Iran nuclear summit urges Israel to sign non-proliferation treaty

peace. It is totally ridiculous that a mini state with just over 5 million jewish inhabitants is allowed by the internatinal community (that is the USA and the west) to have atomic weapons, while in the same time a country like Iran with more than tentimes the number of inhabitants is denied to take counter action in the form of a nuclear program against the Israeli atomic wormongers. Do five million jews have more rights than 50 million Iranians? It sounds reasonable to me that Israel should give up its nuclear weapons, and signs the non proliferation treaty, if they want to denie other countries in the region the right of a nuclear program.

CJ, your arguments in defense of the invasion of Israel by neighboring Arab states in 1948 is nonsensical and laughable. You make it sound as if the Arab armies were solely invading to save the Palestinians and not to threaten Israel or try to destroy it. The idea that the Arab states wanted only to secure territories allocated to Arabs in the partition plan is absurd. Syrian forces invaded Israel's Galilee - territory allocated to Israel in the partition plan. The Egyptian army advanced northward through the Gaza Strip toward Tel Aviv - territory allocated to Israel in the partition plan. Those Arab states rejected partition - they wanted to destroy Israel at birth, not to enforce borders that they didn't accept in the first place!

Israel is at war with its neighbors because since its birth its neighbors have tried to destroy and they still claim they want to do it. RE:aboriginal Gee, I didn't know israel had ever occupied Australia. Maybe you are confused and are talking about the UK.

Perhaps the Antipodean opposition to Israeli brutality towards the Palestinians is that we have learned something from our history, and we see that Israel hasn't. Treating other people with contempt is something Jews should not be doing considering their history of being on the receiving end of contempt and oppression, but in these columns some of us see a deplorable 18th century colonial arrogance in Israeli attitudes. New Zealand has had universal adult suffrage since about 1895, so we do know what we're talking about.

"When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." I think that arik went through the looking glass a long, long time ago.

We have all sorts of stupid laws on the books. In MA, horse drawn carriages must display a candle all night long. Nobody has repealed it. There are still anti-sodomy laws even in states that recognize gay marriage. Sooner or later, the UN will get around to inserting "offensive" as the description they intended. In the meantime, the law is going the way of jury nullification. All over the world. If you are not going to cite Jordan for what it did, then you can't cite Israel, CJ.

MMMM delicious cake, good thing I have 2 that way I can have have my cake and eat it too!!! South Africa gave up their bomb and the blacks didn't drive the whites into the sea...

I can't wait for global demand for oil to end...then what will fund all these crazies? Imagine how Iran would react if it were subjected to daily rocket raids from any of its neighbours! There is no conception (within Iran) of the farce that Ahmadinejad has become. This is largely because the truth is being hidden from the Iranian people and they are being led by a Fascist Military Organization that has repeatedly oppressed its people and denied any vestige of true democracy within its borders. BUT A warning to Bibi...there is the opinion that America will always stand by Israel...don't be deluded by the powerful Israeli lobby in Washington - there are MANY anti-Semites in America that couldn't care less if the entire mid-east were paved over, bombed into a nightmarish landscape of sand melted into glass...as long as it doesn't interrupt their TV shows and access to Big Macs.

It's a very real and dangerous threat to Muslim hegemony in the ME. It's a challenge to the Islamic notion that Allah blesses societies ruled by shari'a lawa. It's a challenge to the leaders of neighboring countries who cannot support Israel's success while their own societies wallow in misery. It's a challenge to the custom that women should be denied full equality to men. At the same time, it serves as a wonderful scapegoat for all that's not going well on the Arab street. If one day Israel is finally beaten down and destroyed (as so many would like to happen) there will just be a need to invent some other bogeyman to distract the gullible and helpless population from focusing their attention on where their problems really come from.

those who're seeking only to justify, it's simply not the MO.

a: "Israel has not formally annexed territory." Then BY DEFINITION Israel is not claiming that this territory belongs to it. a: "In other words it is territory in dispute." Your "words" contradict each other. Israel is insisting that this must be CEDED TO IT as the price tag for ending this occupation, and so this isn't a "dispute", but an attempt at "extortion". a: "The palestinians can claim it." The Palestinians *do* claim it: they insist that this territory is theirs. Israel does *not* claim it but, rather, insist that the Pals must cede it to them. a: "So does Israel" Does anyone else notice arik's sudden change of tense? "the palestinians CAN claim it" "So DOES Israel". Arik is mistaken i.e. Israel does not claim it, because THAT'S WHAT "ANNEXATION" IS. Israel is insisting that this territory must be ceded to her, and THAT is a tacit acknowledgement that this territory is a) the Pals to give away, and not b) Israel's to take.

