It is interesting to read the letters which say: the Nazi Party was to Germans in 1939 as Hamas is to Palestinians in 2006. One of the reasons that Nazis came to power was that the Germans were in despair. Remember them being shamed by the winners of WWI, remember the depression? In a democracy (Hitler was elected) people vote for whoever seems to have the answers and one cannot blame an entire population for all the things that the elected leader is responsible for. (Any American who voted for Bush but is against the Iraq war can surely understand this.)

Anyone viewing images from Palestine can see that here are a people in despair. Why shouldn't they vote for whoever seems to have the answers?

I agree with the letter writer who said:

Therefore, the problem is not, "How do we get Hamas to renounce violence and accept the right of Israel to exist?" it is "How can we get the same or better quality services to the Palestinian people without terrorist strings attached?" Of course, this would have been an easier question to ask had we not let them get this strong of a foothold in the first place.

Ms. Cobban presents Hamas’ genocidal ambitions as if they were incidental to more pressing concerns such as tidy schoolrooms, ingenious puppet shows, and modern dental appliances. Indeed, her vapid descriptions of infrastructure are typical of anyone who wants to emphasize the upsides of organized hate. You could almost imagine her travelling through time, railing against our one dimensional conceptions of hate groups: Yes the National Socialist party has “controversial political goals,” but look at how they’ve organized the Aryan youth!

The puppet shows, the classrooms, and the “empowered women” (who look like human tents, incidentally), are all in the pursuit of a larger objective: ethnic cleansing. Impressionable readers may consider Ms. Cobban’s report an eye-opening expose on the human side of terror, but those familiar with the receiving end of Hamas’ agenda, namely Israeli civilians, do not have the luxury of ignoring their dead for a Hamas sponsored puppet show.

....I wanted to congratulate Ms. Cobban on an excellent, informative piece.

So Ms. Cobban spent 20 days reporting in the occupied territories. What is fascinating to me is how many Salon commentators seem have spent far more time with the Palestinians, observing the workings of their new government - even some who, on the surface, seem to hold rabidly anti-Arab views, to the point of outright racism. I mean, this can surely be the only reason for the number of comments that completely ignore the reported article and confidently launch into their own strident assessments of what Hamas is actually doing.

I have a viewpoint on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which, briefly summarized, is this: That an end to violence between Palestinians and Israelis is necessary and desirable. And that the primary responsibility for this lies with the occupying power (and those powers who support her) rather than the idea that the occupied people should somehow be expected to prove themselves worthy of being released from their oppression. I believe logic and history are on my side in this, even if morality is open for debate.

However, I sincerely hope that this viewpoint does not prevent me from learning things from people who appear to know more about certain events than I. Unlike so many other Salon readers, I have never spent time in a Hamas-taught elementary school, so I thank Ms. Cobban for her insights. Especially considering the major newspapers in the US don't see fit to have reporters based in the occupied territories, and rely on Israeli party-line for much of their coverage, I would have thought that everyone, pro- and anti-Palestinian, could incorporate some of Ms. Cobban's findings, in some small way, into their opinions on the conflict.

Better that than just copying and pasting the same tired invectives in the comments section.

This is absolutely appalling:

http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=100254

The article describes how Samir Quntar bashed a little baby's brains out

after blowing her father's brains out all over the beach. This wonderful humanitarian has been given honorary citizenship in the PA today for being a national hero. He is also serving a 562 year sentence for murdering defenseless babies, fathers, and sons.

I've been accused of being a hater of Palestinians. I don't hate Arabs.

Nothing I have every written on Salon's webpages says or intimates that.

There are multitudes of people out there who want my friends, colleagues, and fellow Jews to die horribly because they're Jewish. Not because they've committed any horrible crime. Not because they've performed any disgraceful act or defamed anyone. They want us to die because we're Jewish and they brainwash children and women into doing their dirty work.

Two years ago, Hamas used a retarded 7-year old boy in an attempt to deliver a bomb through a checkpoint. Those are the people with whom I find no humanity and for whom I hope there is everlasting damnation.

70% of the Palestinian public think that terrorism is a legitimate tool, and a vast majority voted for a party that "will stand up to Israel" better than its terrorist predecessor by killing as many Jews as time and money permits. It's their credo. It's their stated goal, both in English and Arabic. In how many ways can they say clearly and directly what they want to do?

Some have said on this blog that we should turn the other cheek and view these people in human terms. Why? After 9-11, I don't understand the mentality that says we must coddle those who want us to die. We're dealing with sociopaths who have used brainwashing techniques to turn an entire generation of children into holy warriors.

Sorry, sometime evil is just plain evil and no turn-the-other cheek perspective is going to paint a rosier picture.

You have to admire Sheikh Yassin's political savvy. He has recongnized the value in using Palestinian women to carry and support his political message. However, it is still up for debate whether "empowering" women to carry the message of Hamas to the younger generation of Palestinians will lead them to a better life in the future. Also, you have to wonder how really "empowered" they are. What if one of them decides that teaching kids the virtues of blowing themselves up in an Israeli kindergarden should not be part of a school curriculum (which, btw, it is, along with other more conventional subjects), how "empowered" would she feel to go and suggest that to her superiors without fearing death?