merlin said:
Regardless of the morality, what Israel has been doing for the last decade is illegal simple as that. State sponsored assassination is illegal, the occupation of the West Bank is illegal.
No, merlin, it's not "as simple as that" and I will attempt to explain why, with particular regard to the two statements that you have made above.
1. "State sponsored assassination is illegal"
Under international law and the laws of war, it is entirely legal to target and kill an enemy combatant who has not surrendered. Palestinian terrorists - whether they are the suicide bombers themselves, those who recruit them, those in charge of the operation, or commanders of terrorist groups - are, without any doubt, enemy combatants.
2. "the occupation of the West Bank is illegal"
UN Resolution 242 calls for:
a) "Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict"
(this means the 1967 conflict)
AND
b) "Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force"
(in other words - security and recognition for all states)
NOTE that the charter is deliberately worded such that Israel is not required to withdraw from ALL territories occupied in 1967. Nor should they be. The Arab states effectively invaded and were repelled in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973 and it would be virtually unknown for any country to return all the land that it occupied under those circumstances. This is particularly true when such land is required for defensive buffer or strategic purposes (the Golan Heights come to mind here).
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I do not claim that there has been no wrong on the part of the Israelis. On the contrary, serious mistakes have been made by the state and by individuals. There have also been many incidents of anti-Arab prejudice by some nasty individuals. Israelis are no better in that respect than citizens of other countries.
Nevertheless, there is an overwhelming desire by the majority of ordinary Israelis for peace and they are prepared to go a long way to achieve this.
The time has come for the Palestinians (including Hamas and Hizbollah) to accept the reality of the Israel situation. They have no more chance of getting the land given to the Jews by the UN in their 1947 resolution than the Jews have of getting back the lands taken from them by the Europeans in the Nazi era up to 1945. What's done is done.
With the death of Arafat, one of the major barriers to peace has disappeared. I hope that with a firm hand from the USA, a willingness for strong negotiation by the Palestinians and guarantees all round, peace and a viable Palestinian state could be achieved. It would be even more viable if Jordan was prepared to give the Palestinians some of their land that it controls. I don't believe that the refugee problem is insurmountable either.
There will be difficulties with East Jerusalem but my own view FWIW is that, at some future date when everything else has been settled and achieved, East Jerusalem could become an 'International' state like The Vatican or Luxemburg. This could be part of current negotiations.
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It would be good if posters actually took the trouble to carefully check the facts before making unfounded, untrue and often viscious allegations.
since theres no way we'll change his mind - which is fair enough really, he's entitled to his views just as I am mine. 
.
) that posting style can serious hinder constructive disscussion, hence why I steer out of this sort of interplay, as interesting as it gets I feel I would be misread. 