"What makes you think that borders in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world have been etched in stone" I don't...but hey, you go ahead and make things up "..England and France the ME has changed border and land areas several times in the 20th century alone" Not since the UN. " Wars have changed borders as well. Just look at the most recent Ottoman Empire. Britain carved it up as she saw fit" Neither France or Brits CLAIMED ANY of the Ottoman Empire for themselves they occupied under Mandates designed to form Independent States of the territories they occupied. Israel has done the opposite. It has claimed territories it is occupying. Israel has illegally instituted Israeli civil law in "territories occupied".. It has not protected the occupied, it has usurped them. It has done so under protection against action by the UN UNSC Veto Vote on Chapter 7 resolutions. Chapter 6 resolutions still stand, the law still stands, Israel's breaches still stand.

Arab League stance. Where is the UNSC resolution condemning their actions? There isn't one because it was LEGAL. They had a legitimate case for invading Palestine (of which Israel was no longer a part) "Azzam Pasha (first secretary-general of the Arab League between 1945 and 1952): "This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades". (May 14, 1948)" What was he talking about though? What Israel was doing or what the Arab League would do? Because the actual declaration by the Arab League issues no such notions... No threats to Israel AT ALL. It outline the case for invading Palestine, not Israel. The UNSC Resolutions and armistice agreements and peace agreements all say peace in PALESTINE, not Israel, the wars were not fought in Israel. Jewish/Israeli forces OUTSIDE of Israel were attacked.

Dear Dino Your comparison declassfies you a lot. It looks like putting Swizerland and Lybia beeing in a conflict on the same level. Bevore dropping a note in this forum think rather than type!

I have been reading since last 10 years & till the moment is unable to udnerstand as how Israel feel threatend. Israel is the most powerful country financially & militarily both.They have won all the wars against neighbours. They are occupying the lands of others , They have Nukes & all lethel weapons [ but they don't want others to have] still they feel the existential threats. How come it is? So by arming themselves with Nukes & denying their others they will compel them to accept them lovingly.

Just hide his index finger in the photo for this page.

create a platform for talk. No one will be able to afford being NUKED. Iranian has their genuine fear that when Israel has nukes why they can't? The demand by them for US troops withdrawl is also legitimate. Just consider it for a moment will Israelis ever LOVE to have US forces on their land. Even to protect them.??????????? Think & answer

to nuke them. & US has most lethel Nukes ever made. So should they also be allowed to keep those deadly weapons??? It is a question that should not go unanswered.

First of all its OUR world too, not just yours. And secondly, are you too blind to see that the real trouble is the rhetoric of Ahmedinejad, and their denial of Israel even if there will be a Palestinian state. Palestinian state near Israel is bad for Hezbollah, Iran and Syria. That`s why they support attacks on Israel, to undermine peace process. So Palestinans should abandon the Iranian and Syrian ambitions, and start to think about their future.

despite Irans massive oil wealth. How many patents come out of the Mullah run police state?

1938 "Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves ? politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves? The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country." ?David Ben Gurion, quoted on pp 91-2 of Chomsky's ?Fateful Triangle?, which appears in Simha Flapan's "Zionism and the Palestinians pp 141-2 citing a 1938 speech. Before [the Palestinians] very eyes we are possessing the land and the villages where they, and their ancestors, have lived? We are the generation of colonizers, and without the steel helmet and the gun barrel we cannot plant a tree and build a home. ? Israeli Army Commander Moshe Dayan "We enthusiastically chose to become a colonial society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft and finding justification for all these activities. Passionately desiring to

It seems odd that a nation in existence for 62 years is always feeling threatened. Why? What is wrong with this picture? What are they doing to have such hatred directed at them?

