Worldfocus

11/11/2009 :: 10:36:34 PM
Son of Jerusalem Says:

J Garbuz: what is a defention of a nation?

11/10/2009 :: 04:06:09 PM
jgarbuz Says:

From the Peel Commission Report

The Arab population shows a remarkable increase since 1920, and it has had some share in the increased prosperity of Palestine. Many Arab landowners have benefited from the sale of land and the profitable investment of the purchase money. The fellaheen are better off on the whole than they were in 1920. This Arab progress has been partly due to the import of Jewish capital into Palestine and other factors associated with the growth of the National Home. In particular, the Arabs have benefited from social services which could not have been provided on the existing scale without the revenue obtained from the Jews.

11/10/2009 :: 04:05:35 PM
jgarbuz Says:

From the Peel Commission Report, July 1937:

“The Arab population shows a remarkable increase since 1920, and it has had some share in the increased prosperity of Palestine. Many Arab landowners have benefited from the sale of land and the profitable investment of the purchase money. The fellaheen are better off on the whole than they were in 1920. This Arab progress has been partly due to the import of Jewish capital into Palestine and other factors associated with the growth of the National Home. In particular, the Arabs have benefited from social services which could not have been provided on the existing scale without the revenue obtained from the Jews.”

11/10/2009 :: 04:00:24 PM
jgarbuz Says:

A Jew is a Jew, whether he lives in Moscow, Medina or Manhattan, just as an Arab is an Arab regardless where he lives. Same for Irish, Germans, Japanese or any member of a national group. Now in the US in particular, we have created a new “nationality” called “American.” And the various Arab and other groups who lived in Judah, Samaria, the Galilee and Negev now call themselves “Palestinians.” Also a newly invented nationality.
As for your claims that ARab peasants were deceived, the Royal Peel Commission of 1938 essentially concluded that it was the Arabs who were being deceptive, by claiming they were being displaced by Jews, etc. In fact, the Peel Commission of 1938 concluded that Jewish immigration had materially benefitted the vast majority of Arabs immensely, and it was the vast population growth of the Arab population, thanks to improved conditions, that was leading to some displacement. But the vast majority of Arabs had only benefitted with a higher standard of living thanks to Jewish immigration into Palestine.

11/09/2009 :: 10:20:48 PM
Son of Jerusalem Says:

J Garbuz, which Jews Russian Jews, French Jews, Flash Jews, or Yamani Jews. You are too thin on everything including your own histroy. Can you please define a nation to the readers and you and I go through its elemnts and we both decide wether the Jews have been a nation or not? As for evidance that Jews took land by force from 1888-1947, just read UN documnets of the deception of Palestinian peasents by the Jews immigrating from Euope and see for yourself. Or read Walid Khalidi all that remains, or How ISrael was won. Just try something besides Wakipidia

11/06/2009 :: 11:50:53 PM
jgarbuz Says:

re: 134

Jews have been a nation since King David, who was from the tribe of Judah. Jews are not just another religion. Jews are a nation that has a national religion. Just like every tribe used to have its own gods and religion.

11/06/2009 :: 11:46:59 PM
jgarbuz Says:

To son of Jerusalem

You have NO evidence that one inch of private property was taken away from the Arabs in Palestine between 1880 through 1947. What happened after 1947 is the fault of the Arabs who started the war. Show me evidence that Jews took away an inch of private property from any Arab before 1948!

11/06/2009 :: 11:44:22 PM
Son of Jerusalem Says:

# 131, they should persecute those who persecuted them!!! not the poor Palestinians who never done them harm until they behan stealing their land in the 1910s until this second

11/06/2009 :: 11:41:30 PM
Son of Jerusalem Says:

# 106, he will role in his grave when he sees those who wanted to kill him occupaying the holy land. The Muslims never attempted to kill and respect his as a prophet of God and respect his Mother and the Koran has a whole verse on his mother called the verse of Miriam. Totaly different from the Jewish tradition where nither he nor his mother are recognized. Stay honest J.garbuz and tell people the truth about what you are taught about Jessus

11/06/2009 :: 09:37:38 PM
Son of Jerusalem Says:

J Garbuz, but none is calling it Catholic, Protostant, or Muslim land. All these people live as people inside states without making religion part of the issue exepet for Israel. All the sudden the only religion on earth that became a nationalsity is Judiasim!!!! go figure!! Christians have more rights to holly land than Jews, after all there is evidance of their prophet Jessus( which you do not recognize) walking, talking, living, and many cities and towns in the historic Palestine. I am not sure that MOsses or Mohammad spent as much time in that land Jessus

11/05/2009 :: 12:46:27 AM
jgarbuz Says:

The Protestants, Catholics and Muslims have dozens of homelands. The Jews have only one tiny one.

11/04/2009 :: 06:01:15 PM
jgarbuz Says:

Ha, ha, the brave Jewish sailors of the IDF,with God’s help, intercepted a boat full of rockets destined for Hamas. And in Iran itself, more protests against the theo-totalitarian state. Let the Jew haters bark. Israel shall not fall again.

11/04/2009 :: 05:35:22 PM
jgarbuz Says:

If Jews were persecuted then they have the right to persecute too. Why not?

11/04/2009 :: 11:56:37 AM
Boris D. Says:

To Vince G.#128: Arab(Palestinians) kill thousands of Jews after WWll. They started 3 aggression wars against Israel in 1948, 1967 and 1973. So why you are supporting 20 dictatorship states for the Arabs??

11/04/2009 :: 11:27:26 AM
Boris D. Says:

To Chrisco #125: Nothing changed since year 1420: Cambodia, Darfur, Chechnya, Kosovo, Sri-Lanka… At this moment Pakistani army fighting with Taliban and you are not condeming them of persecution, but you strongly condemn Israel for fighting with Hamas terrorists. It’s simply double standard. What changed, that now Jews have army to fight back and it make you and all anti-Semite very angry.

11/04/2009 :: 01:47:46 AM
Vince Graham Says:

Jgarbuz:
Benito Mussolini wanted to revive the Roman Empire in the 20th century. Most of the western world, except for Italy, felt it was a mistake. If I remember we held a war over that proposition. Israel held a United Monarchy together for 2 generations [David and Solomon], and then civil war broke out. Rome lasted almost a thousand years, the United Monarchy less than 100 years. Thus History is no excuse for a state. Also the Bible is not a history book.
The Protestants do not have a homeland nor do the Catholics, nor the Buddhists, nor the atheists so why should the Jews? Millions of Jews died in the Holocaust and during the progroms that swept repeatedly over eastern Europe but if reparations are at hand then the new Israel should be in Lower Saxony or somewhere along the Rhine River; not in Palestine. You see the Palestinians never injured the Jews during WWII. So why a State [Theocracy] for the Jews?

11/04/2009 :: 12:39:08 AM
Don Straub Says:

I am very impressed with comments of jgarbuz. I especially liked his comment No.123. Israel has bent over backward to find a path towards peace with the Palestinians and, more generally, the Arab nations. Yet, each offer has been cast off by Arabs, who still hope to destroy the Jewish nation. Good words jgarbuz. B’hatslacha.

11/03/2009 :: 09:47:30 PM
Mark Says:

Israelies and Palestinians/arabians have been fighting and not seen eye to eye for a long time. Until BOTH sides are willing to “give till it hurts”, not unlike that of a dysfunctional married couple, peace, and a two-state solution will not become a reality.

11/03/2009 :: 07:41:51 PM
Chrisco Says:

Yes, Jews were persecuted for many centuries, as have many different minorities. Now they have become the worst of the persecuters. It is one thing to burn someone at the stake in the year 1420. It is quite another thing to burn someone at the stake in 2009.

So Israel’s racia/religious based conquest and imperialism and colonialism is all coming in the 2nd half of the 20th century. Quite sickening. Now I see Israelis and Palestinians and I flashback to images of German Nazis and defenseless Jews.

11/03/2009 :: 04:25:51 PM
Boris D. Says:

To:Vince#122, Israel does not persecute Palestinians; we are defending our country from Arab(Palestinians) terror. What Arabs were trying to do with Jews in 1948, 1967 and 1973?? But, because their attempt to exterminate Jews failed, they start calling them self innocent “persecuted” Palestinians.

