they are not being threatened. The more you threaten the more you are likely to encourage exactly what you don't want. Fear begets fear and hate begets hate. The paranoid response of Israel to the Iranian potential for building a weapon is typical. Everyone who isn't your friend is your enemy. The logic of Israel is irrational. If Iran has a nuclear bomb they will use it to destroy Israel. There is no other consideration that goes into using a nuclear weapon other than having it? Why then is Israel not using its nuclear weapons? Welcome to the world of fear. This is what fear does. Fear interferes with all efforts to deal with the world in a rational way. It makes you a captive to your own imagination, unable to separate the real from the imagined. It makes you unable to distinguish the logical and rational from the illogical and irrational. Emotions are great, but only if you can control them. Let them run amuck and they can cause one to draw conclusions that are totally unwarranted. Conclusions no rational mind would embrace, but the irrational, fearful mind will accept without question. Welcome to Satan's world. Here you will find fear, despair and hate are the tools of choice and responses and reactions the methods by which he exerts his control. Can’t you feel the noose tighten yet as you embrace it around your own necks? Don’t you sense it each time you see the wall that surrounds you? Isn’t it palpable yet in the anxiety you sense at each roadblock you pass or feel in the voice of Netanyahu as he clamors about the Iranian threat? We define our own destinies. Let it be known by all, Israel makes its own choice to follow its current path aided in its efforts by no one and discouraged by many. It heeds no sound advice from the rest of the world, oblivious to its own consequences. What do we know anyway? We don’t live in your world filled with fear and threats. Exactly! 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 "Towering over us, as we gather here this afternoon, is a stark reminder of the stalemate that relations between Israelis and Palestinians seem to have reached - the wall," the pope said. Actually, the wall is more than just a stark reminder of the stalemate. The wall is the physical embodiment of the "hate and distrust" that exists. No peace is truly possible until the basic issues related to that hate and distrust are addressed first. I don't know why people believe hate and anger, fear and distrust will do anything other than produce more of the same. Maybe no one cares anymore if they do. Besides, isn't it the other guys fault anyway? Didn't they start it? Aren't they responsible for the problems? See how easy it is to embrace “no progress”. Why listen to anyone who thinks otherwise -- what do they know? We know the noose is slowly tightening, hate is slowly killing and all chance for hope is slowly dying. It is your choice, your decision and your future. Blame whoever you wish, criticize whoever you want. I have never found blame and criticism to be substitutes for progress, but rather excuses for why none is made. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Let's look at the whole list of problems in the world. Myanmar, Tibet, Somolia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestinian and Israeli conflict, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iran and North Korea. There are simmering problems in Bolivia and Georgia. Everyone wants Obama to do everything. What would you have him do, send in US troops? The US is over extended right now. Threaten the Sudan government with sanctions? We tried that and the Sudan leader responded by slaughtering the people in Darfur. There are limits to what one nation can do or one person can do. Obama must build on each success so the US can extend itself in ways that help address a multitude of additional problems in the world. That takes time and patience. The US had the opportunity to do more 20 years ago when the USSR collapsed. We could have worked to help stamp out the problems in the world, put an end to corrupt leadership, and the human suffering it produces. We didn't and now people want to hold Obama's feet to the fire because he isn't fixing the last 20 years of neglect in his first months in office? Let's get real and keep some perspective here. Obama is human, he isn't a God. He can't snap his fingers and make all the problems in the world disappear. Be grateful he is addressing some of the worst problems we face and hope with time he will take on some of the additional problems. People should have been protesting the lack of action by the US government for the last 20 years, not waiting until now to start complaining. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This is exactly what the Jewish community doesn't need --fear mongering! Be afraid, be scared and support clandestine operations to put an end to this fear. Do you know what the problem is? Next year or the year after there will be something else to be afraid of that will require action. Next time you will also need to "take action" to end your fear. It won't stop there as there will always be something else, always something on the horizon, always another threat. Until what? Until you have wiped all people who don't like you, all people who think differently than you off the map? Mr. Raffel fails to mention that Israel has at least 100 nuclear warheads of its own. Why shouldn't that bother Israeli neighbors? Why shouldn't that make them fearful, because Israel hasn't used them? Do Israel's neighbors trust it? Who decides they should have less fear about Israel than Israel has about them? Fear is not something you can engage in and not expect it will be reciprocated by others. Concern is one thing but encouraging people to worry about the worst case scenario as a basis for a call to action is not concern, it is fear mongering. Instead of Mr. Raffel worrying and complaining about Iran and its nuclear intentions, perhaps he should spend more time thinking about ways to relieve the tensions that produce the problems. Instead