Sharon was in charge of settlement construction. In the post-Oslo period, Israel established 30 new settlements and thus nearly doubled the settler population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip from 109,000 in 1993 to nearly 200,000 in 1999 (figures exclude new settlements in the greater Jerusalem metropolitan area).

DaMan

I agree that the last two paragraphs are most important, but for a much different reason. It shows just how much Pat doesn't understand the situation. If Israel simply wanted the total elimination of the Palestinians, they could have it. They could have it fast enough that any intervention from any foreign power with sufficient resources to stop them would be too late. The only intervention that would make a difference would be from the US anyway. The UN could not muster enough might without us to make much of a difference. They would not have any further US support in all likelihood, but they really wouldn't need it after all their enemies in the region were either gone or running scared.

They could kill everybody in the area if they really wanted to. That they have shown as much restraint as they have over the last 20 years is testament to that. We damn sure wouldn't have put up with near weekly bombings for as long as they have.

------------------------------------------------

Hmmmm! Rik refuses to state whether he thinks gays should or shouldn't be in the US military!

Off topic, you know!  Rik calls me a liar but won't answer a direct question on his opinion of gays in the military!

Rik, I started this topic and I give you permission to go off topic and address my question.

[b]Do you think gays should be allowed in the US military?[/b]

DaMan

Some notes about why the Israelis demolish Palestinian houses:
[url]http://www.nigelparry.com/diary/hebron/jul97d.html[/url]
"In the Intifada period, family houses were actually demolished if their kids were caught throwing stones."

[...]

"Did the family of Yigal Amir, the Israeli student who assasinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, see their home demolished? No. Well, it happens to Palestinians here - who have done a lot less - on a regular basis.

Recently, there have been a spate of house demolitions in the Jerusalem area, on the pretext that they were built without permits. The fact is that permits are almost never granted to Palestinians, an attempt to force them to leave Jerusalem in order that the State of Israel can point to higher numbers of Jews in the city as a basis for claims of sovereignty.

The story of Jerusalem is a sad tale of Israel's fondness for apartheid laws to remove residency rights, racist housing policies, boundary gerrymandering and a variety of other distasteful manifestations of ethnic cleansing.

In the case of house demolitions for example, Jewish home extensions are not being destroyed for the lack of a permit and indeed are often granted them retrospectively. In 1992, there were 2,019 cases of illegal construction in (Jewish) West Jerusalem and 226 in Arab (East) Jerusalem.

In 1993, there were 1,509 and 361 cases respectively. Most of the West Jerusalem cases involved floor space (usually with a commercial emphasis), demolitions taking place only of fences and windows, and certainly not of Jewish family homes and businesses."

What does that have to do with anything? Sharon [b]still[/b] had no say whatsoever in the negotiations Barak was making. Barak [b]still[/b] was giving Arafat his wish list on a silver platter. Arafat was [b]still[/b] the guy who torpedoed the deal. What? He wanted something further that he had been saying for years, but just remembered it when Barak agreed to go along with what amounted to ridicules demands on Arafat's part? No one sane would have expected Barak to come to the table with what he did. Arafat realized that any Palestinian state would not be led by him for very long. His only way to hold on to power is to keep the conflict going. Conflict is the only thing Arafat does well. He's a one trick pony in that respect.

Sharon did not have the last say in policy, Barak did.

And then there would be peace in the region!???

Oy, weh!  DaMan

PS - It's amazing how the oppressed so easily become the oppressors when they get the opportunity!

Achmed: Good points. Made the same at sometime in the past, although I don't think many people care, focusing as they are on what is happening now.

ALL: While we have been somewhat hypocritical over Israel's response to terrorism, there is a fundamental difference between their actions and ours: We do not have to live with the Afghanis.

I will answer your question if you admit that you are forced to ask it because you lack the intelligence to defend Buchanan's idiocy.

Wasn't Sharon a powerful member of the Knesset at the time of the Oslo Accords?  Did he not fight the Oslo Accords tooth and nail just like Pat said??!!!!

DaMan

No thanks, Rik!  I don't need to defend Buchanan's statements!

And if you are NOT ashamed of your support of gays in the US military.........MAYBE YOU SHOULD BE!!!! [:P]

DaMan

And this facade will fool????????!!!

Hell, the Israelis will finally have to negotiate in earnest! But they can do it from "a position of strength"!

Hahahahahaha!

I've seen WWF wrestling matches that were better choreographed and more believable than this crap!

What Pat said, still stands!  More now than ever before!

DaMan

Would that be when he tossed a MAC10 onto a table on his Crossfire TV show and said "No one needs to own one of these!"?

Then I don't need to defend mine.