11/03/2009 :: 02:58:59 PM
jgarbuz Says:

To Aleem Aziz again

Here are my final words. People speak of dialogue, so here’s my dialogue. Israel is not your enemy. Israel is your only friend, believe it or not. Reconcile, and you can have a small but dignified homeland again, next to Israel, living in peace and prosperity eventually. Give up the desire for revenge and reconcile. ALongside Israel, a democratic, demilitarized Palestine state can prosper and your people will be able to hold up your heads again high. Give up the Pale-prop (Palestinian propaganda) and let’s talk straight. Your people and my people have suffered more than enough. It’s time for straight talk. Next to Israel, you can do well. That’s what the angel said to Cain before he murdered Abel. Two brothers, one envious of the other for no reason. Next to ISrael, a modest Palestinian state can flourish. But without Israel, even if it magically disappeared, you would be swallowed up anyway, if not by Jordan than by Syria or Egypt or both. ALongside Israel, you can go to the beach in Jaffa and Haifa, and visit the places your family once inhabited. You are lucky. You only lost some homes and land. Many of us were not that lucky, and lost our entire families under much worse circumstances. Give peace, truth and reconciliation a real chance. Grasp Israel’s hand and let’s give real peace and cooperation a chance for a change. When there is truth and peace, everything else becomes possible. Even a bit of happiness. What do you say?

11/03/2009 :: 02:37:33 PM
Vince Graham Says:

Boris I’m not an anti-Semite. But I am devoutly anti- Zionist. Jesus was a Jew and so where his 12 apostles and countless disciples. I’m Irish and my family never persecuted any Jewish family. And since Jews were persecuted in the past, does that give them license to persecute the Palestinians in the present?

11/03/2009 :: 02:00:33 PM
Boris D. Says:

To: Norm#117, Richard#115,Carl#110,Mourice#92,Vince#88,Chrisco#85 and others..
I am enjoying seeing frustration of present time anti-Semites, for century their grandparents killed, torture and prosecuted unarmed and not protected Jewish nation. Nation without own country, but present time anti-Semite facing well arm Jewish who are defending small piece of their Land. The only thing they can do now is lie, lie and more lie: “occupation”, “aggression”…

11/03/2009 :: 01:31:33 PM
jgarbuz Says:

To ALeem Aziz

No, it was the Arab states who caused TWO refugee problems: yours, and that of 900,000 Jewish refugees from the Arab countries! But tiny little Israel absorbed some 650,000 of those Jewish refugees, as well as hundreds of thousands from the camps in Germany, and another million from Russia. But 21 Arab countries, who told the Palestinians to leave and wait for them to crush the Jews, then couldn’t absorb 1 million Arabs from Palestine? What a pile of nonsense. And don’t forget that 145,000 remained in ISrael and today they number over 1.1 million Israeli Arab citizens, who are mayors and even members of the Knesset. Some even serve in the IDF. No, Israel is not responsible for the war of 1948, or the war of 1967, and the Arab states must absorb the problem that THEY created!

11/03/2009 :: 01:00:18 PM
Aleem Aziz Says:

To jgarbuz #104

“The Arabs should solve the Palestinian refugee problem”—So, Israel creates the problem and you want someone else to take care of it? There are already Palestinians scattered across the world.

Now, the 1967 war which created a big part of the mess was started by the Arabs and absolutely wrong. But, at least in modern times, that does not give the victorious the right to occupy land.

11/03/2009 :: 12:53:36 PM
jgarbuz Says:

No, the US send the Arabs some $300 BILLION dollars a year or more for oil, and wonders where the money for terrorism comes from! In addition they give Egypt and the Palestinians as much aid as they do to Israel, and actually sell the Arabs some 2.5 times more in arms!!! So all of these nonsense ideas that the US is totally pro-Israel is nothing but domestic political propaganda to keep the Jewish and Evangelical votes. The US is totally pro-Israel in WORDS! But when it comes to actual deeds, the record is not so clear as many think.

11/03/2009 :: 12:40:17 PM
Norm Says:

NO! The US is totally pro-Israeli in the Middle East and world wide. Peace will only come when we insist on ‘fairness’ and when Israel learns to live in harmony with its neighbors as Switzerland does. Israel’s treatment of its neighbors and non-Jews is the underlying cause of terrorism including the growth of radical Islam. And the US is paying the price. Perhaps if Israel were returned to ‘Protectorate’ status under the UN or European Union until such time as they learn to live in harmony with others, this growing problem could be resolved.

11/03/2009 :: 11:41:19 AM
Eleanor Says:

After following the Israel/Palestine issue for many years I am convinced that the US policy favors Israel. As to the constant mantra by the pro-Israel crowd in the US that insists that the Palestinians recognize Israel’s right to exist, I think that the Palestinians ARE recognizing Israel’s right to exist when they agree to consider a two state solution. President Obama made it clear that the settlements must stop. What don’t they understand about that? If the Israelis want to continue to get our help they must defer to our demands. As the old saying goes, “Beggars cannot be choosers.” It seems pretty simple to me. Stop the aid. Myself, I favor a one state solution. All living side by side in one state. There was a time when two states could have been carved out but now that Israel has taken over so many little enclaves it will be difficult to manage them as a “state.”

11/03/2009 :: 10:16:18 AM
Richard Says:

Isn’t it obvious that the US backs israel in each and every single way? Who has the backs of the Palestinians? No one. Who originally decided how much land the israeli’s could have? And why are they still allowed to take more and more and more. Last time I checked occupation was illegal but still america supports them. israel is surely america’s outpost to the middle east.

11/03/2009 :: 09:29:33 AM
ronald zera Says:

I thought it would be impossible to have a secretary of state worse than secretary Rice. I was wrong.

11/03/2009 :: 08:47:17 AM
jgarbuz Says:

To Adrian Brown Cave

When Jimmy Carter forced Israel to give the Sinai back to Egypt in exchange for a piece of paper, Israel gave up 50% of its oil supplies which it developed in the Sinai at Abu Rudeis. Part of the agreement was that the US would always guarantee oil supplies to Israel. It’s written down in black and white and part of the peace treaty. At any rate, Israel has discovered large quantities of natural gas coast off the coast of Haifa which promises to provide Israel with energy independence in the next few years. Israel plans to get off oil soon anyway, and will be one of the first countries to do so regardless. It is a world leader in solar energy as well, and Israeli companies have built the largest solar farms in California.

11/03/2009 :: 08:42:03 AM
jgarbuz Says:

Israel has taken no Arab homes in Jerusalem. In cases of property disputes, as is the case in the United States, there are courts in Israel which eventually decide. In 1948, all the Jews of East Jersualem were forced out by the Jordanian forces who occupied it. When East Jerusalem was retaken in 1967, and incorporated into Israel, there were some outstanding property disputes that had to be resolved. Any Israeli citizen living in Jerusalem, Jew or Arab, can buy a home in whatever part of the city they want to, just as white people can buy homes in Harlem, and black people in the Upper East side. Hundreds of Arabs have recently bought homes in traditionally Jewish neighborhoods for fear of East Jerusalem being returned to the Palestinian Authority, and don’t want any part of that. Some Jews have bought properties in East Jerusalem as well. In some cases, Arabs have been occupying old Jewish homes. These cases often cause great controversy especially when noticed by the international press, which more often or not tend to be critical of Israel and such Jews.

11/03/2009 :: 08:36:06 AM
Adrian Cave-Browne-Cave Says:

Cut off all oil to the Jews and any country that trys to give them any and that will bring them to their knees.
The UN is to blame for this problem way back in 1948 they should have forced the Jews to get out of the land they took at that time that wasn’t given to them which includes the Negev Desert then there would not be any Garza Strip, it would still be joined to land belonging to the Arabs.

11/03/2009 :: 08:25:39 AM
Carl Wesley Says:

The US government and press continue to be under the right wing grasp of AIPAC and the right wing extremist leaders in Isreal. US aid and huge sums of forgiven Israel loans have built the West Bank Israel settlements and built their military. Peace in Palistine/Israel would be a huge blow to terroist agitators and we continue to have Israel laugh in our face. George H Bush and Howard Baker tried to stand up in the late 80’s and then the pressure was too much for them.
Now Israel adds to settlements, takes on Arab homes in East Jerusilim, aggitates on every front…all in an effort to get some frustrated Palistine group to react adversely so Israel can again claim there is no security with the terroists.
Obama has joined the others with no guts to make peace happen.
My thoughts have been formed after extensive readings and graduate Middle East courses in New Hampshire.

11/03/2009 :: 08:16:50 AM
JGE Says:

Maybe this will work:

One on One with Sari Nusseibeh | Magazine | Jerusalem Post
Apr 26, 2007 … Al-Quds University president tells Post about his new autobiography and old quest for coexistence.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1177514491787... - Cached - Similar -

11/03/2009 :: 08:11:42 AM
JGE Says:

If you want to see the article on Sari Nusseibeh click his name on the Google search and then click on his interview.

11/03/2009 :: 08:05:30 AM
JGE Says:

To #87 Melissia Barghouti

By the way are you related to the Palestinian terrorist imprisoned for life for killing Israeli Jews?

