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by Robrob on 12/27/2008 10:23:18 PM EST

to some degree your post is the most accurate yet on the current situation.  in my opinion there is at least a possible solution to all the issues at hand except one and that is Jerusalem.  each side wants control of Jerusalem and as best I can tell both sides are willing to shed an immense amount of blood over this one issue.

by sfinneganus on 12/28/2008 12:00:00 AM EST

by callisto on 12/28/2008 07:51:41 AM EST

Note: Trickpatez, I can see that what you wrote comes from a good place in your heart, nonetheless there are a few things I don't agree with.

for those who only want the funny, but quick solution, please move along to the end.

>How long will the Palestinian and Israels continue to >fight?

as long as the majority of the people aka the silent majority doesn't take a hard stance against their, mostly religious, extremes

>neither side will give up there land so the otherside can >have a place to call home

euh, Palenstinians had to give up all their land so Israël could be founded :-)
At this point Israël needs to give up the land that they took from the Palestinians when they redrew their borders while building the wall AND take down the settlements, unles they would agree that the Palestinians can do the same thing and start little colonies within Israël's borders :-)
However, Palestinians need to give up the dream that they will get their old homes and land back, I think construction aid for Palestinian homes from Israël would be a fair compensation.

>Should the rest of the world get involved in this conflict >and how

I think YES, but the rest of the world is already involved: US gives huge arms aid to Israël;
Europe Union is the biggest funder of the Palestinian state;
Arab countries don't give real aid to the Palestinians, because solving the problem, would make them loose their best propaganda instrument against Israël and the US and would focus the Arab on the streets thoughts away from the conflict to regime change and problems at home.
IMO I think the rest of the world needs to get more involved, I'm especially looking at the US (stop listening to Jewish extremists and work with the moderates), EU (more aid to Palestine and use their influence with them) and Turkey.
Why Turkey you would ask: because Turkey these last few years has been acting like a type of Sarkozy, going around trying to fix conflicts, be a middle man, get people talking again.
Turkey can talk to Israël, Arab States, Russia, Georgia, Iran. E.g. they have had good results with talks between Syria and Israel.

>Are should we let them fight until one side surrends?

then you'd better prepare for a total annihilation of one of the peoples, down to the last Israëli or Palestinian baby.
I don't think it would go that far, before that, it'll stop because the majority of the people have had enough of war and fighting. Think of Western-Europe, the last time there was such a long peace, was over a1500 years ago, under the Roman Empire, what is now France and Germany had been at war for basically 1000 years, one war even spanning a century, these wars culminated in World War II, after which people said ENOUGH, we've had it, we're tired of this bloodshed. Even Northern-Ireland seems to have had enough.

>Couldn't we find a new piece of land, and give this war >a rest, it doesn't seem worth the bloodshed for a >dessert.

we could find the land, but the problem is the religious beliefs of some people

>I know the whole religious asspect of it all, but would >our God really stand for this?

actually yes, especially if you are a Jew, the old Testament is one long list of god telling them and aiding the Israëlites in conquering the land of Canaan, their Promised Land, and slaying the people who lived there at the time. God makes no effort at all to make peace with the natives.
It's one of the great ironies of history that when you read the Old Testament and it talks about the Choosen People the one thing it reminds you of is: white supremacy and their idea of the Übermensch.

> We where all place on the same planet for a reason, >this is what is lost to most and until we realise this >there will never be peace in the middle east

no, we weren't, there's no divine meaning behind any of it.
I would even claim the opposite: as long as (enough) people don't realize that there is no grand divine scheme for the Middle East, that there aren't divine claims for one people to the land, the fighting won't stop. As long as people think it's their land because god ordained it, the fighting will continue. This also includes the goodhearted "moderates", like yourself, as long as they keep believing there's a divine reason behind it and god will give the solution, they indirectly help the small group of radicals who will actually take up arms to defend their beliefs.
In this way moderates by believing there's a higher reason provide the legitimacy of the cause fought by the extremists. Moderates don't provide the legitimacy of the extremist's tactics, but of the cause itself, which then ends up into a simple disagreement of tactics between radicals and moderates.

> I just think this war will never end

I think it will, maybe not in my life time, but it will, common sense will win in the end, that's just a biological imperative :-) After having tried all the bad choices, made all the mistakes, we evolve into making the right solution :-)

OR we could always get all the people out of Jerusalem, level it with a nuclear blast and dump toxic and radioactive waste on it, that way no one can go near it, unless they want to die in a matter of days. Call it man's version of the Ark of the Covenant :-) 

by callisto on 12/28/2008 11:12:34 AM EST