The issue is what you mean by “occupation.” Hamas and Fatah both use “occupation” to mean the land which is currently the state of Israel inside the ’49 borders.

If you mean the presence of Israeli soldiers among Palestinians and the control over Palestinian lives, I have to point out that Israel left Gaza in 2005. Even though it controls the borders, as we know from these past couple of weeks, it supplies energy, electricity, water, medicines, food and other supplies. In return, it has received over 4000 rockets launched at it, primarily at Sderot and the Western Negev. This is from Gaza, where there are no Israeli soldiers or civilians. In other words, you cannot call this an occupation. You can claim brotherhood with West Bank/Judea and Samaria Palestinians who still live under Israeli rule, but Gaza is under Hamas rule and before that under PA rule.

I would suggest to you that if Hamas and its sub-groups stopped launching rockets into Israel and instead of using their funds to buy bomb-making materials and other weapons would use this money to build parks for children, plant trees, build sewage and running water capability, improve the electric infrastructure, attempt to establish an infrastructure for businesses, etc., that you would be doing much better in life and nobody would be seeking to attack Israel. Perhaps it isn’t the “occupation” that is the main cause for the violence, but your violent leadership that has preferred war to peace for decades?

I am not certain who WESV1 considers to be “outside the region”, but I am certain that every Islamic nation is quite aware of the material in the textbooks, and that they even use them or have similar books of their own.

We cannot stop them from using such books, which they will surely justify as being “the other side of the story”. However, what can be done is to educate the rest of the world to the bilious hatred that is there (and that is clearly more than just an alternate view of the conflict).

I fully agree that the outside world needs to be made more aware of the hatred being taught to children, which is more often than not tantamount to child abuse.

As to the culture they grow up in, yes, this is a problem. It’s a problem when parents encourage their children to become human bombs. But who’s responsible for the Palestinian educational system? Who is printing the texts that educate Palestinian children to hate Jews? Who’s responsible for creating media that demonizes the Jewish people? I think most Israelis are pretty clear about the culture that the Palestinians grow up in, it is those outside the region that need to wake up and see the sort of vitriol that is being pumped into these peoples’ brains.

pmw.org.il/

memri.org

Bhudda-bhudda-bhudda-kaPWING!

How’s that working out for you, Achmed?

Not so much, I guess.

Hey, say hello to ol’ Yasser when you see him.

“They’re firing at us, firing RPGs, firing mortars. We’re not Jews,” the brother of Jamal Abu Jediyan, a Fatah commander, pleaded during a live telephone conversation with a Palestinian radio station.

Minutes later both men were dragged into the streets and riddled with bullets.

Well said – I think collectively we (Israelis, Jews in the Gola) are well intentioned. Sometimes our actions may appear to be different to the outside world.

It’s an odd place to be for us – a strong community, and not subservient. And given that, how do each of us respond to Middle’s last comment.