Israel is a complex situation, and it deserves honest and open discussion instead of a constant clash of already-determined positions. Once upon a time, when Israel had a Labor government, it was the darling of the liberals. Recently, its governments have been to the right of center, but an unrecognized problem is that the government has control because of its alliance with a tiny party that will not allow any gesture of reconciliation with the Palestinians. And it's this tiny party that is constructing the "settlements" in Palestinian territory. Most Israelis hate the expense of defending those settlements, but they feel they've been forced to accept them.

And the Palestinians have had leaders who are as opposed to reconciliation, as are the extremist Israelis. And so the Palestinians fight with rockets and the Israelis with bulldozers. And an impossible situation continues. Most of the people on both sides are wonderful people, stuck between a rock and a hard place.

-Joe-