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To: re3 who wrote (21740)	10/5/2003 2:14:52 PM
From: E. Charters	Respond to of 39344

Jewish means "the hunted species". Israeli means hunting hunters while being hunted. Israelis don't mind joining the army because at least they have a chance to shoot back that way. Danger concentrates the mind wonderfully and invigorates the soul. You definitely get more out of life. Giving Israelis tasks is very efficient because they work fast. They never know if they will get to finish it if they don't hurry. EC<:-}

To: re3 who wrote (21740)	10/5/2003 3:22:15 PM
From: peter snowdon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 39344

"what sort of existence does the average Israeli have, knowing that there is a possibility that taking a bus from here to there might mean losing a limb or their life ?" well, for instance, the average israeli in israel is far more likely to be run over by one of his fellow citizens driving recklessly than he or she is to be blown up by a palestinian suicide bomber. 'terror' is terrifying, but as a military threat, or a even as a hasard in everyday life, it is almost negligible. (and i say this as someone who was myself almost caught in a major suicide bomb attack in tel aviv in january). on the other hand, the average israeli consumes three times as much water as the average palestinian, and the average israeli settler in the occupied territories consumes twice as much water as the average israeli in israel. so in that sense, they have a much better life than their neighbours. similar statistics would apply in other domains, that just happens to be the one i know best. since the outbreak of the second intifadah, on the other hand, palestinian fatalities have been a multiple of israeli fatalaties, and when you look at casualty figures, the disproportion is even more alarming. one israeli commentator, tania reinhart, has argued in a recent book that in an effort to minimise deaths, while inflicting maximum long-term 'damage', the IDF has adopted a deliberate shoot-to-maim policy. (in effect, the ratio of palestinian deaths to casualties over the last three years is much smaller than that recorded in pre-2000 periods of violence, while the number of long-term invalids - the blinded and the maimed - has risen dramatically). but the impact of the occupation on palestinians isnt simply the risk of violence: it is also the fact that they are just not free, and that they feel perpetually humiliated. this is not just a new, post-oslo phenomenon. remember, more israeli settlements were built under barak than under all previous israeli governments put together. barak claimed to want peace, but it was the infrastructure his government put in place which made the cantonisation of palestine inevitable. while he was negotiating with arafat for the cameras, ordinary palestinians continued to see their land confiscated, and their freedom of movement reduced, to make way for their new 'neighbours'. their springs dried up while wells were drilled for the settlers, and their country was covered with a network of modern roads which they weren't allowed to use. palestinians can be stopped, searched, arrested, beaten, denied the right to visit their family or a doctor, or to go to their place of work, or to water their crops, at whim, by small groups of callow, frightened, over-armed nineteen year olds who travel the country in jeeps, toting automatic rifles and scowling at them through their mirror shades. there is nothing analogous in the everyday life of israelis. for most palestinians, it is next to impossible to go to jerusalem; leaving the country for abroad remains a dream. what we have here is not proportionate retaliation against a genuine military threat, or effective deterrence of a criminal minority, but the collective punishment of an entire people. if your federal government tried to impose the kind of conditions we have here on the state of texas, or even on vermont, there would be more america-born suicide bombers detonating themselves in the streets of washington dc within a week than we have seen in this country in the last 35 years. with respect, peter