i am sympathetic with the Palestinian cause, but i am disgusted by their methods. recruiting children to blow themselves up in order to kill israeli civilians will never achieve peace, security or autonomy for the palestinian people. while i understand the helplessness and motivations of the young people actually carrying out the bombings, those who recruit and dispatch them i have no sympathy for whatsoever.
conversely, i am sympathetic with the israeli situation, but i am equally disgusted by their methods. systematically undermining the only leader the palestinians have and completely dismantling and disarming his police force while calling for him to stop desperate people from lashing out is disingenuous at best, and the overwhelming escalation at every point in this conflict, from shooting rock throwers to buldozing entire towns and killing dozens of civilians in order to capture a few, only guarantee the perpetuations of the very conditions which allow recruitment of bombers.
the ordinary people of both populations would have no problem getting along if it were not for the blind insanity of their leaders.
Arafat went out and ,in Arabic, denounced the latest suicide bombing and ordered his security forces to intercept and detain anyone who might be on their way to attack Israelis. isn't this exactly what Sharon and the US have been demanding all along? I wonder how they will up the ante now?
two new episodes of enterprise tonight. the second was an overt comment on the palestinian/israeli conflict. interesting...
muse at numb magazine she also interviewed a couple of other people and wrote two of the articles for this online version of the magazine. a print version will be on the stands this summer, i think. without my interview, but still worth buying, i think. :)