It did happen to me, but, as I mentioned in the posting, it happens regularly--one of the often ignored side effects of the occupation. My father, who was born and lived in the West Bank until he was 25, is not allowed to travel freely or even live in his own home. The same thing could just as well happen to him--deported from his own country.

You're an idiot.

No. There are legitimate criticisms to make of pro-Palestinian discourse, or those that are critical of Israel. Plenty. And there are many of them that are difficult to refute. If you informed yourself and were eager to get to the bottom of a solution to the issue, then I'd gladly have a serious debate with you. But you never make any of those criticisms. Below is a sample of the kind of dull-witted juvenile comments you do make.

"I was arrested in Heathrow in 1996

I declare warcrime.

I was arrested in NYC (Hymietown) in 1980. I declare warcrime.

I was questioned by state security in Moscow in 1980. You can never be too safe."

How do you even respond to something like that, except to assume that you are either a child or a reactionary buffoon?

At the risk of sounding rude, I find your ignorance offensive. You seem to support Israel, but have no idea what its policies are for Palestine, or how, in practical matters the reality of the "state" you mentioned plays out. That would be bad enough, but the facts are easily available to anyone aware enough to know of Salon's existance, so your ignorance is a choice. For example, you said:

"for the things you mention, you need a State...there seem to be two now, the West Bank, fatah and gaza, hamas. maybe it's just my fantasy, but i imagine you from the west bank. isn't there some PA agency that can facilitate visits? that oughtn't cause any great consternation among any side. let's say there isn't - can't one be made? why not write to abbas? you could try israel as well, if you know someone. to my mind, this ought to be on the same order of american cubans visiting cuba, or giving their relatives money."

There aren't two states in Palestine, or one. If there were, I wouldn't have had to get an Israeli visa to stay in Palestine and Palestinians could come and go as they chose. They would not have to have any negotiations whatsoever with Israel about electricity, oil or trade. They would not have to pass Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank to get to other areas of the West Bank. That all seems rather simple to understand, and should inform your understanding of the "states" you hallucinated into existance. It is not on the same order as "American cubans visiting cuba". Cuba is not a territory occupied by the US, Cuba controls its own borders. An American can not enter Cuba if Cuba denies them entry, likewise a Cuban cannot be denied entry into Cuba. There is no way my father is able to legally stay longer than 3 months in Palestine--he could be Abbas' best friend. The fact that you are so comfortable with your own ignorace, even as you defend Israel should be be cause for shame. I hope you come to see it that way.

I don't disagree with the idea outright. If you've gone to all the trouble of setting up a blog or website, you should be able to have modicum of control over its destiny. That being said, its a slippery slope, and it inevitably leads to charges of bias. I wasn't aware of the moratorium on responses to Electro--I certainly think Electro is an idiot, but I've only rarely found myself needing to refute his ridiculous posts, today being one of a few. Most of the absurd posters here subsist on the eager responses of regulars eager for a fight and a chance to denigrate others. I doubt Shooter, who I have never responded too, would have stayed long without the chorus of regulars egging him on.

I am not sure that Anonymust includes me as one of the regulars who has stopped visiting the comments section here, but I certainly dropped out for a good while, though Glenn's writing remains top notch.

I'd say Israel has had a prominent role in the decline (and now near extinction) of Yiddish; just another crime the nation has perpetrated against Jews themselves (and another, narrowing the diversity of Jewish worship).

I'm reading the Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon, which if you haven't heard of or read, explores the idea of a pro-active US saving European Jews from the holocaust and patriating them as an autonomous nation in Alaska. Its brilliant.

I seriously doubt that Palestinians would waste much time on Israelis with their own (real) nation to build. In any case, its the easiest solution and the one that never seems to enter the realm of possibility.