Casimir clearly hasn't read enough science fiction...

"Warren" only needs to go back again, only a minute BEFORE his first trip, and move his great-grandfather a few feet away. Anyway, his g-g might already have sired his grandparent.

(And, BTW, the only way to be sure you wipe yourself out? Kill your great-GRANDMOTHER! Typical male-chavinist way of looking at things!)

To those who cite the atrocities owed to "atheist" regimes: I would remind you that many of them -- Communism and Nazism in particular -- are fully developed philosophical systems that even include "scriptures" (e.g., Mao's "Little Red Book"; "Mein Kampf"). In every way except a belief in "god" they are religions.

For a much better explication of this, see Eric Hoffer's "The True Believer," written in 1948 (I think) and never bettered.

I am saddened that Salon would print such a biased, one-sided article.

Yes, the American press is one-sided, in favor of Israel. Yes, this country's policies are blindly pro-Israeli. Yes, Israel has made many mistakes in its treatment of the Palestinians.

But there was far more to partition than Tolan admits. The tragic modern history of Palestine goes back to the end of World War I, when the victorious Allies partitioned the defunct Ottoman Empire, leaving many current problems (not the least of them in the artificially constructed country we now know as Iraq, where forcing three antagonistic tribal entities to be governed together has led to the civil war we are now seeing).

The land partitioned in 1921 as Palestine was intended to be a Jewish homeland. The Arab, "Palestinian" homeland was created as Trans-Jordan. The populations had the years between 1921 and 1948 to adjust themselves. We all know what happend in 1948.

India and Pakistan had a similar -- and similarly painful -- partition a few years later. We still see some of the resentment arising from that today, but on the whole, the two countries have come to, if not peace, at least a lengthy cease-fire.

If Jordan -- and Egypt, and Lebanon and Syria -- had accepted and supported the Palestinian refugees in 1948 and after, instead of leaving them to rot in refugee "camps," much of the Palestinian resentment would have dissipated. By contrast, look at how Israel supported the Jewish refugees from Iraq and Ethiopia and Russia when they were forced out of their countries of origin.

Last year, at great pain tto themselves, the Israeli government pulled out of Gaza, leaving it to the governance of the Palestinians. Here's one story of the aftermath:

I am sure that at least some of the flowers, fruit and vegetables that cater

to European sophisticates came from the more than 3000 Gaza greenhouses.

They were all built on barren empty land by the Jews who--until a few years

ago-employed over 12,000 Palestinians there. Since the start of the last

intifada and several terror attacks by the more demented employees, the

number of Arabs working the greenhouses was drastically reduced and Thais,

Africans and Filipinos replaced them.

During the months of preparation for the Israeli withdrawal, there were many

questions on what should be done with the greenhouses. They were

state-of-art agricultural marvels with their own sophisticated temperature

and humidity control systems, they turned out millions of dollars worth of

produce yearly and they were a source of employment for thousands of people

in an area where close to 40% were unemployed.

Should these marvelous structures be destroyed? Moved? Abandoned? And then a

wonderful and heartwarming solution was found. A small group of wealthy

American Jews decided to buy the greenhouses from Israel and donate them to

the Palestinian Authority. One of the donors was former World Bank president

James Wolfensohn who put up $500,000 of his own money. All in all, $14

million was collected, the deal was done and appreciative Palestinian

spokesmen announced that the greenhouses would become the cornerstone of the

future Palestinian economy.

Happy ending for all, right? Palestinians get the greenhouses, Israelis get $14 million and the small

group of admirable Jews in America get the warm feeling of having made the

world a more tolerant and loving place where Arabs appreciate Jewish

kindness and are less eager to murder Jews, right?

Well, no, not really. Have you heard the old story about a scorpion that

asked a fox to carry him across a river? The fox refused: "You are a

scorpion and you might sting me," he said. The scorpion scoffed. "Don't be

ridiculous. Why would I sting you? We would both drown if I do," he said.

The fox thought this made sense and told him to climb on his back. Halfway

across the river the scorpion stung the fox. "Why? Why did you do this?

We'll both drown," cried the drowning fox. "I know, my friend, but this is

the Middle East," said the scorpion before dying. "It's in my nature."

Just an hour or so after the Jews left Gaza, thousands of Palestinians

swarmed into the empty settlements. The Palestinian police watched the mob

demolish the abandoned synagogues and set them on fire. They also watched

with interest as part of the crowd turned on the greenhouses - breaking

windows, taking plates of glass, wiring, computer and electronic parts and

irrigation pipes and timers. It didn't take long-after a few hours or so the

greenhouses that it had taken years to build were just so much junk.

How many of the Palestinians who democratically elected Hamas, did so because they promised -- and had provided -- better social services than the PLO? How many voted against the PLO rather than FOR Hamas? How many Palestinians would have preferred peace to the terrorism that Hamas represents? How many want a negotiated settlement with Isreal?

Tolan conveniently ignores those questions.