Talk of "driving the Jews into the sea" (though that post by "Abu bin-Husseini" I'd say is pretty clearly a plant by someone who has no sympathy for the Palestinian case) -is a reflection of a history in which the last time the Europeans tried to occupy "the Holy Land" they were eventually, after hundred of years "driven into the sea".

For the Palestinians in exile, it's inevitable that they will cling to the history of the long and ultimately victorious struggle against the Crusaders as a token of hope. Last time it was the Christians, this time it's the Jews - same difference. How could they possibly be expected to see it differently, at a gut level?

Gary T's post implies that the problem is that the Paklestinians are different from everybody else, with hang-ups that mean they don't "have the psychological capability of accepting peace". The trouble is they aren't different from everybody else, while history has placed them in a situation which very few of us could cope with without falling into the trap of hatred and self-destructive rage and bitterness.

For the most part this thread has kept away from falling into that trap - easy enough for us sitting at our computers far from the front line, but even so there's a constant risk of tipping over into the sarcasm and sneering and even the anti-semitic (Arab directed version) stereotypes which dominate sommuch media coverage.

If we can keep it that way, I think there is a value in exchanging views about this stuff, rather than backing away because it is divisive.