Thank you board!

[Goatnapper'96]

I already answered.

Pretty simple: The West doesn't feel bad for Palestine. Terrorism has made most of the world secretly desire that the Middle East be gone.

Yes, I know I have no way of proving this and that it is a bold statement, but I honestly think that it is true.

Terrorism has been the single biggest hindrance of the past 50 or so years in the advancement of the Middle East.

I agree. The Western countries don't love Israel because of the Crown Heights lobby, Israel is viewed as the lesser of two evils.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I know this is very cynical, but I have suggested before, and still believe, that this stalemate with a continual, slow blood letting is as good as it gets in this region. I say this because there aren't any historical examples that I know of where a dispute like this gets solved in a non military way. Think of all the times that peace keeping and non violent compromises have been attempted here and else where and failed.

I have been thinking about this a little more. I don't think you meant it this way, but it sounds as if you saying that there is a possibility for a military solution to the conflict. I don't think that is the case. First of all, Israel won the war 40 years ago. Ever since that time it has simply been an occupation. You have F-16's, tanks, and night-vision goggles against rocks and molotov cocktails for the most part.

There will never be a "military solution" to the conflict. The Palestinians have nothing left to lose but their lives. They have lost the best part of their land, their water, their infrastructure, their best farmland, and their dignity. Nobody will take them in because there are too many of them and it would signal an acceptance of essentially an ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

The only way this could possibly end would be for Israel to accept a two-state solution and end the occupation of the West Bank. And that won't happen until there is more external pressure to do so, particularly from the US. And that doesn't seem likely.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I agree. The Western countries don't love Israel because of the Crown Heights lobby, Israel is viewed as the lesser of two evils.

The Western countries don't love Israel nearly as much as the US loves Israel.

We love Israel because God promised the holy land to the Jews. Turns out that God promised it to the Muslims too. But of course our God is better then their God.

[RobinFinderson]

...The Palestinians have nothing left to lose but their lives. They have lost the best part of their land, their water, their infrastructure, their best farmland, and their dignity. Nobody will take them in because there are too many of them and it would signal an acceptance of essentially an ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

Well said.

The only way this could possibly end would be for Israel to accept a two-state solution and end the occupation of the West Bank. And that won't happen until there is more external pressure to do so, particularly from the US. And that doesn't seem likely.

I still think the best solution would be a single secular state with a strong constitution that protects religious rights. The ancient city would become a separate 'state' policed and managed by an international consortium of Jews, Muslims and Christians under the aegis of the UN.

ME crisis solved by Robin Finderson. The time is 9:11AM, Jan 9, 2009.