Len,

>Israel is surely not guiltless in all of this but at least they're not sending their children off to blow themselves up.
>
>They don't have to - they've got a large military force, armed with the latest weapons & F16's & Apache helicopters. When desperate enough you will fight with what you've got & the Palestinians have got very little in the way of military or weapons.

What I don't 'get' here Len is why the Syrians, Lebanese and others forced the Palestinians out of their countries or into camps. Can you explain this? The Palestinians have indeed been abused but what often fails to be acknowledged is that their fellow Arabs have treated themn worse that Israel ever has. I'm old enough to remember that Lebanon made all the Palestinians live in camps in the southern part of their country to form a shield against Israeli military responses. They used their own for human shields. Just like the Infantada where kids are used by the adults to hide behind.

Arafat and his buddies have received literally BILLIONS in aid over the years. Where is the evidence that they've tried to put this to good use? Als, PM Barak offered to Mr. Arafat everything the Palestinians wanted except control of the Temple Mount and Arafat refused. Why? Why not take that and then start negotiating for the remaining 5%?? That's either a VERY STUPID move or a decision that reflects UTTER STUPIDITY on the part of the PLO leadership or they are utterly cynical and really don't want to help their people. I think this is the case. Look, wouldn't it have been better for them (the PLO) to have accepted Barak's offer??? If you go to borrow one million dollars and the lender responds that they will lend you 975,000 is it smart to refuse?? Tahe the 975K and go find the rest either later or somewhere else.

Also, why don't the leaders go blow themselves up rather than their own children? That is, if they're so committed to their cause... Personally I think they're cowards. What did Arafat say when the Israelis decided to respond with force? Oh yeah.. He wailed like a baby about how the Israelis were going to kill him. Some leader. The Israelis could kill him any time they want. They haven't.

I'm not trying to say that the Israelis haven't made mistakes. They have. It seems to me that all they (Israel) wants is to be left alone.

Candidly, until Jews started showing interest in the land in the early 20th century it was for the most part barren and neglected. There are many myths about the Palestinians State.