of feeding the fires of fear, hate and anger perhaps his time would be better spent focused on encouraging efforts that reduce and control those fears. He should spend time and effort contemplating how to improve cooperation, understanding and communication that alleviate fears instead of encouraging it. This type of fear mongering is what made the Bush era so contemptible. The only thing that matters is what "we think" not what "anyone else thinks". Our concerns are the only concerns of relevance. Our myopic view of the world is the only one that counts and we have no need to consider or understand the views or perspective of any others. Sorry, but if you are going to live in a multicultural world that is a requirement for your survival. Those who can't will either be marginalized or eliminated by those who can understand and who work well with others. This world has enough problems to address without individuals like Mr. Raffel piling on his own insecurity to the mix. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 It seems to me the conference shows just how far we still must go as a world before there is real hope of change. The world remains divided into groups declaring "I'm right, you're wrong" and who see life only from a single perspective "their own". No peace is possible if we can't move beyond this myopic viewpoint and propose rational ways of dealing with our differences. How does one bring people with differing views together? It certainly is not by eliminating all views that oppose our own. The solution must reside in understanding each others’ fears, the source of them and the means to resolve those fears in some equitable fashion. Hate, anger and fear are human traits. They are adaptable to any enemy they are not restricted to a single one. These emotions demand an enemy to justify their presence, and their mere existence helps to magnify the threat. If our fear, hate and anger are the source of our conflict, then our failure to control these emotions means they will just find another enemy to justify their existence and a reason to repeat this cycle. Is Israel better off today living next to an enemy or a friend? How would mutual cooperation between Israel and its neighbors affect its economy? How would it impact the quality of life for Israeli’s, their future and the promise for tomorrow? Is anyone’s quality of life improved by fear and hate? Why do we encourage more of the same, instead of policies and behaviors that diminish the source of this conflict? One need not abandon of one’s principles or values to achieve peace. Peace will come when our eyes are opened and our perspective of the world is no longer limited by a myopic view. Unless at least one party can see all perspectives, everyone is blind. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Iran's President is a screwball. He didn't encourage dialog, he cut it off. That isn't helping to resolve issues but encouraging greater divisions. Angry rhetoric to his speech is not going to solve anything either. Israel has the ability and means to blow up Iran probably several times over and I doubt sincerely Iran will ever have the ability to stop Israel from doing that should Israel ever be so provoked. Iran and its crazy President are not Israel’s biggest problem, just one of its more vocal critics. Israel's bigger problem is all the other countries that applauded the Iranian President. Israel's problem is the divide the Iranian President encourages and facilitates by his rhetoric, the justification he readily provides for their hatred of Israel. Until Israel can calm the jitters of others, until it can allay their fears that Israel is not a threat to them, the Iranian President will have their ear, support and encouragement. Israel can’t reduce that fear and hate by encouraging more of the same. You reduce fear and hate by working to reduce the distrust, anger and misunderstanding that encourages others to fear your motives and actions and feeds their hate. Einstein was right insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. That goes for Israel as well – you cannot approach peace by thinking you can impose your will on others with whom you disagree. Peace is achieved by "working with others with whom you disagree so that you identify that common ground upon which you can build trust and a solid relationship". If Israel truly wants to isolate the Iranian president, take away his base of support it will work with those who currently support him. Reduce their fear, their anger and their concerns about Israel and its intentions. You can’t prevent the Ahmadinejad’s of the world from making a public fool of themselves but you can reduce the chorus that cheers him on when he does it. I wish the Israeli people would move in that direction. Israel is one of the most powerful nations on earth, but power doesn’t guarantee peace, building strong relationships with others is what provides that guarantee. Most people are reasonable once you know them. Sometimes they have strange or misguided views of the world, but that is all the more reason to engage with them, so they see and understand your perspective rather than just their own. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 The last comment: "In other words, Obama should not forget his friends and allies as he tries to APPEASE his foes" makes a ridiculous assumption. The definition of appeasement is to trade a position or an advantage in exchange for peace. Obama isn't TRADING anything. He is making overtures to Iran. He is attempting to engage them in dialog. That is not APPEASEMENT. That is what we refer to as common sense. The fact so many embrace the GW Bush doctrine of "do what I tell you then we can talk" as the appropriate approach, shows just how far we have yet to travel before we can make any real progress in this world. I get so sick of reading this word which people use liberally to discourage efforts at dialog, instead of encouraging reason and hope in the world. This is why each year things get a little worse and a little worse instead of a little better. Obama has it exactly right and you have it exactly backwards. