[jaguar]

plool the reason they are is coz the soldiers are there - they don't care they spend every day getting stoned by her sons - no sympathy there.

The problem is now as the fighting escalates there is more sympathy in the Palestinian side for extreme groups that use the Palestinian cause as an excuse like hamas and Islamic jihad that want to blow Israel out of existence many for the reasons mbpark has listed. That’s not goanna happen - pure military power is pointless, the Israeli is one of the best armed and powerful in the world and are some of the best trained in fighting terrorism. The danger is of this being a war of attrition - continued terrorist attacks inside Israel - similar to the 1980s bomb nightmare in Britain by the IRA, countered by strong military retaliation in Palestinian controlled areas. Hopefully something will change before Arafat is deposed as such and chaos breaks out totally. I used to know a chick in Isreal who had really interesting views on this stuff but I haven’t had a chance to talk to her for ages, she’s the sister of my ex and we’re not really talking yet…

mbpark, you have a unique perspective amongst us here I think - do you think there should be a Palestinian state in the west bank and Gaza? More interestingly do you support the Israeli colonies that they continue to build there?