Originally Posted by jayeff

I wrote my first article in support of the Palestinians more than 35 years ago and that support has never wavered. But I also lived in Tel Aviv for 10 years and married into a well-known (jewish) Israeli family. My wife's family, from Russia, were among the first jewish settlers in Israel at the beginning of the last century. In short, I have a fairly uncommon view of both perspectives.

One thing I learned a long time ago, is that only outside Israel are people still arguing about whose fault it all is. To Israelis and Palestinians, that has long been irrelevant. Nor do more than a tiny minority on either side harbor genocidal feelings towards the other. Most want to live peacefully, like people everywhere: they just don't know how to make it happen. The Palestinians know that without violence, their plight would be forgotten. Israelis know from more than half a century of experience that retaliation only breeds further violence, but an Israeli government which didn't respond would have no future.

David Ben Gurion once said something along the lines of "the old will die and the young will forget" and of course history has proved him tragically wrong.