Will, you’re not a Jew so stop trying to act like one.

• a Jew

Thank you for writng an honest article about the conflict.

This “unity” government exposes to the world the farce that Abbas is a “moderate”.

He is and has always been the owner of the “Al Aqsa Brigades” - arch terrorists.

Maybe Israel should let the Palestinians set up their own state, then Israel can invade Palestine, and tell the Palestinians how to set up a democracy. It seems to have work for the US in Iraq. The People of Palestine have voted in free elections for the people they believe will bring them security and peace, whether or not that actually happens is of no one else’s concern. If Israel where to deal with new government what is the worst that could happen? The same instability that they have in that region now. By not dealing with the Palestinian government Israel is once again show contempt for the Palestinian people and treating them as not a free people that can make their own decisions.

Well written observations. However, to the extent that Hamas was elected by the Palestinian people, is issues raised are actually with the people themselves. Israel must wait until Palestinians realize that they are better off with Fatah. So contact by Condoleza Rice with “moderates” may not be such a bad idea. What’s more critical is the fact that financial sanctions seem not to hold in practice, and aid goes in in the name of humantarian relief. I suspect that the ultimate issue is the Islamic religious and cultural view that Jerusalem and Palestine must be ruled by Muslims.

The day Hamas and Hezbollah disappear will be the day the Palestinians will be truly free. Israel is not the oppressor, Islamic extremists are.

agreed with 5:54

…an arab

You’re an APAIC loser.

to the “Jew” who told will to stop writing for israel, First of all, as an orthodox heavily involved Israel advocate i am ashamed that you would spread this kind of hate on the internet. It goes against our religion to act in that kidn of way and i would suggest that you pay specifically close attention to the lessons that we can learn from the Haggadah and how that relates to the Holocaust. When you see an article like Will’s you should say BARUCH HASHEM there are people out there who care about Israel and the Jewish people who arent Jewish. Second of all, it should teach you a lesson about the power of Israel’s position that there is such a devoted pro-Israel advocate like Will and you should remember that without the United States support and non Jewish zionists Israel’s position would loook nothing like the way it does today. Will, I would like to thanki you and say Baruch Hashem for you may you live a long happy and healthy life.
—a JEW

I completely agree with the 2:33 pm post. Support for Israel is not contingent on being Jewish. In fact, the majority of Israelis and Jews of the diaspora welcome and cherish support from friends like Will.

• Another Jew

Good for you Will

This is a great article, and I cant believe a freshman wrote it. Hamas is the oppressor of the palestinian people. If they would denounce terrorism and recognize israel’s right to exist, wouldn’t their people be better off. The Israeli’s started to leave the settlements and have tried time and time again to give them something in the negotiations and it was always NO. Lets remember Barack when he offered 99% of what arafat asked for…remember the answer…it was NO. As a person whose great great great grandfather was born in israel in the ealy 1800’s, I can testify to the fact that Israel has ALWAYS been inhabited by jews and it was not always a strictly arab state. It was a jewish homeland way before islam was even a religion.

Keep on trekking Will……..

If any of your commentators REALLY want to know what the basis for the fight with Isreal by Fatah and Hamas (which was created by Israel as a counterbalance to Fatah!), go to www.takingaimradio.com and listen to any one of Ralph Schoenman and Maya Shoen’s lectures on Pacifica Radio on the Middle East and the secret history of Zionism. It is all there in ugly black and white.

Oh yeah, and let’s not forget Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, Michael Ledeen, Eliot Abrams, (conviced felon), and the rest of the gang of neo-con ideologues/thugs who pushed the Iraq war, are pushing a war with Iran, support Likud and pre-emptive killing and torture with Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld in ‘The Project for the American Century’ which can also be read online. In this insidious little document from 1992 as a spinoff from ‘The American Enterprise Institute’, they lay out their plan to chop the Middle East into little ethnic pieces so that the US can get the oil, and poor little Israel (the 4th largest army in the world!), can remain ‘the neighbourhood bully’ and destroy the Arabs In the past year the NY Times even documented the fact that Israel is working on ‘the Arab gene’. Gee, I wonder what for?.

As the Doors song from ‘Three Penny Opera’ by Berthold Brecht said:

Oh show me the way to the next whiskey bar Oh don’t ask why, oh don’t ask why’

That is because, if you ask why, you will end up with some nasty conclusions- such as your so-called friends i.e Israel, and your leaders ain’t what they appear to be.