See what Sari Nusseibeh Professor at Al-Quds (Jerusalem) University says about Israeli Arabs :

Are the Palestinians and the Israeli Arabs part of the same people?
Well, yes, they are and they aren’t. The Israeli Arabs are Palestinians in one sense, but they’re very much Israeli in another. They look upon themselves as Israelis; they see themselves as part of Israel, which is peculiar. For instance, if you went to an Israeli Arab - Muslim or Christian - and said, “Look, in a future agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, we are going to be able to include where you’re living in a Palestinian state,” he’d probably say, “No thank you; go away.” [he laughs]

If you were to ask him why, he’d say, “This [Israel] is my country. This is my state. I’ve grown up here. I like it here. And I look at you over there, and I don’t like what I see.”

And, you know, I don’t blame them. We Palestinians have not succeeded in creating something of which we can be proud, or which can be attractive. So, why should anybody wish to come and live here?

An Israeli Arab - regardless of everything else that he might feel - feels that [in Israel] the law protects him. That he has rights as an individual. Come what may, it’s a system; it’s a state; it has elections; democracy; protects the women.

We on the Palestinian side haven’t been able to create anything like that. Come to think of it, if I were to be asked what I need a state for, I would say that it is primarily to see ways in which the needs and rights of the individual are addressed. I didn’t fight for a Palestinian state for anything else. If a Palestinian state doesn’t provide me with this, I don’t want it. This may be one basic difference between me and the Jews, who might want a state for other reasons. I want a state that will give me respect; that will recognize my dignity, make me feel equal; to develop; to grow; to feel that I’m able to practice and develop my abilities.

This is an excerpt of his interview in the Jerusalem Post.

More in :

One on One with Sari Nusseibeh | Magazine | Jerusalem Post
Apr 26, 2007 … Al-Quds University president tells Post about his new autobiography and old quest for coexistence.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1177514491787... - Cached - Similar -

11/03/2009 :: 07:37:00 AM
jgarbuz Says:

Jesus would roll over in his grave if he saw Bethlehem and Nazareth almost completely full of Arab Muslims.

11/03/2009 :: 07:25:22 AM
JGE Says:

to #102 GoogleHasbarat (or GoogleMisinformation):

The millions of USA New Born Christians support Israel 100%, even if it causes you physical or mental pain.

By the way is the Jewish Bible and the Christian Bible.

11/03/2009 :: 07:19:11 AM
jgarbuz Says:

To Aleem Aziz

I was born in a refugee camp in Germany right after WWII. My parents both lost their homes and families, including first children in the war, and just barely survived in indescribable conditions. So how come I’m not called a refugee?
Simple. The US let us in and we eventually became citizens.
The ones who are really inhumane, are the Arab governments who caused the Palestinian refugee problem by promising that their armies would crush the Jews, and that they would return to loot the Jewish shops, homes and properties, and then, when that promise did not come true, kept the Palestinians in camps and refused to give them citizenship and work rights. They forced them to remain refugees forever. SO it’s the Arab states who are cruel, not Israel.

As for the Saudi “plan,” I do not see the words “RIGHT of the JEWISH state to EXIST” in their “generous” offer. Until I see the words “we recognize the right of the JEwish state to exist” in their so-called “peace proposals,” they are meaningless deceptions to me. If they don’t like the words “Jewish” and “rights” in the same breath, then we have no basis for peace talks.

11/03/2009 :: 07:15:48 AM
JGE Says:

to#102 GoogleHasbarat:

Document with facts not with misinformation. Can you find a Bible in Jordan or Saudi Arabia?

11/03/2009 :: 06:54:01 AM
GoogleHasbarat Says:

JGE

Israel likes christians,thats why they burn bibles i guess

11/03/2009 :: 06:31:26 AM
JGE Says:

To #92 Maurice Williams.

You will have to document that Israel persecutes Palestinian Arab Christians. Palestinians that are terrorists are captured by the Israeli , and also by Palestinian, security forces.

The enemy are the islamofacists that want to destroy the Jews and the Christians.

There are many cases of Christians ostracized in Arab countries like Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

The truth is not a sin, only discomfort.

11/03/2009 :: 06:07:37 AM
Aleem Aziz Says:

To jgarbuz regarding “who are the Palestinians”?

If you cannot see as people, refugees in camps in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon then that simply points to your lack of humanity.

And, to Sharon Cohen’s “before Arafat set-up shop”:
Let us remember that the first Intifada was started in the West Bank without Arafat.

There is a comprehensive peace plan on the table (the Saudi Plan) calling for recognition of Israel.
Why will Israel not accept it?

11/03/2009 :: 06:07:27 AM
JGE Says:

John Lester Cohen. #93

How about the infamous coup in Dec. 1959 in Cuba by Fidel Castro. Followed by 50 years of total dictatorship and elimination of thousands of his opponents, and total destruction of the economy. And don’t come an tell me that the lack of freedom is the fault of the USA boycott.

Israel in 61 years has advanced to economic status comparable to West Europe, with technology, scientific , military and business advances that are the envy of the modern world.

The islamofacists threaten world peace, and in their hatred of Israel are joined by self hatred cohenists disguised as junky leftists.

11/03/2009 :: 05:35:54 AM
JGE Says:

1. Daniel Levy should have taken a shower and shaved.

2. His comments are so erratic that he is better off not showering or shaving.

3. Worldfocus got back the multi comments that they lacked for the last few weeks. And they are back into the Yellow Journalism of inciting the crowd, using premeditated half truths, and sly comments. You have to give them credit that together with other PBS programs they are masters at the craft.

4. Those criticizing Israel always show their ignorance, and pretty clear their bigotry.

5. The main supporters of Israel are the millions of Americans that are New Born Christians, ready to stop the islamofacists hatred, intolerance and terrorism.

11/03/2009 :: 04:43:32 AM
Matt Says:

When is World Focus going to hire a Muslim as an anchor? You have a Sikh now broadcasting serious Muslim issues with a smirk on her face. WF must also hire a Palestanian and a a Jewish anchor to alternate, so we see a fair newscast. Bringing in a Sikh with a fake British accent dose NOT represent diverse views. Bring Martin or David back, thank you.

11/03/2009 :: 03:04:15 AM
richard craig Says:

U.S. pretends even-handedness, but consistently supports and protects Israel from criticism.

11/03/2009 :: 02:24:31 AM
Vince Graham Says:

Speaking of 911 – Can anyone explain to me why the supper structure, that is, the internal support beams should not be standing and melted like butter, as WTC 2, WTC 1 and building #7 came down? The buildings fell within 12 seconds - not enough time to hard boil an egg! {Could this have been a demolition?} Is this possible?

11/03/2009 :: 02:12:16 AM
Vince Graham Says:

Only when Israel returns to it’s 1948 borders; will peace return to the Middle East. Then and only then, should the Palestinians sit down with the Israelis.

11/03/2009 :: 02:06:34 AM
John Lester Cohen Says:

Because of the horrific events that occurred in 2001, the date September 11 will be etched in all Americans’ memories. However, for students of American foreign policy, September 11 was already infamous, as the date in 1973, that the U.S. backed the military coup (led by convicted war criminal and torturer Augusto Pinochet) that led to the over-throw of Chile’s democratically elected government. Therefore, we can understand that U.S. policy towards Israel has nothing to do with righteousness or human rights or respect of international law. Rather, there are geo-political and economic interests that compel the U.S. government to essentially allow Israel to exist as a rogue state.

11/03/2009 :: 02:00:14 AM
Maurice Williams Says:

A Note to Christian Zionists like #89: In blindly supporting Israel because of some mis-understanding of your own Christianity, especially concerning the second-coming of Jesus, please be advised that many of the Palestinians that Israel persecutes are Christians themselves.

11/03/2009 :: 01:50:32 AM
Lynn Gallagher Says:

Jesus would role over in his grave at the invocation of some irrational religious justification for injustice.

11/03/2009 :: 01:44:53 AM
Vince Graham Says:

The Bible is no excuse for a theocracy like Israel. Beside Genesis was written during the Babylonian Exile by Hebrews who when brought before the King could neither sing, dance or tell jokes. So the told of the creation and of course to please the King included Babylon into the Genesis tale.

11/03/2009 :: 01:31:44 AM
Don Ratterree Says:

The US government should not be ‘even-handed’ towards Israel. Rather,our country needs to recognize that, historically, we have been blessed because we have blessed Israel. However, in recent years we have been moving away from support of Israel. It is scripturally sound according to Genesis 12:3 Holy Bible..”And I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curseth thee…” So, what do you want for the USA: to be blessed or to be cursed?

11/03/2009 :: 01:31:43 AM
Vince Graham Says:

From the 1940’s to the 1960’ the USA was non-supportive of the Israeli State. Since the Johnson administration allowed the Israeli armed forced to attack the USS Liberty in 1967; the US policy has been totally one sided – PRO- Israel. I challenge anyone to recall one incident, since the attack on the USS Liberty, as to when the USA was pro Palestinian. - - ANYONE?

