Still veering away from the issue, I see... The rights and wrongs of the ways in which the various people carry on their conflict is interesting, but not immediately relevant. The same goes for the history of how this nightmarish situation came about.

But neither of those bear too much relevance to the question of whether there are any valid reasons why Palestine, which is already recognised as a country (albeit occupied) by two-thirds of the globe, should not have this recognition formally accepted by the United Nations.

The fact that the Israeli government has chosen to oppose this recognition, and that, with an election looming, Barack Obama has elected to fall dutifully into line, should not obscure the fact that many Jewish Israelis have no particular objection. "A recent poll conducted by the Hebrew University found that 70% of Israelis believe that if the UN votes in favour of a Palestinian state, Israel should accept the decision...More than 80 prominent Israeli intellectuals gathered outside Independence Hall on Thursday. They were led by author Sefi Rachlevski, to declare their support for a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders. (That comes from here - Israelis largely support calls for Palestinian state, say protesters