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Well that sounds like you're arguing in favor of a double standard imposed on Israel's role in a two way war, because you hold them to the standards of a Westernized nation. Okay. The problem with that is it's a war that Israel has reluctantly taken part in, and the truth is, they weren't all that Westernized even 20 years ago....and still today, they are a melting pot that hasn't melted so cohesively, and add to this the fact that the majority of their citizens do not come from Western socities. I doubt this changes who you feel deserves the majority of burdern for peace. The problem with the notion of peace, and the suggestion that Israel can do or say anything to provide peace, is it disregards the history and the truth about these Arab people in question, which we now call Palestinians. They have had many opportunities to coexist, and that's about as much as Israel can offer them, right? What do you think would appease Israel's enemies realistically?

I don't think there's a shortage of debate on the topic so much as a shortage of honest and INFORMED debate.....neither of which Carter offers up with his book. I'm sure if we counted up the many threads in this forum concerning Israel it would be a disproportionate number, and that's all fine.... but it's a complex topic and it's easy to be tripped up in the rhetoric. If the information comes from someone like Carter, who spends his time as a humanitarian, then it shouldn't be biased, nor should it be malicious. That serves no good purpose - not even in bettering the Palestinian Arabs.