11/03/2009 :: 01:30:45 AM
Melissia Barghouti Says:

As a Palestinian, born and raised in New York City, I have become accustomed to double standards concerning human rights: When it comes to Palestinians, any fair advocay of human rights, let alone self-determination, is skewed by the deft Pro-Israel lobby as anti-semetism. Therefore, what happens is that people who are usually concerned with fairness and decency are reduced to cowering in fear because noone wants to be called an anti-semite. The reality, however, is that because of this, Israel operates with the freedom that no other state is accorded with: It can treat it’s non-Jewish population any way it wants and not fear any reprisals. So when the question is asked, sort of naively, if the U.S. governement favors one side over another in the conflic between Israel and the Palestinians, specifically concerning illegal settlements, what do you think the answer will be. As Israel has maintained the longest illegal occupation (of Gaza and the West Bank), the settlements it continues to build are illegal, breaking every international law pertaining to the issue.
Someone posted that Israel is in danger of creating a situation reminiscent of South Africa.
Any one fairly analyzing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians right now as anything else but apartheid isn’t being honest.
Now I know Israel apologists will look at these words and retort with venom: I don’t care.
As a Palestinian, what else can you do to me?

11/03/2009 :: 01:21:19 AM
adalbert goertz Says:

The US clearly favors Israelis over Palestinians.

11/03/2009 :: 12:56:37 AM
Chrisco Says:

I respect the call for input and thus I am writing. But the question is funny. “Is the US even-handed or do they favor one side of the other? Tell us what you think. And next week’s question, is the earth round or flat? Looks flat to me so we look forward to your responses.” (Just kidding.)

The US bias is extreme. It is really as if Israel controls the US. The US support of Israel is so extreme, so unquestioning, so out of sync with the world, so blind to the grave injustices and and unlawful violence of Israel that it is pretty hard to comprehend. It is also ultimately a taboo topic.

Honestly, if Israel wanted to conquer and annex land, and expel the people, and destroy their houses, and livestock and crops, I would obviously object and speak out. But what bothers me the most is that the US heavily subsidizes this to the tune of billions $$ per year, thus enabling the continuing, inexorable expansion of the occupation.

11/03/2009 :: 12:50:23 AM
Lynn Gallagher Says:

As David Ben-Gurion said, Palestinians “only see one thing: we (Israeli) have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?”

11/03/2009 :: 12:37:48 AM
Don Straub Says:

The settlement issue is awash in controversy. History plays an important part of any discussion on the subject. The word “occupation” is regularly tossed around. But, historically, Judea and Samaria are rightfully Jewish territory. There never was a Palestinian state in this region. So, just whose land is Israel occupying? Regardless, Israel has bent over backward in its efforts to achieve some sort of peace. The Israelis have halted all settlement construction outside the settlement blocs. They intend to keep these blocs in any agreement. The Palestinians want (with U.S. help) to draw Israel back to the June ‘67 borders. For Israel, this is a non-starter. Israel has every right to continue construction within all of Judea and Samaria, but voluntarily confines building to areas it feels vital for the security and future of the Jewish nation.

11/03/2009 :: 12:27:15 AM
GOP69Dave Says:

Hi ALL, DD, Martin
and jgarbuz, SharonC,

ST: Votes In: Israel a Major Aggressor

I went through all the notes from 64 down to 1 and without question most of us know what is happening in Palestine with US Jewry political support.

Jewish supporters, at all costs and in any circumstance, it doesn’t have to go down this way and repeat your history. Yet The State of Israel has to show REAL ambition and strength in solving the Palestinian/Israeli difficulty and lifting of the surrounding majority people.

Do you really want to be another South Africa.

11/03/2009 :: 12:14:26 AM
jgarbuz Says:

I don’t have to listen to TV ARab propaganda. I have studied Middle Eastern history decades ago when I got my Bachelors’ in History, and I lived in Israel for ten years. I lived in Beersheba and worked outside Sderot for a number of those years. Why do I need to listen to nonsense on TV when I lived in ISrael, studied Middle Eastern history in depth and know what I’m talking about? Only dummies learn their nonsense listening to TV.

11/03/2009 :: 12:11:54 AM
jgarbuz Says:

As for nuclear weapons, Jews invented the atomic bomb for America at Los Alamos before the Germans or Russians could, and ISrael had all the knowledge the day it was reborn as a state. The IAEA has no jurisdiction in Israel, India or Pakistan because neither of those three states chose to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty and are therefore legally exempt. Only the 183 states who signed the NPT after 1968 are subject to the UN’s IAEA inspections.

11/03/2009 :: 12:09:54 AM
Lynn Gallagher Says:

As Mearsheimer and Walt stated “the US has become the de facto enabler of Israeli expansion in the Occupied Territories, making it complicit in the crimes perpetrated against the Palestinians.”

11/03/2009 :: 12:01:59 AM
GOP69Dave Says:

Hi ALL, jgarbuz, DD, Martin,

Again a Stop, garbuz I like your fight as I like Sharons’

ST: Start listening to Israel TV, Israel Peaceniks

In note 23 your forgot to mention that in Israel itself there is more argument going against the treatment of the Palestinians then there is in the Jewish lobby controlled USA media crying anti-Semitism. At least that is the opinion on USA main street not wall street. And do you know the definition of Semite and DNA results with your neighbors.

11/03/2009 :: 12:00:51 AM
jgarbuz Says:

Israel is the most legal state on earth, bar none. More legal than the United States itself. It was the Council of the League of Nations which ruled in 1922 that Jews may return, resettle and restore Jewish sovereignty. Unlike the US, where the native lands were summarily stolen and opened to homesteaders from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia and redistributed, in Palestine much land was purchased in many cases, while the wastelands and Ottoman state lands were given to the JEws for settlement by the League. And in 1947, the UN voted in favor of partitioning Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state, but the ARabs refused to split it and chose to invade and try to destroy the JEwish state instead. I’m sorry, but no state on earth has more of a legal, historical and moral right to exist than the Jewish State of Israel. Anyone can Google and look up the San Remo text of the 1922 League of Nations Mandate to confirm what I am saying for himself or herself.

11/03/2009 :: 12:00:40 AM
BTruthFul Says:

How did the country Israel come about next to all Arab lands? Wasn’t it the western countries which brought all the Jewish from the Europe who were persecuted and put them in Palestine? And Today there is less Palestine and more Israeli land. Not only that they have nuclear arsenal and who did the nuclear proliferation? Why don’t we have IAEA going to Israel and check their nuclear bombs? They are taking 3 billion of our money every year and we are fighting their wars in Iraq and Iran. Now they are pushing another one with Iran.

11/02/2009 :: 11:45:03 PM
Patricia Rudner Says:

Israel is Palestine. Palestine invaded, occupied and colonized- illegally. It is time to face the fact that Israel is not a state of the US and time to stop supporting Israel with 3 billion a year. Israel stands for everything the US opposes- aparthide, genocide, ethnic cleansing, religious intolerance and a shocking and unjust treatment of the Palestinian people. The settlements are robbing the Palestinian people of their land and are illegal. Israel has no intention of agreeing to peace because they want to continue confescating Palestine land. It is time to end this situation and stop all support of Israel!

11/02/2009 :: 11:40:25 PM
jgarbuz Says:

Actually, the Jewish state is tiny. And over 60% is worthless almost uninhabitable desert, like the NEgev. It’s population density today is ten times that of the US. Whereas the pop.density of the US is only 100 per square mile, in Israel it is already 1000 per sq. mile, or ten times as dense. Most of the population lives in the narrow center, only 10 miles wide. All of Israel will soon become like Manhattan. And the Israeli Arab population is 20% of the population and growing, and they demand more land. And they resist Jews settling near them. SO if there ever was a country squeezed and in need of Lebensraum, Israel certainly is it. If the 5 million Jews of America ever do have to run to ISrael, they’ll just have to say “Sorry. No more room.” THe liberal Jews in the upper WEst Side want it all to go to the ARabs. If they ever do need it in an emergency, it won’t be there for them. Meanwhile, the 21 Arab states have as much room as the US, and could easily absorb a few million Palestinians with no problem in terms of room. The Jews only have one very tiny cramped state, and if they lose it this time around, we might as well disappear as a people. Like the Mohicans.

11/02/2009 :: 11:32:08 PM
jgarbuz Says:

Yes, Caaisha, our children will see. Personally, I would like the Palestinians to have a successful state next to Israel, if it leads to true and lasting peace. I prefer peace to land. But I just don’t believe they can do it. I’ll believe it when I see it, but I don’t think so. If Israel gives them work and access to its ports on the Mediterranean, and other help, they might have a chance. Otherwise, I sincerely doubt it. Per capita income in Israel is ten times higher than in Syria. It’s even higher than in Saudi Arabia, even without oil. Unless the Arabs radically change their attitudes and mindset, I can’t see any chance of a successful Palestinian state. THey will fight each other, just as we see in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong, but I doubt it.

