I thought it unlike you. Leftwing thinks there are two sides to this struggle, with Derbig on the wrong one, for a Jew. This is easy to comprehend. What is not so easy is why Israel exists at all, with so many against it. Perhaps it's simply, Inshallah.

Does he know something we (me, us and Glenn) don't?

True, the Jews haven't taken the commandment, "Be Fruitful and Multiply" as literally as our Gazan brothers, however, Jews are NOT "on the edge of extinction". There are still many Jews who have Jewish children, even though you might not know any.

I see! You're an old time Marxist! That explains it. (look up nudnick in your Yiddish Dictionary).

I must tell you, you have it wrong. A schnorrer is one who pretends poverty for sympathy in beggary. i.e. "The Palestinians are 'schnorrers' on the European community". (sorry, omooex, in having to use your people to hit mine)

Mr Mooser, the Seattle Bruiser.

From what I remember (Omooex, help me here!) that was the basis of the first intifada (the second being violent). This led to Oslo, which, even if it didn't succeed, suceeded better than what followed.

And it seems (as of 5:00 EST) that it was Livni, not Netanyahu who won. Now this doesn't mean she is automatically the head of the government, nor has real power, nor would Barghouti consider it a difference - but it IS something, especially considering Mr Greenwald's assumptions.

The American Indian WAS slaughtered. Not so much by fire and bullet (though there was that, too), but by disease. While the germ theory was not understood, the whites DID know how you get (and give) smallpox, and how it affected the native population. There were 50 million native americans when the european arrived, there are about one million now.

As for how the Palestinians are treated, they are treated as someone who is hated is treated. There is no genocide, demographically speaking, but the Israelis make life very difficult, short of murder. The Palestinians, in turn, do what they can to make life difficult for the Israelis, and always have. They hate each other. At least that's how it appeared to me when I was there. You might have had a different experience, and hence a different opinion.

I don't really know what "reductive" means, maybe reducing it too much. That certainly would be the case. I let my own experience color my impression. And that experience was not very good. If by hospitality you mean treating someone to food, yes, that certainly existed (and the food was really exceptionally tasty too). I was kind of shocked by the pecking order and how the boys did what they pleased (I leave what to your imagination) and then lied to their father. The worst thing was that I was poisoned by my best friend. That kind of left a lasting impression. ok, I'm going to have to give some details, and I am loathe to do so, but here it is. He worked as a nurse in Ramallah so he could get "stuff". Just before I left I was treated to good-bye feasts by all the Palestinians I knew. In his case, he acted suspiciously. He wanted me to eat alone. That's not what I was used to and I insisted he eat with me. That was before the suicide bombings and I assumed it would prove all the food was good. I will never forget the expression on his face as he took the first bite. We ate in silence. The food tasted good, but as soon as I got home, I got the worst diarrhea in my life. I passed intestinal worms. Yuch! You can imagine what he mixed in with the food! And WHY did he do this? The only thing I could come up with was that I, a Jew, helped him with money. It insulted his view of The Rightness of Things. Whatever. If my best friend could harbor such hateful thoughts and fool me so easily, I knew I could never trust an Arab again - not and be safe. But all is ok, I have no power and the ones who do (i'm sure) know how to protect themselves better than I did.

In the Gaza withdrawal, the building that the settlers didn't destroy out of spite, the Palestinians did. These are not friendly people.

My impression of you is that you are a sincere person. That's why I told you of my experiences in the West Bank.Obviously I cannot prove it. I'm sorry you don't believe me. It's not that one person of an ethnic group did something bad to me - it's that I didn't/couldn't see it coming! I would have if he were Jewish or American, at least that's what I think. I think Arabs are just too slick for me.

It wasn't the disease. As you said, I could have gotten it anywhere. It was the look of disgust that he couldn't disguise, that, when remembered, clued me in. I knew it was pointless to tell you of this but I wanted omooex, who I felt was sincere, to understand me. You probably already do. or not. Who knows what anyone really thinks anyway?

I was in the West Bank to see for myself the condition of the Palestinians. Why? to see if anything could be done? again why? I am Jewish and interested in Israel, not drugs. The "stuff" was obviously stool samples from his patients. Did you want me to say that in my letter?

He just wanted to humiliate me. omooex knows. All this is the truth, Mooser. And yes, I am excitable and take this seriously. I don't want this interminable hatred. And I don't see it coming just from the Jews. And not just in reaction either. Biblically, we have the same father, different mother. No deed. Big Problem.

It is always humiliating to tell the truth to those who know it all already.