The effectiveness with which Obama has isolated Iran is shown by Iran's desperate efforts at reality denial and towards changing the subject.

a: "Israel has not formally annexed territory." Then BY DEFINITION Israel is not claiming that this territory belongs to it. a: "In other words it is territory in dispute." Your "words" contradict each other. Israel is insisting that this must be CEDED TO IT as the price tag for ending this occupation, and so this isn't a "dispute", but an attempt at "extortion". a: "The palestinians can claim it." The Palestinians *do* claim it: they insist that this territory is theirs, but Israel does *not* claim it but, rather, they insist that the Pals must cede it to them. a: "So does Israel" Does anyone else notice arik's sudden change of tense? "the palestinians CAN claim it" "So DOES Israel". Arik is lying i.e. Israel does not claim it, because THAT'S WHAT "ANNEXATION" IS. Israel is insisting that this must be ceded to her, and THAT is a tacit acknowledgement that this territory is a) the Pals to give away, and not b) Israel's to take.

u can't speak for every Muslim only for you self and the likes of you.I know a lots and lots of Muslims who had enough of your kind speaking for them.There is many Muslims who have nothing against Israel, and wont peace there ones and for all.

Israel is the real danger in the ME. I've heard it said many times that they do not threaten anybody with war. No, they don't threaten, they just go ahead and do it!!!

thank God for that there is no suicide bombing and civilian murder by your brothers, and you cant live with that.

CJ is most probably one of the so called Iranian boat "refuges" that the naive Australian gov allowed them to stay,most probably they way are thinks are going in Australia he and the rest of the so called"refuges" will have to go back the same way they came, and than he can truly involve him self in the Arab cause in Iran.

Australia and New Zeland that poisoned the well, because a major part of the anti Israel conversation on this site is from those places. I guess the Irish aren't too far behind , but thats been going on along time in the USA. as Irving Berlin said G-d bless America 70% approve.

you are the example to what Peter said.

What"nuclear doors"? The NPT, like the UN started well, but has been divested of any moral power by the Arabs, no wonder that both organizations cannot protect anyone.If Iran has nuclear warheads, then certainly this microbe has the right to them, before it is wiped from the map.

ethnic cleansing of aborigines?? who was ethnic cleansing aborigines in Australia? According to you Israelis???? Got you self mix up? or not very good at history and geography?Go back to school;)))

I support you, who cares what this mentally sick Ahmed has to say, nobody cares only the likes of him.

Very convincing argument. Just about as convincing as the arguments of the Jew-hating talkbackers on Haaretz

Because Israel is under threat they need the Bomb.

"There are more Iranians than Jews so we nee to get on the side of the majority" Majority does not mean correctness or closeness to the truth. Have you heard about the pamphlet entitled "100 Authors Against Einstein" and Einstein's famous response? You should probably know that standing with the majority for numbers sake can be utterly dangerous.

Is it any wonder that youd support this nut?? seems not too long ago your country supported another nut....

"Every Muslim in the world feels Israel is the biggest threat to them than our Iranian brothers." Abdullah, difficult to see your logic. Look at it even from a size perspective or strategic position and you would see with whom the Gulf states are really worried. Now, under you definition of brothers, with 1,000,000 dead the Iraq-Iran war was a real fratricide war. I can imagine how you may treat non-relatives..

Arnold, The Arab states had no moral obligation to accept half of Palestine being given to Jews. Jews only made up 10% of Palestine in 1915, and this was after decades of Zionist immigration. The land was rightfully the Arabs'. Most of the Jews were foreigner, and some ancient, religious claim to the land is not going to persuade those whose immediate ancestors lived there to give it up.

CJ: "Strange there`s no UNSC condemnation of the Arab Leagues actions. It is customary. There was no threat to Israel or of extermination." Azzam Pasha (first secretary-general of the Arab League between 1945 and 1952): "This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades". (May 14, 1948)

Mister Ahmedinehad, The creator of israel is God, and he will never stop backing.

What makes you think that borders in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world have been etched in stone. In fact the Middle East is one area of the world that has been changed more often than elsewhere. Whether by war or by occupying European mandate. Yes CJ... between England and France the ME has changed border and land areas several times in the 20th century alone. Wars have changed borders as well. Just look at the most recent Ottoman Empire. Britain carved it up as she saw fit.