11/02/2009 :: 11:30:26 PM
GOP69Dave Says:

Hi Again ALL,

ST: Speed, Strength, Seberal means Results
ST: Given GOD Power show Compound Growth,

Still climbing down your notes, yet time for a thought.

OK I spelled Seberal wrong (Cerebral) on purpose for poetry’s sake.

The major problem I have with the occupation by Jews/Hebrews from Western and Eastern Europe and their behavior to their neighbors is the NON-Building aspect of their demeanor. They are using the Palestinians as a political focus point and ignoring them as humans.

Great Strength means GOD expects great leadership. Check out Ezra/Nehemiah

11/02/2009 :: 11:22:54 PM
Benny Chua Says:

Israel is no longer defenseless 3rd world developing country. It can now surely secured and defend itself against attacks from the Revolutionary Goons of Iran, Hezbola, Hamas, Al Queda, etc.,

We do believed that these were the Promise Land for Israel, But,

Natural expansion or population growth in Israel is not really a justified reason for illegally occupying Palestinian lands and contructing more housing for the Israelites.

The Jewish State is big enough. The Western World and the USA welcomes the Israelites to stay with us and make our country their country/home.

America cannot pamper Israel anymore…America must protect Israel incase that the Jewish State is being invaded only.

11/02/2009 :: 11:16:39 PM
jgarbuz Says:

Frankly, Israel was better off before the US began aid and calling Israel its “ally.” At that time, Israel won all of its prior wars, from 1948 through 1967 with Czech, French and British arms. The Arabs had mostly Soviet arms. Today, while Israel’s military is bigger and more heavily armed with US planes and helicopters, so are the Arabs. The Egyptians have F-16s and the Saudis F-15s. The Egyptians have Abrams M-1 tanks and Harpoon missiles, and are many times stronger than they were with their Soviet era arms. But today Israel produces its own tanks, UAVs, and much of the avionics that it places inside the US weapons systems that improve them and give them the technological edge over those provided to the Arabs. But with all the US aid to Israel, it’s no better off relatively speaking than it was before the aid began. Because the US now arms both sides of the conflict, it’s the large American defense contractors are the major beneficiaries of most of this supposed largesse.

11/02/2009 :: 11:08:46 PM
caaisha Says:

who ever thinks Palestine is not a nation I am telling that lets wait for a few years and Jews nation will know the reality that they closed from their eyes you guys need to go back to the history of Jews and Arab and which nation used to have the most power and Iam 100% sure that power will come back one day. And you will see what happen.

11/02/2009 :: 11:07:37 PM
jgarbuz Says:

First of all, the entire area of the “settlements” is 1.7% of the West Bank. All settlements were pulled out of Gaza, so there are 0.0% Jewish settlements in Gaza. Second almost all the settlements are on rocky hilltops that were owned by no one. Even the biggest critics of Israeli settlements admit that at most, only 30% of the settlements are on land allegedly owned by Palestinians, which means 70% are NOT. Third, ISrael has no settlements and did not control East Jerusalem from 1949 -1967, and yet the Arabs refused to make peace and Arab terrorism killed many hundreds of ISraelis during the 1950s and ’60s nonetheless. Even after the ‘67 war, Israel offered to give back virtually the entire captured territories for peace, but the Arabs utterly refused. Settlement activity mostly didn’t even begin until the mid to late 1970s, but no offers of peace came from the Arab side. It was only with the development of settlers during the intifada that the PLO finally realized that if they don’t offer Israel some kind of limited recognition, all the territories could disappear under settlements. SO, it can be persuasively argued that settlements led to the first peace process. But the size and total area of the settlements have been GROSSLY exaggerated and overstated by the media, and Israel has also shown it can remove settlements in exchange for peace. But ONLY in exchange for peace.

11/02/2009 :: 11:07:26 PM
GOP69Dave Says:

Hi Guys/Gals, D.D. (DaljitD)

Pre Note: Still reading the comments while a spider moves across my screen. He or she is pretty fun to watch as I type.

ST: US Support of Settlement Expansion is WRONG
ST: What to do about the Arab/?? Palestinians?

Back in a bit for another note when I finish reading all your comments. Yet first off this situation in Palestine (Roman name)/former Israel (Samaria name I think) gets quite confusing.

The current state of Israel is wrong in expansion, yet they create construction jobs for Arab/Pal workers. I mean how messed up is that.

What happened to those wineries in Gaza that were give to the Arab/?? Palestinians to make money?

Back in a bit.

11/02/2009 :: 10:59:01 PM
John Deegan Says:

I have supported the state of Israel since I was a teenager in the Bronx in the fifties. However, the creeping expansionism of the religious right has always caused me aggravation. The settlements are plainly efforts to settle and co-opt more and more land until, like a game of GO, the arabs are squeezed out. Shame on the zealots.

11/02/2009 :: 10:52:03 PM
J. Kenton Says:

To the best of my recollection, the only president that was not pro-Israeli (or accepting of whatever they did) was President Carter. Maybe Eisenhower. LBJ & Nixon were too busy with Vietnam to even pay attention. Certainly, since President Reagan, the U.S. has been pro-Israel.

11/02/2009 :: 10:45:09 PM
rod davidson Says:

it would seem that once again an american president has caved in and allowed the israelis to get away with anything they want, without fear of repercusions or sanctions, once again the palastinian people are being screwed and the the u.s. is complicit in this travesty, the sight of us secretary of state hilary clinton talking out of both sides of her mouth only confirms this fact.

11/02/2009 :: 10:39:13 PM
Lynn Gallagher Says:

I wonder if the Zionist imperialists were foaming at the mouth when they attacked the USS Liberty and murdered 34 US military in ‘67. Do we want these people as our friends? See USS Libery.Org.

11/02/2009 :: 10:25:47 PM
jgarbuz Says:

Well, Hitler was democratically elected too. That was the last election Germany had for a dozen years. Hamas, like the Nazi party, has a militia that goes around and intimidates and even kills its opponents. But that is typical of “Arab democracies.” But Hamas is publicly at war with Israel and sworn to its destruction, and Israel should have done to Gaza what the US did to Dresden and Tokyo in WWII. That’s how one ends wars, by breaking the enemy once and for all.

11/02/2009 :: 10:21:04 PM
BJ Jordan Says:

No, the U.S. has not been even handed. We advocate democracy, yet Hamas was democratically elected. So what if they don’t recognize Israel: we didn’t recognize Ugana’s Idi Amin, nor (Miyamar)Burma, nor Cuba. States can function w/o recognition. Israel, I’m ashamed to say, does not want peace, evident by all its demagoguery and stonewalling. President Obama is heeding to political pressure of a Jewish lobby forever playing victim, but many, many Jews are saying enough is enough: be fair to the Palestinians!

11/02/2009 :: 09:59:48 PM
jgarbuz Says:

For those who think ISrael became a success because of US aid, or whatever, should read the Royal Peel Commission report of 1938, ten years before Israel became an official state. Already the 200,000 Jews then had already built successful towns and villages, theaters, cultural life, factories, roads, waterworks, successful agricultural villages, electrification, and on and on. There was not a single Arab college or university before the Zionists returned. And not with one dollar of US aid.

11/02/2009 :: 09:53:21 PM
jgarbuz Says:

The so-called “Palestinians” never had a state, and never will, because they are not a nation. AT best, if Israel helps them, they might find a small modicum of success. But if not, they will achieve the heights of a little Somalia, the Sudan or a tiny Afghanistan. The so-called “Palestinians” are a diverse group of clans and tribes of diverse backgrounds, with no national history to guide them. It won’t matter how much money or resources the US or the world pours into “Palestine,” it is doomed to failure regardless. I’d be amazed if it achieves anywhere the relative success of a tiny Mexico. The Jews built “Palestine” long before there was a single dollar of US aid. It was a desolate hole before the Zionist return to the land, and will revert back to one without Israeli help. And, of course, Israel will be blamed for its failure even if it does nothing but merely watches. It’s a doomed project, but time will tell. I’m sure I’m right though. Minus oil, show me a single successful Arab state anywhere in the region, except Lebanon thanks mainly to the Christians.

11/02/2009 :: 09:33:26 PM
Kevin Cahill Says:

No, the U.S. is not even handed in dealing with Israel’s settlement policy. The U.S. has taken Israel’s side on every conceivable issue. This is one of the reasons why al Qaeda attacked us on 9/11, and why they want to attack us again.

11/02/2009 :: 09:21:29 PM
Exumab Says:

The U.S.and Israel are locked in a genocidal embrace and the I shudder at the thought of what this diabolical union is going to bring to our lives. With Islamic Terrorists and nuclear weapons loose in the world is this a game we really want to play?

