"How much abuse are we expected to take?"
I never expected anyone to defend that photo of the Palestinian dad in Berlin, with his daughter sitting on his shoulder wrapped in mock explosives. Apparently this goes over pretty well in some quarters.

I'm no expert, but I do know something of the history of the Middle East. I agree that Britain should have known that carving off a piece of the Arab world and giving it to Jews wouldn't go over well. I've always said so.

On the other hand, are you familiar with Haj Amin al Husseini, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Yasser Arafat's uncle? Would you like to see a picture of the Grand Mufti's meeting with Adolf Hitler? (Oops, that website was written by a Jew, you probably wouldn't want to go there.) The Arab world chose the wrong side in World War II. (Perhaps they thought Hitler had the right idea.) When you win a war, you get to divide the spoils thereof: When you lose one, you become the spoils. That, to oversimplify WWII a bit, is why Israel exists today.

Israel has a lot to answer for. I've said so before. The Israel-Palestine conflict is, militarily, one-sided. I've said that too. The Palestinians have displayed a consistency of resolve and purpose that would be admirable if it weren't devoted to the utter destruction of Jews and the Jewish state. Certainly it could be argued that it is in Israel's interest to eradicate the Palestinians and start over. If the Israelis had actually committed themselves to this goal, there would not now be any Palestinians left alive. The rest of the Arab world would hate them, but then, they already do.

Why do you suppose they haven't done it yet?

President Bush has said several times, repeated by the Secretary of State and other "high-ranking officials", that Israel has no better friend than the United States.

I haven't noticed any of Palestine's nominal allies offering to provide a "homeland-in-exile" for their Palestinian brothers. They're content to send bombs (nothing that can be easily traced, of course) and let 'em kill themselves. To a detached observer, it appears that Palestine's Arab allies hate it almost as much as they hate Israel.

Who's your friend?

I suggest that Palestine, likewise, has no better friend than the United States. And unless Palestine would care to forego the millions of dollars in aid the United States is still sending, it would be nice to hear someone say so.