From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > I think conservatives are guilty of the most short-sighted > self-congratulatory delusions if they think that Israel can long survive by > attempting to maintain the status quo. No nation can put up with this kind of > war of attrition (people who can will simply start to emigrate; those who > can't will begin to suffer effects of traumatic stress). Israel's economy > will decline, more and more reservists will refuse to serve, and there will > be even more political polarization than there is now. >
At this link http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/03/27/1017206115677.html is an artcle by an ex Jerusalem Post reporter, David Bernstein. He's commenting on how the latest series of suicide bombers are not Hamas religious fanatics but secular Palestinians using themselves as a weapon of last resort. I found it a very balanced and objective statement of what is going on, and why it cannot be continued. And while I disagree entirely with the targetting of civilians, as does Bernstein - soldiers, let's face it, are fair game - he points out that the bombers are using just about the only weapons available to them. And that for all that Israel does not target civilians directly for retaliation the increasing Palestinian civilian death toll shows that the Israelis are getting less and less fastidious about the "collateral effects" of their retaliation. Brett