11/02/2009 :: 08:59:35 PM
Lynn Gallagher Says:

The US State Department inspector general noted a systematic and growing pattern of unauthorized tranfers of military technology to Israel. And worse according to the US GAO, Israel conducts the most aggressive espionage operation against the US of any ally. Israel, ally or parasite?

11/02/2009 :: 08:58:35 PM
Dr. Haig Khatchadourian Says:

Nov. 2, 2009
Expanding Jewish settlements on the West Bank strike at the very heart of the possibility of a two-state solution to the Palestine Problem and its hoped-for two-state solution, as they make impossible, among other things, any meaningful Palestinian-Israeli negotiations–let alone any agreement– concerning future borders of the future two states. Secretary Clinton’s latest statements on that matter are symptomatic of the Obama Administration’s gradual retreat from its earlier firm stand and its vaunted attempts to help resolve the Palestine Problem. The current Israeli administration, like its Likud predecessors has always been, since the beginning, the creation of “Yeretz Israel, and it has not wavered at all from that position, no matter how much Netenyahu publicly repeats that he accepts a two-state solution. In light of the beginnings of the latest unraveling of a US-sponsored and supported independent Palestinian State, I fear that the Palestinian hope of an independent Palestinian state will continue to be but a dream for years–perhaps decades to come.

11/02/2009 :: 08:55:04 PM
Ray Matt Says:

Zionism is racism. The US should not support any Jewish state that believes in apartheid and ethnic cleansing.

11/02/2009 :: 08:54:13 PM
Steve Murphy Says:

I call the Jews the new Nazi,minus the camps and ovens.With the money and pressure that pours into congress,thier will be done.Without are tax dollars,no Israel.Why do you think were hated?

11/02/2009 :: 08:54:03 PM
J Mulholland Says:

Netanyahu called the shots and America “blinked” as the BBC aptly put it. That the most powerful country in the world should give in to a small country of seven million is amazing. And it’s for the wrong reason! Do we really support grabbing Palestinian land and putting more Israeli Jews on it? It has always been illegal and unjust. Anticipating the negative reaction of the Arab and Muslim world to such blatant favoritism, it is also anti-American! Our foreign policy should futher U.S. national interests not Israel’s.

11/02/2009 :: 08:50:09 PM
Frank Murphy Says:

re#15 wouldn`t it be great if these comments were required reading by The President,his advisors and congress?BUT….with AIRPAC would it really make any difference???

11/02/2009 :: 08:35:55 PM
Con Says:

Israel has been receiving four billion Dollars per year in foreign aid from the USA since its founding in 1947. With that money Israel has built an extraordinary country and that is not in question. But that money has also been used to build those settlements and to fund the largest lobby in Washington, D.C.
For those of you who are not old enough to know, the land that is now called Israel was Palestine until 1947.
Shiploads of Jewish folks from Europe and Russia were trying to immigrate to the U.S. immediately following WWII but were being turned away from U.S. ports and a serious problem ensued. However, they were accepted by the Palestinians. Curiously, Harry Truman was approached by his former partner in the haberdashery business who was a Jewish man. He said to Mr. Truman: ” you have to do something to help my people”. It was at then that Mr. Truman interceded and pressured the U.N. to establish the state of Israel, the only country in the world established on the basis of religion..
The U.S., with its very large Jewish population took a position and continues to take a position of patrimony toward the Jewish state and that population together with the Israeli lobby make their will known and followed in the halls of Congress. They have been so affective that it is now sacrilege to take any position which in some way could be construed as contrary to the State of Israel.
The Palestinians became foreigners in their own land and the new settlers put them out of their properties and their country because to integrate with them in a democracy would have placed the Jewish people in a minority position which would not be desirable. The aim of the Israeli government is to increase the population naturally and by immigration and to keep pushing the limits of their borders by settling land in areas that are outside of the originally intended parameters of the state. And because of the intensity of pressure by the Jewish population in this country and the Israeli lobby, the American government continuously takes a favorable position toward the Israelis at the expense of the Palestinians. So is our policy even-handed? Of course it’s not.

11/02/2009 :: 08:35:23 PM
Aleem Aziz Says:

The US even-handed in the Middle East? What a joke! They pressure the weaker party (Abbas) to forget about war crimes (Goldstone Report) and about continued expansion, while giving the stronger party the wink. Always, always the same; no change from Bush. As one commentator in Israel has said: Israel needs to be read the riot act. Totally cut-off aid and impose sanctions until Israel starts behaving like a civilized nation.

11/02/2009 :: 08:34:32 PM
Robert Ashmore Says:

The U.S. is not and never has been evenhanded with regard to Israel. This contributes to hostility towards the U.S. around the world

11/02/2009 :: 08:25:45 PM
Sharon Cohen Says:

Talk about human rights, etc….When Israel ruled the West Bank, before Oslo, the Palestinian Arabs were the best educated Arabs in the world. They studied in Israeli universities, where they were preferentially admitted, and became doctors and engineers. The West Bank economy was pretty good, also. Once Arafat and company set up shop there, the educational system became a vehicle for teaching genocidal hatred of Jews, and virtually nothing else. In Jerusalem today, Jews are severely restricted in their ability to build additions to their homes, but Arabs get away with building illegally, with none other than the US President getting involved in a foreign city’s zoning laws and their enforcement (or lack thereof). All of you guys who keep mouthing leftist rhetoric, why don’t you try looking into reality for a change? Israeli Arabs (and, before Oslo, West Bank Arabs) have more human rights than do the Arab people of any Arab country. When I see what you folks write, it’s absolutely surreal.

11/02/2009 :: 08:18:33 PM
rjc Says:

The U.S. has failed to be even-handed, and failed to support human rights in Palestine. Peace will only be possible when the U.S. and Israel recognize the needs for freedom, equality, justice and dignity for all.

11/02/2009 :: 08:16:40 PM
Sharon Cohen Says:

Most US foreign aid to Israel is in the form of military grants which must be used to purchase US military equipment. So the money comes back to the US as “stimulus”. It’s exactly the same principle as the infrastructure stimulus now being put into action all over the US. Because Israel has highly trained manpower in science and technical fields, and wage scales are relatively low, many foreign companies like to do business there. That’s why Israel has a good enough economy to be able to do foreign aid of its own. Also, because Israelis have had to find ways to stretch their resources and do more with less, they are uniquely suited to teaching people in less prosperous countries how to use their techniques in agriculture and allied fields. Their solutions can be continued by the locals on their own because huge infusions of cash are not needed to keep the programs going. This is in contrast to the way US aid is given: throwing money at problems and wasting most of it. A rich country can afford to do this, but as a taxpayer, I would prefer to see us help more countries in simpler ways which can actually be profitably adopted by the aid recipients without making them more dependent on our largesse.

11/02/2009 :: 08:15:40 PM
nydia sepulveda duran Says:

Two states? There goes onother dream. Obviously the US government will continue to give Israel the uper hand. Israelies and Palestinians will continue to endure the consequences of political convinience and insensitivity of those on power.

11/02/2009 :: 08:12:51 PM
jgarbuz Says:

What was wrong with the Israeli irrigation system? You didn’t mention what was wrong with it.

11/02/2009 :: 08:04:21 PM
DCR Says:

The U.S. government has supported Israel since its founding, and that support remains. I was appalled to visit Costa Rico and be shown the farming irrigation system built with Israeli “foreign aid.” The U.S. government, and us taxpayers, are being taken for a ride by our blind support for Israel. America’s sense of fairness has been subverted by the influx of Jews and their political contributions.

11/02/2009 :: 08:02:10 PM
jgarbuz Says:

Israel must tell the US that if it wants to be an ally, then it must stop pushing Israel around. Otherwise, the US should take its aid and stop mixing into Israel’s business. Israel has plenty of business it can do in India, China and even Russia, all of whom love Israeli technology. The US is not the only game in town anymore. Either the US acts as a true ally, or else let it go its own way. Israel doesn’t need an appeaser or loser to call it “ally” when it no longer really means it.

11/02/2009 :: 07:58:47 PM
Ali Waris Says:

The U.S. must slap Israel with sanctions for its defiance. Israelis have always escaped accountability because of support from the Israeli agents in the U.S. A common American does not know how their country is being destroyed.

