the middle East

[comloulou]

Please dont think me flippant but does anyone else find their patience wearing thin overthis issue. There are times when I see the suicide bombers, the helicopter gunships and the repeated public display of corpses and I just want to say s0d the lot of you. You just carry on killing eachother and behaving like idiots and the rest of the world will stand back and wait for you to implode. Again its not that im ambivilent to the problems, just sick of the spiral of violence and the refusal to help themselves...

[reddster]

I'd love to think it was just a case of banging their heads togather, but unfortunately when people blantantly oppress others, they tend to retaliate.

[comloulou]

thats the whole stupid ridiculous point though. Its a cycle of retaliation and no one will EVER win. When will they realise that blowing the cr@p out of their 'opressors' doesnt make the blindest bit of difference?

[reddster]

I was led to believe that negotiations had taken place, and land was 'given' to each side. Now they see settlements being erected in areas that have been 'stolen' back. I completely agree that violence doen't doesn't solve anything, but if you don't have a platform to speak from, what do you do?

[comloulou]

It just saddens me that a race as advanced as ours cannot conceive of a protest or a sign of oppression or a form of revolt that does not involve the daily mutilation and murder of innocent lives. Part of me seriously wishes we could 'bang their heads together' throw up our hands and say thats enuff, no more 'road maps' peace treaties or gatherings. The world is disgusted by you. I know it wouldnt work and Im ranting but im sickened and jaded!

[treaclefight]

i sympathise with you totally, it's hard to keep caring when nothing changes, one thing that has always bothered me is that these leaders say that they are acting and sacrificing for their people, yet whenever the 'people' get interviewed, they just want peace. i cant see any solution while people live in comfort, even luxury, on the doorsteps of people who are in poverty, both sides can only feel divided and threatened by each other in that situation. no easy answers, but i haven't run out of compassion for people yet.

[andy hughes]

You have to allow fo cultural differences here. English people think about as far back as the days of Empire, if they can be bothered - but Middle Eastern people believe that land is theirs by right and has belonged to their people since biblical times, and they can, and will fight to the death to defend it. It's a tradditional approach to their own land, and that of their neighbours, and it is indemic, in a way that is very hard to us Brits to understand. The nearest we get is the Gaelic peoples who have more of a sense of history, but to the English, their fervour and commitment and absorption of their history is difficult for us to grasp. There may be a solution, but the protagonists will fight every inch of the way to protect what they believe to be theirs, and the solution will be slow and painful in coming.

[woodpam]

I don't think it's necessarily a cultural thing - look at how the UK hangs onto the Falklands and how the situation in Ireland seems never ending. I sympathise with Comloulou's point of view - nothing is being achieved and living conditions for all concerned just deteriorate. I think part of the problem lies in what is common to all these long running conflicts, i.e. all sides feel like oppressed victims being denied their rights. However IMO the peaceful majority of the people who have to live under these bleak conditions should be supported and feel that the world has not turned it's back on them. You can't help but wonder though if some of the protagonists, as well as taking a principled stand on opression, just enjoy a good fight.

[lisaj]

Forgive me if I'm wrong but didn't the Jews (Israelis) buy the land from Palenstine originally? And if so, what on earth is the (original) problem - aside from the settlements that haven't been paid for? Furthermore, do the Palestinians in today's global environment not realise that terrorist action (of all possible actions) is the one thing that will give justification for Israel's violence against them? After all, every time a suicide bomber attacks Israel, it just gives them the 'right' to go and attack Palestinian territories with the consent of the international community because it's against 'terrorism'. com: I'm with you, s0d the lot of them! It seems they're all so unbelievably obstinate they deserve their predicament.