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This is enough babble. Stop it. The problem is one of perspective and whether you can recognize views different from your own, or only filter all views through your limited perspective of the world. If you are not for us you are against us. The Jewish community too readily adopts the language of GW Bush to define all actions and behaviors of others. Perhaps the criticism of Israel is justified. Instead of taking this as an insult, take it as a time for contemplation of one’s attitudes and views. No one is suggesting anyone be mistreated. Not Jews, not Arabs, not Palestinians, not even terrorists. The vast majority of the world wants a better world, with less hate, less violence, less war, less destruction, less anger and less death. Those actions and behaviors that magnify the risks for anger, hate, fear, death, war and destruction most of the world hates. It doesn't matter if these are the result of the actions of Nazi's, Americans, Jews or Chinese. It does not sit well with the rest of the world and it is time to take stock of that fact and consider how to change it. The Palestinians started it. The Israeli's started it. The Arabs started it. I really don't care who started it. I don't care how long it has gone on, I'm tired and sick of watching it. I'm sick and tired of seeing innocent people caught in the middle killed, maimed and bearing the scars of these problems for the rest of their lives. I'm sorry if you can't seem to grasp that. Moreover, I do blame the most powerful for not using the greatest restraint or seeking reasonable solutions to prevent conflict. Taking the approach, "we can't deal with them" is not acceptable. Labeling everyone you dislike a terrorist to justify their deaths is not acceptable. Working to find common ground, finding ways to work together, ways to solve problems, ways to remove not create barriers is the path to success. Everything Jews do that adds to the hate, anger, fear and distrust in the Middle East adds to the problems. Putting on filters so you only see a limited perspective of the problem or a part of the equation doesn't help solve it. This is an interconnected world today. What happens in Israel or Gaza, Iraq or Pakistan, India or Tibet is seen throughout the world. People see the suffering, pain, fear and death and we want it to end whomever is responsible, whomever has the power to stop it. When people think only their perspective matters, only their feelings matter, only their suffering is important they will quickly discover that isn't how the rest of the world feels. Classifying these views as anti-Semitic blinds you to the true reality. It has nothing to do with religion, personal beliefs or political leanings. It has everything to do with wanting the hate, anger, fear, death and killing to stop. I and most people in this world believe Israel has it within its power to work with Palestinians, improve understanding, cooperate, communicate and resolve differences if they really wanted to do that. Instead they point to the most extreme Palestinians and say “see, no we can’t, they want us dead and we have no choice but to kill them first”. Your response becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. You hate them, they hate you more. You hate them more and their hate for you grows even greater. You build a wall around them, control their movements outside that wall because of your fear of them and guess what, their hate increases. Small wonder there isn’t any progress, who is making the effort to bring it about? At some point in time someone on some side must say, enough is enough. Stop it and quit blaming the other guy. That isn't going to end this. I don’t want to see more dead babies. I don’t want to witness more body parts strewn about the ground. I don’t want to see more missing limbs, more hate, more fear, more anger. in peoples faces I want you to start figuring out a way to stop it, to end it and to find a solution that prevents this needless slaughter. Don’t tell me you can’t. Don’t attribute it to anti-Semitism. Don’t make excuses for doing nothing. Don’t blame me because I don’t support it, agree with it and approve of it. I don’t, never have and never will. Until the Jewish community can understand this, until they look beyond themselves and seek answers the world waits to hear nothing will change and my support for Israel will remain tenuous at best. Not supporting Israel doesn't mean I support the activities of the other side. I support neither side. I want both sides to make an effort to stop this hate and end it forever. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 I don't know if these specific stories are true or not, but I do know from having lived through many wars this is what they do to people, even good people, even people who would not do such things otherwise. War teaches you to hate, to kill, to think of your enemy as less than human. It makes it easier that way to kill them, to not hesitate when they pose a possible threat. Those who think these types of things are rare or don't happen or couldn't simply don't understand war. Declare war against another population or assume civilians are your enemy and this is precisely the type of outcome you can expect. Fear, hate, anger, distrust are both the elements of war and the elements of evil. If you want to eliminate them you work to resolve the differences that lead to war, the differences that lead to the problems and resolve them. If you want to naively assume you can practice war, you can engage in war and somehow avoid the evil inherent in it the only one you are fooling is yourself. Delude yourself if you wish, but the price of ignorance is high. It doesn't matter who you are or think you are, no one escapes paying that cost, no one. