1. "Abu Farha, meanwhile, finds bitter irony in the rush of Palestinians into Jerusalem. The Israelis "want to empty Jerusalem," he said. "But what they're doing has turned back against them." Nice way to end the piece, Ellingwood. Unfortunately, you've got it upside down. The real bitter irony is that for all their desire for a Palestinian state they'd still prefer to live in Israel. Now that's ironic.

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2. My father told me the Jews were good neighbors in Palestine pre-1947. They brought technology farming and manufacture that allowed many Arabs to come to Palestine and find jobs and a future. The Jews he said would not have raped anyone as some have claimed. Yes, there were massacres of Jews by Arabs and of Arabs by Jews. The majority of violence was against Jews. They had money and bought the land, legally, from absentee landowners in Ottoman Empire. It is too bad we could not live side by side. Arab citizens of Israel are some of the wealthiest and well educated in the east.

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3. When Israel is attacked again by their enemies who seek to destroy them and have been trying for nearly 60 years since the UN mandated the state of Israel into existence this time they will have help from Russia. You cannot change the stripes of a tiger and you will not be able to change the true goal of Russia or the muslim countries around Israel. They wll not succeed, but, Israel will suffer again. I say to Israel do not trust your "friends." Trust Yahweh. Aliyah.

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4. Hamas (and Hizbullah) is still sworn to Israel's destruction. So ask yourself: At the end of the day, what does Israel want and what do the Arabs want ? Israel wants peace with security, it's shown it will sacrifice land for peace (Sinai, Gaza), and the Arabs what do they want: They want Israel to cease to exist (Hamas). How can Israel make concessions to people whose aim it is for them to die ? Peace will come when the Arab's accept Israel has a right to be there, until then they leave Israel no choice but to defend itself.

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5. Firstly, Jewish ownership of Jerusalem (and Israel) predates Islam. Zionism predates World War II. The Balfour declaration, whereby Britain bequethed Palestine to the Jews predates WW II and finally the partition plan approved by the UN and accepted by Israel was rejected by the Arabs. At which point 6 Arab countries attacked Israel on the day of it's Independence. They lost. Territories captured by Israel in 1967 (East Jerusalem, Gaza, West Bank, Golan Heights) were captured in a war precipitated by the Arabs not in an invasion by Israel. More recently, the separation barrier has reduced Israeli fatalities from terrorism by 70%.

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6. Re: Posting #38, Yes the European jews did originate in the middle east. Not as jews, but as Edomites.They as well as all caucasians are descendants of Esau, Jacobs brother. They became Jews through conversion mainly during the Maccabean/Greek period and came to power during the Roman occupation of Israel. King Herrod was an EDOMITE.

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7. I am addressing the coverage of the latest news regarding the killing of the young Jewish seminarians. This is a tragedy that is reminiscent of what is happening in US campuses, I do not understand while this is such a tragedy compared to the Israelis killing Palestinians. After all, the Israelis invade Palestinians land with impunity with modern weapons and kill hundreds of innocents and this is not considered a tragedy. The coverage by the western media and leaders is a moral travesty.

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8. One of the big problems that no one seems to address in the media is : "Who is escalating this?" By most calculations, there have been about 7 Palestinians killed, for every Israeli killed - since the whole thing began. A 7:1 kill ratio. That is one of the most lop-sided kill ratios of any war in history. It is literally "overkill". This week, a story about the killing of 8 Israelis is making headlines around the world. The killing of 8 Israelis was in response to last week's killing of 110 Palestinians. The 100 Palestinians did NOT make headlines in the news.

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9. Wether artifacts were harmed, we will never be sure. But, one thing is certain, they are being hidden. Greece might have changed the names, but post- roman empire europeans changed the face of history.

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10. to 107Jerusalem belongs to the arabs and the christian artifacts were never harmed under their rule but i agree that the only way to solve this is to share the jews cant have everything

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