Oh, but he does. How else will he get off?

I disagree strongly with Glenn when he says that Israel does not or may not intend to kill civilians. Quite obviously they are and they do. It is their intention, their goal and their ultimate result. They have boxed the Palestinians up and are picking them off wholesale with no escape. Why else use White Phosphorus in a dense urban area. Why else target schools, markets, mosques and civil buildings? To felicitously claim they are 'military targets' is Orwellian.

Go back to Israel's own statement: "The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people."

Read the US State Department definition of terrorism -- it includes anyone not engaged in real-time armed conflict. This includes even uniformed military who are unarmed or off-duty -- it certainly includes their wives and children. All of which are declared Israeli targets.

Glenn is wrong. This is premeditated genocide. Israel's final solution for Palestine.

Omooex...I certainly agree that arguing the history advances nothing. Similarly, arguing that the occupation creates hardships without acknowledging that the Palestinian side can have everything that you want simply by agreeing to a peace treaty is disingenuous. To expect unilateral withdrawal is to ignore Israel's experience in Gaza and ignores their own responsibility for the situation. That discussion too is counterproductive. Get to the table...pull out the Taba agreement---97% of the West Bank and compensating territory in the Negev for the 3%, all of Gaza, a right of way (at the time it was an elevated highway) connecting the West Bank and Gaza, dismantlement of virtually all settlements and anyone who stays is subject to Palestinian rule and law. The Palestinian state gets East Jerusalem with the exception of the Jewish Quarter and the Temple Mount, which is internationalized.

If we cannot get an agreement starting with that framework, the two parties deserve war.

And Baldie...if there is peace, there is no need for any American military aid in the amount that now is given. We should be drastically cutting back on military aid all over the globe, but it is probably our largest export here in 2009.

Palestra -- 50 years of pogroms by Arabs against Jews in Palestine? Are you kidding me? Have you heard of the Irgun or the Stern Gang? Please put down your AIPAC pamphlet and learn history. Start by reading up on Ottoman empire, Palestinian national aspirations, Theodor Herzl and Zionism, and all the crazy people who did a lot of really bad things in their endeavor to found Israel.

I agree we should discuss how best to solve the problem. But, as I point out, both parties to the dispute must have a realistic understanding of themselves. The people of Israel and their supporters need to understand that they aren't victims but the perpetrators. Having overwhelming military superiority and the backing of the world's only superpower, only the Israelis can solve this thing by doing the right thing and actually wanting peace. Stop making excuses and ridiculous pre-conditions to peace ("The Palestinians must agree not to be Palestinians" or "Palestine must be a postage-stamp piece of the most undesirable land in the region -- and any settlements already there must stay").

Anarchist Zero-- Yes, a government has the obligation to protect its citizenry. It should do that by NOT subjugating another people for 60 years in the most barbaric of ways. It should do that by NOT aspiring to conquer and forever occupy what it terms "Greater Israel" (a/k/a Palestine).

I'll just leave that comment of Scooter's hanging there.

simply because Friedman is a bloodthursty fool who loves murder, that doesn't automatically mean the war in Israe/Gaza is automatically dismissable.

Good catch. That was exactly Glenn's point.

Tell the truth... you're someone who stole the real WinSmith's login and are just commenting here to make WinSmith look like a sloppy fool. Admit it!

The Palestinians need statehood, but looking at a map makes one wonder if the situation would be vastly improved if Israel simply annexed that godforsaken shitty little strip of land into greater Israel. Why would Palestinians want to inhabit that little strip stuck between Israel, Egypt, and the sea while the larger territory in the West Bank lies miles away on the other side of Israel?

I anticipate the answer is that some Palestinians have deep roots in the Gaza Strip. Could be, but the reality of keeping that little strip as a tiny, separate part of a Palestinian state makes no sense whatsoever.

As always, your words are fun for use in a game of Mad Libs:

Reflexive nodding is the province of the top-down propaganda [of the Israel-first crowd]. Maybe you should challenge [Israeli propaganda] once in awhile. [Israel's] word is not gospel, and [Israel's] biases on this issue are as transparent as Hamas's attempts to "make peace."

"Similarly, arguing that the occupation creates hardships without acknowledging that the Palestinian side can have everything that you want simply by agreeing to a peace treaty is disingenuous. To expect unilateral withdrawal is to ignore Israel's experience in Gaza and ignores their own responsibility for the situation."

This is absurd. Again, you offer no basis your belief that Palestinians would get "everything" they want. Where does that come from? Israel's history in Gaza is that they had colonies there as late as 2005. Silly stuff, dude.

And Baldie...if there is peace, there is no need for any American military aid in the amount that now is given. We should be drastically cutting back on military aid all over the globe, but it is probably our largest export here in 2009.

Right. I agree.

So do you object to my peace plan, or not?

Now I find the book's pages invaluable as lining material for the bottom of my pet parrot's birdcage.

The parrot by the way, is a far more prescient political pundit than Mr. Friedman will probably ever be capable of being.

You just give him a cracker.

That's all.

He stares off into eternity

And makes his call...