Reply #101: I have thought about that last paragraph overnight and . .

[msmcghee]

. . then some. I have some additional thoughts that I might throw on the pyre.

While I still don't presume to make suggestions to those whose lives are on the line on both sides in this conflict - I don't mind engaging in a little "what if".

Your thesis seems to be that with an actual state and political lines of authority well-laid-out in public view - that it might be easier to find someone to blame when criminal acts such as entering Israel in disguise to kill civilians occur.

Following that line - I'd say OK, assume such a crime has been committed. Do you envision the UN or some other body sending troops in to this new Palestinian state to arrest this leader? Do I see UN troops marching in to the Whitehouse to arrest Bush, Cheney or Rumsfeld because of the egregious violations of human rights such as torture and assassinations that have occurred as a matter of US policy since our invasion of Iraq?

No. And likewise I suspect that whatever violations against Israel might occur in such an instance - the excuses will just shift from "We don't have control over that lawless faction" to "We can't be responsible for every jihadi who carries a grudge for all the Jewish oppression we have suffered over the years".

So I am skeptical that statehood will provide any significant increase in accountability. I would remind that Lebanon, for example, has been a recognized state and member of the UN since 1945 and has harbored militias and individuals who have indiscriminately attacked Israeli civilians periodically throughout those decades.

Do I see UN troops marching in to Beruit or Southern Lebanon to arrest the Hisb'allah gunmen or their leaders who were responsible for the most recent of those attacks last summer? Does the world have some clearer picture of responsibility for the kidnapping and murder of the IDF soldiers patrolling their own side of the line - or any greater desire to do anything about it? No again. The murdered IDF are still dead and the kidnapped soldiers are still kidnapped (or dead) no-one knows.

The world only became sufficiently angered to take some action when Israel, in the face of no interest at all by the UN in the violations that had been committed, appeared to be causing too much damage to the infrastructure of the state that had harbored and enabled the attackers - while missiles were being fired into Israel every day.

But, in the same spirit of speculation - I often wonder what would happen if some intelligent and philosophically inclined Palestinian - one without an armed militia to feed - were to declare that the time had come to end the calls to destroy the state of Israel and instead to seek a true and honest peace - for the benefit of the millions of innocents on both sides of the green line.

And what would happen if significant numbers of Palestinians expressed disillusionment with their current leadership and wanted this person to lead them to a just peace - perhaps using the last negotiations at Taba as a starting basis for that agreement - a treaty that would end the conflict and result in both states living in cooperation and peace.

Am I being a cynic of the worst sort - or just a realist - when I suggest that this person would probably not live out the week. Either way, I would guess that not too many people in the world would be surprised at such an outcome. I would also guess that every one of us would love to have the Palestinians themselves show us how ignorantly wrong and shortsighted we were.