Suzanne returns from Israel after some concern on my part. She writes: A.M. I fear I am doing a 180. I had so much compassion for the Palestinians. It's getting harder and harder. Especially when I hear the propaganda they put out. At least Israelis are struggling with the moral issues openly. It's too simplistic to say that we built the machine that is about to make war on the Arab world. (By the way the Israelis are very good at building their own but you mean money over the years). You are getting at something about Pakistan. What Israel has relied on is that the Arab countries can't get it together. We hope that will continue as evidenced in their summit. The Palestinian Arabs (and Arab populations in other countries -even Indonesia), first of all, are the ones that want the war. Israel is getting to be economically very successful. Soon, with peace, they will not need our aid. Many just want the bourgeois peaceful life that we have. Many have fought and are TIRED of it. Give the Palestinians some land and let them make their country. If you look around Israel it's very plain the country is really cooking. It's high tech. The Arabs are not part of this; they are poor,uneducated or mis-educated,and, not least, dispossessed(they ran and sold out and were chased in 1948) etc. Look at the map. Israel is a sliver. All the hoomungus Arab countries around have not absorbed or helped them much (perhaps with the exception of Jordan). The saying is that "they have been kept a festering sore". Even their religious leaders call for violence. They don't have a clue that they need to become trustworthy partners on the same land. Instead they have brought successive generations up to believe that Israel is the "enemy". The propaganda,the news,in schools, even during the "peace process" (especially during the peace process) showed them not to be good partners for peace. They want IT ALL back. ( They offer nothing in return-no peace, no goodwill, no organization, and no control of their people). They figure if they hold out they will sooner or later get it all back. That is why they have nothing. And they have been offered.... They have been terribly misled. Arafat is yesterday's leader. Barak (the best Rabin substitute Israel has) offered about as much as he could before he lost his power to do anything anymore. The Arabs simply walked away from the peace talks and then were ready for any moment to explode. Ariel Sharon gave them that when he showed up at the Temple Mount(Ground Zero) with a thousand guards to show who owns the place ( humiliating!). The Israeli Palestinians have been mistreated. Israel is paying the price for not being evolved enough to know that the only way they can survive is to make sure that the "other 's" needs are provided for. They need not have expanded into settlements as they have. But they did. They should get out- with settlers kicking and screaming. Now they are getting into trouble just trying to protect these places in hostile occupied territory. If you read the Israeli papers, you can see that they are struggling with their response to this intractable situation (the intifada). They have very powerful weapons but they hesitate to use them. They can't even use their rubber bullets. These bullets have been designed to be used from a farther range. That is why they are killing when they are not supposed to.. there also has been much gunfire from the other side as well. The Israeli Defense Force is not going to throw rocks back. But they don't have many non-lethal weapons to choose from. Also they know that the whole world is watching (as the Palestinians do). Don't forget this is also a war for world sympathy. Aside from the nuclear option, which is not an option, I cringe to think of all the other awful forms of warfare that may come to bear here. And it could be long. And bloody. The last thing that Israel wants is a protracted guerilla war. That may be what is going to happen. The young Arab men have been "educated" for this moment and been waiting to have it out. They are otherwise unemployed or doing menial tasks with no better future in sight. For now Israel is probably going to wall them off- allowing some carefully monitored seepage.