I think CarolC accusing me of personal attacks is unfair.

(Jack, of course you must defend her.)

Again, CarolC said "I can't speak for you" immediately after I had already said I was for Human Rights. The only way to take this is as "I think there is still doubt, and that you may be lying." THAT is a personal attack, and as far as I could see it came from nowhere.

What, specifically, did CarolC take as a personal attack from me? I'd be interested to see where she think's I've been "attacking."

CarolC, by saying the following:

I don't see how anyone can be for human rights while supporting what the government of Israel has done and is doing to the Palestinians. As far as I can see, to do that is to promote Jewish rights above the rights of others.

you have shown that

(1) everything you've said about me and human rights and what you really meant (to me and to your husband) is at best an evasion, because now you say you really think I can't possibly support human rights with my politics (which is interesting)

and

(2) you haven't been reading what I've been saying. I don't support what the government of Israel is doing to the Palestinians, and I don't support what Palestinian terrorists are doing to Israelis. But I don't think a solution can be reached until there is a Palestinian leadership with both the power and the will to negotiate for the Palestinian people. Israel has a democratically elected government and trusts its leaders. It has had progressive governments, conservative governments, and reactionary governments, and NONE of them could work with Arafat. There has not yet been a Palestinian leader who could bring anything to the table, which is precisely why Galbraith's points about Arafat's corruption are relevant, and why your trivialization of those points was unfair. Arafat does not want this problem solved because the problem is the source of his power and wealth. THAT is what has been stopping the peace process for forty years.

Let a real Palestinian leader come forward, who is really commtted to peace, and I think a solution will be reached. Until then, Israel is as unable as the Palestinians to solve this problem. You can blame them all you want, but it will not help.

And the whole "It's not up to me to tell you thing" is old, carolC (and JTS). If you said to me "I think you may be an asshole, but it's not up to me to tell you whether you are an asshole or not. Only you can say if you are an asshole," then where I come from you have still called me an asshole, you've just used a lot of extra words.