Little Hawk:

Your reply was fascinating to me because while I still don't agree with you on Israel, I resonated totally with your attitude about bullies.

Two Points:

If you always side with the underdog, which I usually do myself, you are in great danger of oscillating back and forth just as I mentioned when I said you were like a positive feedback loop. You will be on Israel's side when they are successfully invaded or horrendously attacked, but not until then. Seeing Israel as a powerful bully is missing the point. Just as a REAL bully uses a 'bully boy' to initiate a fight, the powers of the region, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, possibly Iran, are trying to get rid of Israel by any means necessary. One of the techniques is to utilize the Palestinians as their 'bully boys'. Considering their resources in oil, population, and land area, claiming Israel as anything BUT the underdog is ignoring the true state of things. That there bully of yours is outnumbered with her back to a precipice, LH.

About Separatist movements such as the partitioning off of Quebec from Canada, the Basques from Spain, I agree fully with you. I just feel that Yugoslavia and Israel do not fall under the same conditions. It's a shame that they didn't, possibly they could have, but they simply don't at this point in time.