11/02/2009 :: 07:48:34 PM
Sharon Cohen Says:

An interesting story which actually happened to a family member of mine in Israel. He had Dutch guests, non-Jews, from work, and he took them on a tour of the West Bank. They kept criticizing Israel for its attitude to the West Bank Arabs, and insisted that Israel was subjugating them and stealing their land. As an example, they pointed to a beautiful town of Jerusalem stone single family houses, which they insisted was Israeli occupation. Hiding a smile, the relative drove in closer so that they could see the traffic sign naming the town - an Arab name. Then he showed them the nearest Jewish settlement - a couple of prefab trailers on a lonely hilltop. The visitors were aghast. Their attitude on Israeli settlements changed as soon as they were able to raise their lower jaws. They said “why do you allow them to build such beautiful towns while you put yourselves in cages?” They suddenly realized that the “settlement” in question was not a greedy expropriator, but simply a Jewish historical site whose settlement was a labor of love by young people who were prepared to give up comfort in order to commune with their forefathers, who had lived and walked in this land thousands of years before the Arabs left the Arabian peninsula to conquer much of the known world of the eighth century C.E.

11/02/2009 :: 07:48:00 PM
jgarbuz Says:

To Lynn Gallagher

Israel SHOULD put the Palestinians onto reservations the way the US did! WHy doesn’t the US give up 20% of its territory to the Lakota and other “indian” nations, just to set an example? Who are these “Palestinians” to demand a state anyway? When did they ever have one in the past?
Certainly the Kurds, Tamils, Basques, Lakota Sioux and a host of other conquered nations have a greater right to statehood than these so-called “Palestinians.” Who was the king or queen of Palestine at any time in the ancient past? Where is their national history written down? I’ve never seen one, and I’ve searched long and hard for one in the biggest libraries.

11/02/2009 :: 07:43:37 PM
jgarbuz Says:

Israel shouldn’t even SIT DOWN with its mortal enemies until they fully recognize the RIGHT of the Jewish state to exist! How dare they demand a state of their own when they do not even recognize the righit of the VICTOR to exist??? Never in the annals of history has such a thing occurred. When did the vanquished demand that the victor accede to its humiliating terms?

11/02/2009 :: 07:41:15 PM
jgarbuz Says:

The only thing the US sent in 1967, was an NSA spy ship, the Liberty, which was spying on Israeli IDF units and relaying the information to the Egyptians, to try to stop Israeli troops from taking the Suez Canal. The US has no business telling Israel what it can or can’t do with ancient Jewish territories it conquered fair and square with nobody else’s help. And only after it was attacked by the Jordanian army which fired thousands of shells into West Jerusalem and other towns in Israel!

11/02/2009 :: 07:40:24 PM
Carl Says:

In order for negotiations to even begin, Israel must end settlement expansion. President Obama himself indicated that settlement expansion must end. The Israeli government seems to think that partial settlement building makes them appear benevelent. It’s the equivalent of a person taking over a 15 family house and they decide to keep only 14 rooms, allowing the original family to keep one room; and thinking it’s an act of generousity. Sec. Clinton cowers when she is in the presense of the Prime Minister, then when she is not in his presense, is forced to back pedal along with the administration. If we were true friends of Israel we would not tell them what they want to hear, we would tell them what they have to hear. No honest country on the face of the Earth would even harbor the thought that settlement expansion is in Israel’s best interest, or the right thing to do.

11/02/2009 :: 07:38:13 PM
Lynn Gallagher Says:

Israel is trying to put Palestinians on reservations and the US government is a co-conspirator. Bias, you ask! Daaah!

11/02/2009 :: 07:36:47 PM
jgarbuz Says:

The Saudi offer of “normalization” is just another term for hudna, the Arab word for a ceasefire you give an enemy who is stronger, until you can defeat him. Germany and Russia had “normal” relations with Poland until 1939. But neither recognized Poland’s right to exist. And so my mother first lost her house to the Red Army, and then her whole family to the SS. “Normalization” is just more taqqiya.

11/02/2009 :: 07:34:30 PM
Sharon Cohen Says:

The US has not been evenhanded ever since Lyndon Johnson refused to send US ships to break the Egyptian blockade (1967) which led to the 6-Days War. The US insists that Israel sacrifice the security of its own people to further American interests in the Arab world. As for settlements, if Jews were allowed to live in Arab cities in Judea and Samaria, there would be no need for settlements. Arabs are allowed to live anywhere in Israel that they desire, and more to the point, no one will harm them if they live in a Jewish neighborhood. But a Jew who enters a PA controlled Arab village or town takes his life in his hands. The locals have made it clear that they will brutally murder any Jew who even steps into one of their settlements by mistake. So the only way that Jews can live in the land of the Bible, the ancestral, G-d-given homeland of the Jewish people, is to establish walled-in communities in circumscribed areas of the West Bank. Just as a reminder, the League of Nations gave Britain the Mandate to establish a homeland for the Jews in all of Palestine, which included today’s Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan. The British split off Jordan to reward the Saudi royal family, and then the UN split off the West Bank to give the Arabs yet another state, which they rejected, and Jordan conquered by force when it invaded the nascent state of Israel in 1948. The Six Day War, in which Israel occupied the West Bank, was started by the Arab blockade of Eilat, economically choking off its maritime trade. Incidentally, the UN’s definition of refugee had to be changed to accomodate the Arab refugees of 1948. It was changed to include anyone who had lived in Israeli territory for more than 2 years. Hardly anyone’s definition of indigenous people, eh?

11/02/2009 :: 07:33:17 PM
jamie chase Says:

It is very obvious that the Israeli occupation of
the American Congress via AIPAC will prevent the
US from ever being an honest broker. I opposed the
Iraq war and was called a traitor. I opposed the
Israeli invasion of Lebanon and Gaza and was called an Anti-Semite. America selling military
technology to any and all buyers isn’t helping.

11/02/2009 :: 07:31:56 PM
Jacob Nammar Says:

The US seized to be even-handed since President Eisenhauer in 1956. We will not have peace in Palestine/Israel until the US Congress accepts Palestinian Human Rights and is no longer corrupted by the pockets of the Jewish Lobby-AIPAC!

11/02/2009 :: 07:31:17 PM
eighty eight Says:

America cannot be objective. The Israeli lobby here is very powerful and compaign contributions buy a lot of influence.

11/02/2009 :: 07:29:50 PM
jgarbuz Says:

Israel should keep and settle ALL of Judah and Samaria, historic Jewish lands liberated after constant Arab wars and terror imposed on Israel after 1947. Israel conquered them from the Arab aggressors fair and square, and not a single US soldier helped them do so. In fact, the tanks were British, and the planes French in 1967. The US never gave back an inch of land it took from Mexico, and Israel should not be forced to live by a different set of rules. If the US wants to set an example, let it give the Lakota Sioux an independent state as they have been demanding for years.Those demands have fallen on deaf ears in Washington.

11/02/2009 :: 07:28:04 PM
Jerry Florida Says:

For years in the eyes of our government, Israel could do no wrong–no matter how much destruction and killing they did in Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza. Bush was very biased and pro-Israeli. Now Obama has a big task to buck AIPAC, the Israeli lobby in Washington, and the ultra-nationalistic government of Netanyahu which is committed to block a Palestinian State no matter what it takes. It is difficult to be fair.

11/02/2009 :: 07:25:59 PM
rvisconti Says:

No. Not even close. The Arab League has offered, repeatedly, to recognize Israel and fully normalize relations with the Jewish state. Israel is not a parner for peace. It continues to ethnically cleanse the West Bank and suffocate Gaza as a huge concentration camp. Gaza’s children are stunted due to the lack of access to a good diet. Israel needs to get serious about living in real peace with its neighbors. The U.S.’s blank check to Israel is a violation of our most basic and cherished values.

11/02/2009 :: 07:24:55 PM
john lees Says:

No American president has ever been sincere in the middle east peace effort, they have always been one sided on the side of Israel therefore America in my eyes is not an honest broker. I don’t even know why they bother trying to broker this peace or is this just a political game to score them international points, if they are sincere they had better hurry doing this before the palestinians have no more land left to claim. I have an idea, since the Americans treat Israel as the 53rd state why not resettle these people in the continental US, move the whole lot of them to Texas or the mohave desert, these places have the same geogrphical features as Israel so they will feel at home then the Palestinians can live in peace. Also the sooner this issue is settled the sooner you will have world peace, every terrorist group cites the middle east problem as their reason for their cause

11/02/2009 :: 07:23:48 PM
Carl D Scott Says:

The United States is not evenhanded when it comes to Israel. It has always been pro-Israel. Only when the US applies real pressure, e.g. withholding of military aid from Israel, will Israel end its outrageous settlement policy. How can the Palestinians have an independent state if Jewish communities exist there. I doubt that the settlers would countenance being under the political rule of a Palestinian state; anymore than Israel is willing to accept the right of return of Palestinians and eventually become a country of majority Palestinians.

11/02/2009 :: 07:22:49 PM
jgarbuz Says:

World Focus, just like Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN and other major media outlets will NEVER interview articulate right wing Israelis from papers other than the Leftist Ha Aretz, because they all compete for vast Muslim audiences and their pocketbooks. And Muslim audiences will not accept anything that smacks of pro-Israeli sentiments being broadcast at them. And so World Focus, BBC and the rest all interview only leftist renegades, who themselves eagerly sell out their country for some brief gleams of fame and fortune.

