Zoot Soup

The UN also resolved that Israel needed to withdraw to the 1967 borders 44 years ago.

Not at all. But what I am saying is that they were democratically elected and there is no way around it but to engage them. One of the main reasons for their election is that they were the only ones who had enough capital to keep the lights on, the water running and food on the tables. Perhaps if Israel wasn't blockading Gazan fisherman, stopping food imports and turning Gaza into a virtual jail cell, maybe Gazans wouldn't have to turn to Hamas for daily necessities.

:lol: Here. Read this. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2011/0525/Hamas-is-not-the-Palestinian-Al-Qaeda

Heaven forbid Gazans be allowed out of their glorified jail cell.

As always, Fareed Zakaria hits the nail on the head with this piece: Where Netanyahu Fails Israel

Good speech by Bibi today. I don't agree with all of it, but this is as "ready to negotiate" as he's ever sounded. Just have to see if he can back it up.

Again, this shouldn't have surprised them. The ENTIRE WORLD told them (and have been telling them) to do this 40 years ago with UN Resolution 242.

Feel free to add me. I can't figure out how to do it for some reason. My tag is 'diplocat'

This may be true for Iran, but Egypt and Jordan have a legitimate beef as this conflict has caused hundreds of thousands of refugees to flood their borders in the last 60 years. They deal with it daily.

Palestinians? Yes. Hamas and Hizbollah? Not really.

Hundreds of years? You mean 60, right?

Oh yeah. They are far, far from blameless. They can't come up with a leader that can effectively negotiate and speak for all Palestinians. Suicide bombings don't do much for their cause, either. There is plenty of blame to go around, but Israel can rectify the situation- they just choose not to.

He is nothing more than a bully. A bully who knows what buttons to push. I'll give it to him, he's very good. He understands the dynamics of domestic politics in the US and uses them to his advantage. He has no intentions of trying to make a lasting peace with the Palestinians and the peace process will only go backward while he is in office.

A war of independence and a land grab are two different things.

That would be fine if they stopped. But they continue to take more and more land. Plus, they did give the Sinai back to Egypt, so why not give the West Bank back to the Palestinians?

It's that attitude that's going to bring Israel and Iran to war. But maybe that's what neocons want.

Absolutely not. But at what point should Israel have to give back the land they took 40 years ago?

And I assume you agree us killing them and stealing their land from them was right.

Sure, but outside the United States, Israel is viewed as the instigator. Such a concession would likely draw a lot of folks back into their corner. If Hamas and Hezbollah were to continue attacks even then, Israel would most likely have worldwide support for re-occupation. This is the only thing that has a chance of working. We've tried Israel's way for years. Their land-grabs have done nothing but upset and enraged the Muslim world and provoked attacks. It's time to try something different. And by something different, I mean abiding by UN resolutions that are over 40 years old. I'm not saying the Palestinians are blameless, but I think it's high time we try another route to peace.

No, what I'm saying is that the Palestinian issue is a rallying cry for all Arabs against Israel. If Israel gives the West Bank back completely to the Palestinians, they've cut the legs out from underneath the anti-Israel crowd.

:lol: You understand what you said there is basically describes what Israeli settlers are doing with their settlements on Palestinian land, right? The only difference is that Israel is not being given the land by Palestine, they're taking it.

Texas is part of the United States, not just occupied land that really belongs to Mexico.

It's all they've been asking for 40 years. Scenario (that will never happen, but bear with me): Israel wises up and withdraws to the 1967 borders in exchange for peace. Palestine acheives internationally recognized statehood. With this major obstacle out of the way, Iran now has no leg to stand on and cannot continue to justify arming Hizbollah in attacks on Israel. Iran's sphere of influence in the Syria/Lebanon arch withers away. Palestinian refugees in the Levant and all over the Middle East can return home, ending the refugee crisis (nearly 1/2 of Jordan is now Palestinian refugees). Sure, it might seem a little rosy, but at our current rate, the problems will only continue to get worse until Iran and Israel end up at war. That's the path we're headed down. And if we do continue down this path, the US will get sucked in and begin fighting another trillion dollar war. One of these days, a president is going to have to stand up to Israel and be firm on the settlement issue, until it happens, we inch closer to a showdown.

Mountain Ref, your posts show you don't understand the "big picture" of the region. This is the core issue of ALL middle east turmoil. You wanna solve the Iran threat? Solve the Israeli/Palestinian issue. The solution is actually pretty simple. Stop the settlements and withdraw to the 1967 borders.

A mistake to call for Israel to simply follow UN Resolutions?