I think that the Israelis should start negotiating with the Palestinians for peace and the return of land to the Palestinians just as soon as the Palestinians not only stop their terrorism,not just in Israel but in other countries,but show that they mean to keep their word on stopping terrorism permamently.
This means permamently not having a little lull after getting concessions from the Israelis and then resuming their activities and blaming them on splinter groups or defectors.
It would also help to show that they meant what they said if at least some or even one Palestinian civilian expressed condemnation of the many murders of innocent people,not just jews that have been committed by Hamas,Fatah and Hezboullah over many,many years.
For the record I am English and have no axe to grind in particular, but it seems to me that neither side in this affair can continue to claim the moral high ground. The terror tactics perpretrated by the Palestinians with IEDs and homemade mortars are mirrored by the Israelis with tanks, guns and airstrikes, all with the tacit support of the US, the UK and others.
In my opinion the pre 1967 border should be respected by all sides and settlers should either repatriate to Israel or be offered joint citizenship and allowed to remain.
Israel does act like a bully in many respects, not only in Palestine, but with their continued use of assassination abroad and misuse of foreign passports. Only by all parties following international law can we achieve peace. Sadly this is unlikely to happen, so I can’t see things improving in the foreseeable future.
As someone else said previously, if the Israelis approach the negotiating table with no intention of any form of compromise then no lasting settlement will ever be achieved.
I’m generally in agreement with this attitude towards the situation. The only thing I would say differently is regarding what the kid did after he won the gang war. Instead of taking over the house, he took over what he wanted, and left the rest to waste. The other tough kid was relegated to the cupboard under the stairs, and allowed bread and water. If the loser kid got too loud or started banging around the other tough kid would break his nose and tell him to shut up.
Israel has made one major decision that I just find unconscionable. Instead of either withdrawing from or annexing, they’ve continued occupying the territories. If you won the war and the territory was ceeded in the peace deal with Jordan/Egypt/Syria, then it’s part of your country now and your borders expand. That’s how it was done through pretty much all of human history since the nation-state was developed, but the kicker here was that historically it often was accompanied by purges, pogroms, or other types of ethnic cleansing. The world would not stand for Israel cleansing the Palestinian population of the newly captured territory, and to the credit of the Israeli leadership of the time, they found it anathema(falling so closely on the heels of the Holocaust) as well. But the dedication to Israel as a majority Jewish state kept the newly expanded physical state from becoming an expanded political unit. Denied citizenship in a state and political self-determination, what options did the Palestinians have?
Since that time there have been many attempts to fix the problems, but nothing has addressed the fundamental issue. A Palestinian Authority with no real power is no authority at all.
All that having been said, China executes more criminals each year than are killed in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and oppresses more people as well(waves to the Dali Llama). The Israel/Palestine thing is just one of those sad footnotes on what is otherwise as good a time for humanity as the world has seen in decades.