11/02/2009 :: 07:21:16 PM
Graham Says:

The U.S. has not been evenhanded since the Carter presidency, if then, and there is no hope that what is essentially a clone of the Clinton administration internationally will take the Palestininan case seriously, let alone be evenhanded. Reasonable Israelis are far more evenhanded than any US administration is likely to be on this subject — the dismissal of the Goldstone Report is a case in point.

11/02/2009 :: 07:12:56 PM
Dose of reality Says:

Comment #1 has it all wrong on genocide.

The real victims of “genocide” are all the Jewish communities destroyed in Arab lands. After surviving 1400 years of oppression, ancient Jewish communities had to flee to Israel with nothing.

The number of Arabs in Israel and the West Bank has grown dramatically since 1948 - and Arab living standards in the West Bank since 1967 rose far beyond those in Jordan.

So who committed “genocide”? And why do we never hear of Jewish refugees from Iraq, Algeria, Syria, etc?

11/02/2009 :: 07:06:48 PM
Patrick Gray Says:

World Focus, answer one question. If Israel gives in on the settlement issue, will the Palestinians negotiate in good faith?

Of course not - they didn’t under Arafat, and they won;t now.

The real Arab agenda is not the desire for a Palestinian state, but their hatred of Jews and Israel. It has been encouraged by their regimes. Now the hatred has spilled over into suicide bombers hitting their own cities.

11/02/2009 :: 06:58:52 PM
Selly love Says:

If the US is in Israel’s camp, howcome it never criticizes the Palestinians, only Israel?

Howcome it gives billions of dollars to the Palestinians and Egyptians, while ignoring the virulent anti-American and anti-Jewish incitement in their media?

11/02/2009 :: 06:55:58 PM
Shaul Says:

Tonight’s coverage was anti-Israel, and only reinforced by the fringe views of David Levy.

The demand for a total settlement freeze is a new precondition, never raised before, and designed to raise Arab positions even further. It includes even houses in East Jerusalem, areas from which Jews were expelled by the Arabs in 1948.

How long will it take World Fcous to report that

(1) Mahmoud Abbas repeatedly says that he will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state - even as he demands a Palestinian state which must be Judenrein, and even as Israeli Arabs continue to (rightfully) exercise Israeli citizenship;

(2) Abbas demands that the descendants of all Arab refugees be resettled in pre-1967 Israel and not in the West Bank. This denies the rights of the similar number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands. It sidesteps Arab responsibility for starting the wars that led to BOTH refugee issues.

(3) The PA’s own TV station often rivals that of Hamas in its level of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement. Both run children’s programs that glorify suicide bombers. Abbas recently named a major computer center, funded partly with US money, after Dalal Mugrabi, whose sole claim to fame was the murder of over 30 Israeli civilians on a bus decades ago.

Placing all the onus on Israel, and ignoring Arab rejectionism, is not going to encourage peace.

11/02/2009 :: 06:55:25 PM
marion forbes Says:

The genocide by israils has gone on since 1948,
I do not hear anyone talk about the BILLIONS of dollars that the taxpayers of USA funnels into isrila evr day to pay for their settlements and nuclear program.

11/02/2009 :: 06:51:39 PM
Dorn L Says:

The US has become one of the biggest appeasers of the Arab world. It has recently placed tremendous pressure on Israel, while ignoring 60 years of Arab military and political action to destroy a tiny Jewish state.

Settlements are NOT the real issue preventing peace. If there were no settlements, if the Dalai Lama was Israel’s PM, and Israel was just Tel Aviv, the Arab world would quickly find new pretexts for aggression.

How long will it take for World Focus to show that?

If the US wants peace, it should demand an end to Arab incitement, and genuine Arab recognition of Israel.

11/02/2009 :: 06:44:20 PM
w. segal Says:

comments #1 - #12 say it all. I would like to hear some of the white houses staff comments on this issue. the US is probably the biggest supplier of new settlement builders. How can the US be sincere in the stopping of further developments still waiting for soemone to define “natural growth” when it is used by Isreal as a reason for the building of settlements.

11/02/2009 :: 06:44:10 PM
Cynthia Says:

The US is defitnely biased when it comes to Israel. You can not expect peace when you favor one country over the other and expect the other country, Palestine, to concede and be submissive. Israel act the way it does because they know we, the US will back them. Without the backing of the US, Israel would sing a different tune.

11/02/2009 :: 06:36:20 PM
Cynthia Says:

The US is defintely bias when it comes to Israel. They can do no wrong! As long as the US have their back, Israel will continue to be the bully. There will never be peace if the US favors one country over the other and become blind when they act agressively; we must be neutral. If US ever cease to support & back Israel, watch and see how quickly that country will talk about peace with Palestine and other Arab countries.

11/02/2009 :: 06:24:09 PM
Demetrios Says:

The US has looked the other way while Israel kills and disposes Palestinians, grabs Palestinian land and builds walls expending its borders.
Both houses of the Congress as well as all administrations are bowing to Jewish pressure and the power of the Jewish vote.
Even handed? That is a joke.

11/02/2009 :: 06:16:14 PM
steve Says:

To be more informed re Israel and the middle east I would suggest reading the following: The Samson Option by Seymour Hersh; 51 Documents by Lenni Brenner; The Case For Palestine by John Quigley. This group of material should give you an overview that is contrary to the highly controlled dogma and additional information to draw conclusions.

11/02/2009 :: 06:11:34 PM
Frank Murphy Says:

Kudos to Paul and Robert!! I highly recommend for all listeners of World Focus to please take time to read Mark Braverman`s latest book “Fatal Embrace”Christians,Jews, and the search for peace in the Holy Land.

11/02/2009 :: 06:00:25 PM
jgarbuz Says:

Let the US cut off aid to Israel AND EGypt AND the Palestinians and arms sales to Saudi Arabia, EGypt and other enemies of Israel, and it will do JUST FINE!

11/02/2009 :: 05:49:01 PM
Matthew Says:

The United States Government shows that is it is firmly in Israel’s corner and can not be called even handed in any objective sense.

11/02/2009 :: 05:40:01 PM
steve Says:

For the past 40 yrs Israel has been a cut-out for U.S. undercover political, military and black-op aggression throughout the world. To think that the U.S. can be a fair negoitator re the middle east is a joke. If blogers wish sources of this info, I will be happy to respond.

11/02/2009 :: 05:35:47 PM
Paul Says:

The US supports Israel nearly 100% in what seems to be every avenue of life. Israeli settlements go FAR beyond what was originally allowed. If this is not bad enough, the Israelis treat Palestinians with as little respect as possible, attempting to wipe them out with every chance. Barack Obama has fully supported the right-wing Israeli views since well before becoming president. His cabinet full of like-minded individuals indicates that the Palestinians will find little peace during Obama’s time in office. And on a good day, Hilary Clinton cannot be trusted. But to see her stand there and speak such atrocious lies with Netanyahu is more than a sane person can take. So, who do we turn to for peace?

11/02/2009 :: 05:33:10 PM
Robert Says:

This undying support for Israel by the US government all comes down to keeping the Jewish vote. US is and always will be pro Israeli. It is as biased as you can get. It is no wonder that the Arab world hates us.

11/02/2009 :: 05:29:09 PM
Edith Wilson Says:

NO, of course the U.S. is NOT even handed in dealing with the settlement issue! If the U.S. really wanted Israel to stop the settlements (a land grab) it could cut off aid to Israel if Israel continued to refuse to follow international law.

11/02/2009 :: 05:17:37 PM
jgarbuz Says:

Once again, the renegade Daniel Levy does not even utter the words “recognition of the Right of Israel to exist.” Once again, this traitor only lambasts Israel, holding it alone as responsible for everything. Looking at him, I can see why he is so self-loathing. Levy is the perfect example of the kapos and members of the Judenrats that sent other JEws to their deaths, hoping to ingratiate themselves with their German masters. Why do invite this creature almost exclusively?

11/02/2009 :: 05:13:27 PM
jgarbuz Says:

Once again, America is fighting the battle for the Arabs to destroy Israel. Israel was the VICTOR of 62 years of Arab warfare against it, and yet it is being pressured to accept the terms of the vanquished. Israel MUST stand up to American and say NO! NO MORE CONCESSIONS to Arab blackmail! The ARabs must recognize Israels’ RIGHT TO EXIST and only then should Israel sit down to continue negotitations. ISrael is not the vanquished and must not be the victim again of unjust pressure and intimidation!

11/02/2009 :: 03:23:24 PM
m,regentief Says:

the u.s. government is complicit in israel’s policy of CREEPING GENOCIDE against the arab population. what a travesty.