"clearly retains the full right of any nation to defend itself against attack"
You rightfully claim this on behalf of the Israelis Mike, but seem reluctant to grant the same right to the Palestinians.
If one people have a right to self-defence, then all have.
It only takes a quick count of casualties and fatalities, of loss of land, of number and intensity of military incursions, of prevailing living conditions, of freedom of movement and of human aspiration... to see which is the wealthier, stronger and most aggressive and which is the victim.
A late friend of ours attended the International Ballad Conference in Jerusalem back in the eighties.
Politically he was 'liberal left', a gentle humanitarian who regarded everybody equally and having no particular political axe to grind.
After the first few days he sent us a card which read something like, "Beam me up Scotty - its like being in a military outpost surrounded by uniformed, unfriendly bullies keeping the natives in order - can't wait to get home and down a decent pint of Guinness".
Jim Carroll