Reply #51: you forgot the history.....

[pelsar]

since 48 israel has been attacked on various fronts from various countries and groups.....all with various motivations....destroy israel, kill jews, take back some of the land, take back all of the land, conquer the land and divide the spoils etc.....

within that history are the palestenains....after each attack (i'm being general here) or attacks, their lives have gotten steadily worse and worse. From having some freedom of movement to almost none....Of course their bitter. Even when israel left gaza, Egypt helped keep them "down" but keeping their part of the border closed.

The problem however is not the settlements.....even though it seems to be some kind of general understanding (like everyone believing the world was flat), history has shown that they are not the problem. The two latest examples of Hizballa attacking israel and the continued attacks from gaza, both after israeli with drawls makes its clear that the real problem is israel itself.

you mention the Palestinians being bitter.....i'm sure they are. Interesting enough there are a few who realize that the problem cannot be blamed wholly on israel but on themselves (hamas spokesman-Dr Ghazi Hamad). Those checkpoints came AFTER the suicide bombers started. Previous to that, previous to intifda i, they had freedom of movement that included all of israel. The wall came AFTER the suicide bombers still couldnt be checked with the checkpoints.

its part of the understanding that they're are consequences for ones actions. Suicide bombers produces checkpoints and walls, and a host of other negative things for their own society. Should the Palestinians be bitter?..yes, more than anything they should be pissed at the "leadership"...the ones that organized a society that celebrates those who created the "suicide bomber" cult, that has made their lives so miserable.

the thing is: the wall and checkpoints obviously make for very mad Palestinians and infact suicide and bomber attempts are up...but their success is way way down. So from an israeli point of view, i would rather have lots of very mad Palestinians and fewer successful bomb attacks, than less pissed Palestinians but more dead israelis.