Then there is the story about all of the Israel art students/spies running around the US prior to 9/11- which appeared on CNN and which can also be read about at www.whatreallyhappened.com

However, elightened Jews will tell you that Isrealis and most American Jews don’t have a clue about the facts of their own history. They have been sold the myth of ‘a land with no people with a people with no land’, and have modeled their genocide on the US destruction of the native Americans. Have a nice day reading the above. And let Will Smith know if you see him on campus, that he isn’t half as smart as he thinks he is! University is supposed to be a place for thinking and relfection- not a forum for no-nothing propagandists for lawless regimes (the UN definition- not mine!), that tractor over peace protestors like Rachel Corrie, destroy houses of innocents, shoot children in the streets, and bomb and kill thousands of people just because they happen to live in Beruit!

Well written, yes, but you’re regurgitating rhetoric you’ve heard elsewhere.

Not a Jew so don’t act like one? Ok. How does a Jew act that’s different? I have a hard time telling Jews from non-Jews unless I happen to know their last name or there’s some other obvious clue, like a Star of David stamped on someones forehead. That works.

It was a good article. Especially from a freshman.

I’m part Jew. Does that count, being part Jew?

Can someone explain to me why rhetoric from Israel supporters has more validity than facts by outside observers from other nations besides Israel and the US? There is a tricky game going on these days (all planned of course!), in which critics of Israel’s thuggery and it’s apartheid policies are smeared with the label ‘anti-semite’. In fact, the Palestinians are also a ‘semitic’ race, so there goes that definition out the window!

In fact, I consider myself ‘anti-semantic’- I can’t tolerate ‘mystical types’ who twist words with their ‘received knowledge’ that some old DOG they dug up somewhere told them that the land that they abandoned to wander the world 2000 years ago, somehow still belongs to them, despite the fact that other people with deeds sit on the land. But then, there is no serious discussion with religious wackos- anywhere in the world! The only hope for Israel’s survival is to embrace the Palestinians, allow the right of return of refugees, and get rid of the insane idea of ‘the only Jewish democracy’- which itself is untrue! The country still doesn’t have a constitution and is conveniently using the old British colonial laws against terrorists which were written to contain the terrorist Shamir, Sharon, and all the rest of the terrorists that became the leaders of Israel.

Will should go take a look first hand at the destruction in Lebanon and maybe help defuse a few cluster bombs while he is there. What happened to Lebanon over this past summer is a fantastic display of how just and humane the Israeli government is. They’ve been spreading this special kind of justice and humanity to the Palestinians for decades.

Who are we to decide what is best for the Palestine government? I find it incredibly arrogant and patronizing to assume that they are not smart enough for democracy. If it’s their prerogative to vote in a leadership which will lead them to war, at least they’ve got more say than we do.

The US has always had mixed attitudes toward democracy: If we can’t buy or force a victory for our candidate, send in the military and create a fascist state or an occupied state. If right-wing evangelicals who wanted to destroy Syria and Jordan were elected in Palestine, we’d be dumping in money hand over fist.

Keep studying, Will. Look at both sides of these issues! Israel demands Hamas recognize Israel’s right to exist, renounce violence, and honor previous agreements. Sounds reasonable enough….yet, Israel has consistently failed to recognize PALESTINIANS right to exist, Israeli Defense Forces have daily employed terrorists tactics against Palestinians, and Israel has broken every agreement they ever signed, including the Geneva Convention’s bill of human rights.

A look at what Israel does rather than it says will tell you that, through occupation and colonization, Israel is engaged in a long-term effort to drive Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. Since 1948, when Israelis drove 750,000 Palestinians from their ancestral lands, the expulsion of remaining Palestinians has been an obvious Israeli goal. Thousands of Palestinian homes have been demolished and hundreds of “Jews only” settlements and roads have been constructed on Palestinian lands. Israel has constructed huge walls on Palestinian lands which serve to separate peaceful farmers from their fields, separate families, and deprive Palestinians access to services, schools, and medical care. Israeli “check points” deny Palestinians an opportunity to trade and sell their produce to willing international buyers…the list goes on.

I don’t condone violence, but I wonder how many Americans would be passive in response to this kind of illegal and abusive treatment.

Will Smith: For a look at both sides, check out this site:

http://www.ifamericansknew.org/about_us/

In particular, take a look at publications by “Jews for Justice in the Middle East” in the History section. The hawkish Israeli government and their lobby in Washington (AIPAC) do not represent the viewpoint of all Jews, in fact, not even the majority of Jews. Jews worldwide suffer antisemitism as a result of Israel’s vile conduct. The civilian Palestinian population is unarmed and hardly a threat to Israel which has the 4th largest military in the world, paid for by American taxpayers.