Five Israeli Talking Points on Gaza—Debunked

[JDPriestly]

68. Here is a list of Palestinian terrorist acts from 1989-2008.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_suicide_attacks

Be prepared. It's long.

There was a truce in 2008, but it was uneasy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_ceasefire

Palesinians do not have frree access to the world. They continue to fire off rockets when they feel angry. The Israelis feel unsafe and angry. Both sides need peace but neither side trusts the other enough to stop fighting.

They have to negotiate a slow, incremental peace. They have to agree on tiny steps they will take and set up a commission with representatives from different factions in each country to monitor compliance.

For one thing, you have to get rid of the influence of the internal political rivalries both in Palestine and Israel with regard to the execution of border protection and the military actions on both sides in order to insure a peace.

The problem is that there is no trust, and neither side sees the other as human and deserving to live in peace. The incentive of revenge needs to be dismantled on both sides.

If you have ever raised children, you are familiar with the syndrome: "He hit me." "No, he hit me first."

Palestine refused to accept the existence of Israel and tried to get rid of Israel through military means. It lost repeatedly. Its allies got tired of the violence, and here we are.

If we could put the most angry citizens on both sides in separate corners, we might be able to get peace. But how to do that?

The problem need more than just condemning one or the other side. They both need to learn to live in peace with each other, regardless of who started this round of killing.

Who started it depends on how far back you go.

Palestine bears more of the burden of stopping the violence because it has less control over those who are violent. Israel can easily order its troops back because they are well organized and have discipline. Apparently, the Palestinian authorities, it appears to me, cannot control the violent or do not try to control the violence among their people as well as the Israelis can and do. It is a matter of civil and military organization. It seems that Palestine is not nearly as well organized in terms of government, does not have the civic traditions, as Israel is and has.