tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24005214.post7926482304979774401..comments2023-10-19T12:25:15.143+01:00Comments on The Osterley Times: Israel's election cliffhanger as Livni closes gap with Netanyahu.Kelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14466059072530968330noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24005214.post-37891258252781087902009-02-13T11:08:00.000+00:002009-02-13T11:08:00.000+00:00Hamas was democratically elected into power by the...<I>Hamas was democratically elected into power by the Palestinians... and their platform is the utter destruction of Israel.<BR/><BR/>So it's easy to point the finger at Israel and say that "Israelis don't want peace" because of the way they vote, but where is the condemnation of the Palestinians' voting habits?</I><BR/><BR/>People always harp on about Hamas wanting the destruction of Israel as if they have any chance of ever pulling that off. Plus, Hamas have made clear that they would abide by any deal Fatah negotiated as long as it is ratified by the Palestinian people. So they don't sound to me as if they quite so bedded to this notion of Israel's destruction.<BR/><BR/>And I say Israel don't want peace because for the past forty years they have told us there is no-one to negotiate with and continued building illegally on Palestinian land. And, as for holding the Palestinians responsible for the way they voted, why is anyone surprised that they chose Hamas when the moderate Fatah party were getting nowhere with Israel vis a vis negotiations?Kelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14466059072530968330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24005214.post-38577522649935057922009-02-12T00:11:00.000+00:002009-02-12T00:11:00.000+00:00Sure it goes both ways. Israel also has a democrat...Sure it goes both ways. Israel also has a democratically elected government set on the destruction of Palestinian society. We give high tech and often illegal weaponry to only one side in this conflict. I'm not asking that we bomb Israel or anything, just that we treat them with the same respect we do the Palestinians. That means we either give them high tech weaponry too, or we quit giving it to Israel. I'm not a fan of giving away weaponry to anyone. if it is gong to end up there, we ought to be selling it at the very least. If they had to pay for it, maybe they would be less likely to use it wastefully on civilians.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24005214.post-27221835577403514282009-02-11T20:29:00.000+00:002009-02-11T20:29:00.000+00:00Okay, let's break this down...Hamas was democratic...Okay, let's break this down...<BR/><BR/>Hamas was democratically elected into power by the Palestinians... and their platform is the utter destruction of Israel. <BR/><BR/>So it's easy to point the finger at Israel and say that "Israelis don't want peace" because of the way they vote, but where is the condemnation of the Palestinians' voting habits?<BR/><BR/>Yeah, I guess we all can see this goes both ways.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24005214.post-67889736358336132952009-02-11T06:21:00.000+00:002009-02-11T06:21:00.000+00:00I happen to think that the US is the only governme...I happen to think that the US is the only government powerful enough to pressure the Israelis into making peace, but they'll never be as tough as you are asking for here SP.<BR/><BR/>The Israeli lobby are simply too powerful for their funding ever to be cut.<BR/><BR/>But I have faith that Obama will be fairer than many of his predecessors.Kelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14466059072530968330noreply@blogger.com