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 As the tension and killing goes on in the Middle East, this reflects a very good way to appreciate the effect that hatred and death has on the whole region. Sully realized the enormous impact of his deeds when he started to meet the other family members affected. It wasn't just 155 lives saved by his actions; it was hundreds and hundreds of lives affected by them. The killing, hate and destruction this produces in the Middle East must stop. There is an equal ripple effect associated with killing people that is exactly the opposite of the Sully effect. Every life saved, every violent act averted has a "positive" effect on everyone. Every life lost and every life ignored by either side because of their anger just ripples through the entire population producing more hate and anger and little else. It is time for more moderate voices on both sides to rise up and say, "enough is enough." 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Obama has already made it clear he is not the one to decide on whether there will be peace in the Middle East. What Obama administration will most likely do is apply equal pressure on both sides of the equation to encourage the appearance of more moderate voices. Israeli's will hopefully realize that embracing extreme positions with regard to occupied territories and bombing in response to Palestinian anger is not making Israel or Jews safer. It is putting everyone in greater danger and encouraging greater violence. The more Israel feeds this hate and anger in the region by its actions and behaviors, the more they destroy moderate voices within the Palestinian community and help to encourage and establish more radical voices . The more Israel feeds this hate and anger in the Middle East, the more they feed similar hate and anger in other parts of the world as well towards Israel and the Jewish people. Take a cue from G.W. Bush, if you want the world to hate you, just carry out actions that lead to more tension, hate and anger. Today, the implications of hate are not regional, but worldwide. It may seem like it is an appropriate regional response, but whenever we contribute to more tension and hate, we ultimately hurt ourselves. Fight fire with water, not fire. Many of the security problems Israel faces can be reduced by working with those who embrace common interests. Limit the relevance of the more extreme elements instead of strengthening their voice and influence by feeding their rhetoric. You will be far more successful in the end and people throughout the world will appreciate Israel far more if it takes a more moderate, reasoned approach to its neighbors. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 This is totally unacceptable behavior. I hope those responsible are found, fined and jailed. This type of behavior only leads to more hate and anger. We certainly don't need people like this running around in the United States of America. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 You are absolutely right on both counts. Obama wants to facilitate peace in the region by having the US serve again as an honest broker for peace. George Mitchell will treat both sides with an even hand, working to build on the common interests of both as he attempts to resolve their differences. This is the first serious movement toward peace in the region that has been made in nearly a decade. We can only hope Israeli's and Palestinians will seize this opportunity and embrace it for a failure this time will leave the region with nothing but more suffering for many years to come. Best wishes for a successful peace outcome from all Americans. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00 Israel doesn't need other nations to harm her. Israel does a great job of harming itself. Israel only thinks it is protecting itself by throwing up a 20 foot cement wall around its Gaza neighbor and controlling everything going into and out of Gaza. Occupying Gaza will not improve Israel's safety but just make the situation worse. Ignorance of the role Israel plays in facilitating the hatred with its neighbor only makes it more certain Israel will ultimately suffer more from these mistakes. Twenty years ago there was hope. Twenty years ago Israeli's saw the potential for solutions, the possibility of resolving differences and working with Palestinians. Today, Israel sees an enemy who is evil. Who can compromise, talk with or deal with anyone who is evil? What people fail to see is that evil is not a state, or a permanent condition. Evil reflects our actions and behaviors that produce the hate, fear, anger, misunderstanding and divisions between us. Every person, group and nation is capable of evil when they contribute to these outcomes, even Israel and the US. Israel abandoned its willingness to work with the Palestinians in Gaza when Hamas took over. That response only added to the hate. The wall added further anger and division. The restriction of supplies and travel into and out of Gaza added more frustration and hate and misunderstanding. I know why Israel did these things, but I wonder if Israeli's understand how these actions contribute instead of diminish the divisions and increased the fear and hate toward Israel instead of lessening these problems with their neighbor. I know of no cases where feeding the hate and anger between two groups ever led to anything but war and killing. The common refrain when someone raises these issues is "Hamas refuses to accept Israel's right to exist". So you are going to get them to accept this right by mistreating and killing them? Peace comes when people learn to work together by focusing on their common interests instead of their differences. Actions which remind people of their differences instead of their common interests produce war, more killing and suffering. I think Israeli's are intelligent enough to decide if this is the only way or even the right way to live. Many Americans are beginning to see this conflict as one perpetuated instead of being seriously addressed by Israel. I hope we are wrong and Israel will start to work with its neighbors again instead of claiming to be their perpetual victim. 2012-02-09T;22:54:00-05:00