If Obama Is Serious

It is very true that Israel is a very worried nation and that they play a game of chess with the Palestinians. However, the pawns are the oppressed people. Israel does not have a right to oppress these people despite their claims of legitimacy. Not agreeing with Israel does not mean that we are anti-Jewish. It does mean that we are focused on human rights. America is a melting pot of many cultures. We have spoken out about slavery, racism, Nazi oppression, Russian oppression, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, sexism, the oppression of hunger, etc. Can we stand by and ignore this travesty any longer.

I think A.D. Miller made a great point. Unless you live there you really don't know what your talking about. If someone made a peace agreement with you and then showed up with a bulldozer and wrecked your house and you had no where to live you might consider killing them. And then if 10 of your people were killed as vengeance for 1 of their people you could probably make some permanent enemies. Try extraditing an Israeli for a crime out of Israel, You might find out that the rest of the world is nothing but an infidel to be beat on and used similar to a horse's butt.

I think Aaron David Miller forgets who has been the aggressor here - Hamas. No one denies that settlements and encroachment do not help in the West bank. However, Israel left Gaza and is still getting bombed. What about the millions of Israelis who have 15 seconds to get into a shelter. The United States is the only true friend Israel has, and Israel is the only true friend the United States has in the Middle East - a country that shares our Western values, that doesn't want to tear up our very fabric. No one denies that President Obama must be strong. However, world opinion has always been against Israel and will continue. It is up to us as US citizens to continue to stand with Israel. They share our democratic and religious values.

Israel is so frightened that their past continues to haunt them..Probably necessary since they all seem to be Greedy and Self Righteous.
They are a sneaky race,,they stole the hexagram for their flag from the Indian culture approximately one hundred years ago.
Interesting how the star of david has nothing to do with Solomon or The Bible.
It was revered in India as a Symbol of Sexual Union between Kali and Shiva to maintainlife in the universe.
Isreal and the jews involved and it seems like all the jews have a common phone connection..hate the Arabs,,destroy the Arabs,Jews are worth a ratio of 1:100...too bad they can't understand the past,,,they are all cowards...murderers of innocent people to scare, to Terrorize women and children and wait for the men to retalliate....really takes a nation,a man to sit inside a tank or to hold a gun while your military comrades eat potatochips and little girls are killed by these Nazi style tactics....

50 or 60 years of hearing about the poor little Israeli's how hard they have it ,time to stop sending billions to them; so they can lend it back to us at very high interest rates i wish i can have laws changed to fit our agenda just to live in peace i don't think it would include nukes

50 or 60 years is enough time to the stop the please feel sorry for the poor little Israelis we give them billions they lend it back to us at high rates sorry time is up get a life screwing some other nation

Again. Let Israel take care of itself. Enough is enough. We have millions of Americans out of work; losing their homes; homeless--sleeping in cars, in alleys, etc.. We can use that money to help them. It is about time Israel paid their own
way.

I think it is about time we let Israel take care of itself. Enough is enough. We have millions of Americans out of work; losing their homes etc. We need to use tht money to take care of them..Let Israel take care of itself once and for all.

Then he should be silent...

This is the first reasonable argument I have heard in years. Of course, an "honest broker" will see both sides and not just one. Too long we have given Israel carte blanche to deal with surrounding Arab nations without once demanding anything of substance from Israel. It is far too late in the peace-making process to take sides, if we indeed want peace in the Middle East.

For stgarters--the settlements should be disbanded, secondly East Jerualem should go to Palestine, third Golan Hights should be ceded g\back to Syria...then peace can be discussed

If Obama does not have the courage to tell the honest truth, it's better for him to be be silent.

Refreshing to read Aaron Miler's ideas regarding Palestine and Israel..I am happily surprised to read this is the WSJ. Saddened but not surprised by the negative responses of those that appear invested in only Israel's point of view. Clearly the only way forward is to have a grander vision, inclusive of the needs and aspirations of both nations and neighbours. I am going to aspire to Barak Obama being the leader that can guide Mr Aaron's vision forward finally in a real and oroductive way.

Unlikel but We can only hope so. And as usual the pro israeli lobby trots out its falsehoods and self-serving interpretations of the Hamas charter which does call for a Palestine state and specifically talks about Muslims, Jews and Christians living together in tolerance and peace.

That is nice talking about getting tough with Isreal but does anybody think there is a chance of that when the Chief of Staff is a Native born Isreali, and was a member of their armed forces? Aso his father, who is a known ex-terrorist, seems to be pulling some strings. There are too many Jews in the cabinet and the Lobby to change much about America's views on Isreal/Palestine. The Arabs, I am afraid are doomed if they think America will change its stance toward them and the Middle East - at least history has proved that for the past 60 years.

How will "getting tough " with israel induce people who don't want a Palestinian state to stop killing. I refer to Hamas, which very forthrightly states what its desires are. Nowhere does it ask for a Palestinian state, Its charter seeks a worldwide Caliphate starting with the destruction of Israel and a lot of dead Jews. Quaint notions such as peace, co-existence, compromise and other such western concepts are nowhere to be found. Clinton got tough with Israel, and ramed his solution down Israel's throat. Israel said yes and Arafat said no. Israel has tried land for peace and got none. Perhaps its time to let the Palestinians actually suffer the consequences of their actions.

America is the world leader and people from all over expect it's good office to be used to solve the 60 year old conflict. The countries in the area need to be brought to table and told hot spot there is a major cause of concern for all. All earlier efforts failed as there was no honest mediator. President Obama with his words seems different and may help broker peace. All the countries have right to exist but have no right to bring trouble to rest of the world.

I wish to address the quote "There is a need to impose some accountability. And this can only come from the president." While I thoroughly agree with the first part of this statement, I do wonder why it is up to an American president to tell grown adults and the leaders of Israel what seems like common sense. Israel has had many years of support and funding from the the U.S, and are far more equipped to determine their future than are the Palestinians. And these are not things that can be controlled by any simple statement from a U.S. official. At this point in history, it is really in Israel's hands and those of its people to determine how they want to behave and be seciten in the world and then move in that direction.

As Abraham Lincoln once said - "Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it."