Deda: Right on. The missing people in this one sided 'equation' of false fairness are the refugees taken in by Israel from middle eastern lands. On the other side, the Arab states have refused to take on refugees from the losing side of the Israel War of Independence and sustained the war on Israel thereby. I find this as cynical a view as ever there was.

CarolC: Your question is over a position of your own making, sometimes called putting up the straw man. I think that Israel has acknowledged the existence of Palestinians all along. You may have discovered them, but they knew they existed, and Israel knew they existed. The questions are over whether there should be a Palestinian State on the West Bank, and its actual contours and resources and I raised questions as to the viability of same.

There already exists a Palestinian state in the Middle East. It's called Jordan. Check out its population and history.

McGrath: My opening sentence stands on its own. I didn't write it in response to you, and I don't know which columnist you are referring to. I was trying to use your man digging a hole analogy, and I couldn't get it to work, sorry.

Israel has gone to great efforts to make concessions toward a Palestinian State (including right after the Six Day War of 35 years ago) and there are several reports out there by reliable journalists as to who was conceding what, and when.