Iran did sign the NPT which banned them from having nukes but they are developing them anyway along with the missiles to deliver them Israel chose not to sign the NPT making its nuclear program LEGAL, it has never threatened to use those weapons & the arabs are not even worried about Israel having the things because they understand the rules of the game .. dont try destroy Israel and Israel will never have need to destroy them. Israels nukes have helped keep the peace Iran is threatening to wipe Israel off the map, it wants to bully the Giulf states. Be the regional superpower and a global power possibly even try and bully the west into supporting them politically. The only thing thats going to give them that power are nuclear weapons Since Obama took power every arab country have been acting in an oportunist way because they know Obama hates Israel & loves muslims so they try their luck & now Iran is trying the same & trying to divert attention from its own ILLEGAL nuclear program

CJ: "Strange there`s no UNSC condemnation of the Arab Leagues actions. It is customary. There was no threat to Israel or of extermination." Azzam Pasha (first secretary-general of the Arab League between 1945 and 1952): "This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades". (May 14, 1948)

Ahmadinejad remind us of the 1970?s Muammar al-Kaddafi a man full of spare of the moment hallow and empty threats and barking.

Throughout history the Jewish people have been belittled for their beliefs. Others have made up untrue stories to demonize the Jewish people. Really all we ask is to have our little piece of land Israel. We have no desire to conquer countries. Arabs and Jews lived in Palestine/Israel for hundreds of years. There were problems but they worked them out. In 1947 Jews and Arabs never had the chance to try to live side by side because the surrounding countries goaded the Palestinians to leave in order for them to attack and eradicate the Jewish citizens. The offer from Israelis has always been the same. It is we are home and we will not leave. Live next door in peace and we will have a strong region.

And the UNSC`s dreams too I guess. Maybe. Who cares? Israel has not formally annexed territory. In other words it is territory in dispute. The palestinians can claim it. So does Israel ----------------------- Irrelevant. The territory was not Sovereign to Israel. Very RELEVANT. Jordan attacked Israel. Israel was right in advancing to the other side and conquering. The FATE OF THAT TERRITORY CONQUERED IN A DEFENSIVE WAR IS STILL IN DISPUTE. Isn't that clear? Peace and security=devolution of territories. How do we know? Israel has already done thT. ----------------------- Nor was it Sovereign Israeli territory. Non-entities such as Palestine are not obliged to form a state. They do not need territory then. --------------------------- Israel has NEVER compromised at ANY time. Really??????? You are lying. Sinai. Jordan land. Accepted partition, accepted Clinton proposals, Taba, Ulmart. What about that?

CJ... im in love! LOL

44: the tough economic situation in Syira, Lebanon mainly is because of war, spending on war, sanctions , Runaway of foriegn direct investments, and all is rooted back to Israel. just ask yourself y Dubai has become what it is for example?? we wont argue on this. 50: In 1947 there was an invader coming by sea and by default the fight was to be faught so that they wont end up in camps in Syria, Lebanon and jordan. My Thinking here is that peace will paralyze Irans intentions and secure a better future for jews for 100s of years to come.

I believe the statement was to the effect that there'd be a STALEMATE. MAD was a stalemate situation.

"Israel can never lose a War" If you say so... "Israel can never WIN a war, either, even a defensive war that was forced upon her by an Arab population" The preempter starts a preemptive war until such time, there isn't one. Jewish forces outside of Israel's newly declared boundaries were attacked by the Arab League. As powers in the region, they had a right to go to the defense of the territories they represented the moment Israel Declared Sovereignty. ".....by an Arab population that cannot come to grips with a non-Muslim entity" I see, so Israel been tolerantly wiping the Palestinians off the map for 62 years..http://wp.me/PDB7k-Y#look "FYI, Israel will never be your homeland" For your information, it was declared in the name of every Jewish person on the planet, read the Declaration.

"Nothing was stolen JC. The robbery is in your mind and dreams." And the UNSC's dreams too I guess. "The 6 days war was a deffensive war" Irrelevant. The territory was not Sovereign to Israel. Clue 'ACQUIRE' is not the same as defend or re-claim the territory of a SOVEREIGN. Read Stephen M. Schwebel. " and the territory conquered DID NOT BELONG TO ANY PALESTINIAN STTE" Nor was it Sovereign Israeli territory. Non-entities such as Palestine are not obliged to form a state. No one can force independence on anyone. Clue INDEPENDENT state. Israel has NEVER compromised at ANY time. It has always sought to keep part of the non-Sovereign territories it has ACQUIRED by war. "Palestinian rejection is strategically and morally wrong" But illegal acquisition isn't? Amazing!! "The 48 war was a super defensive war" Strange there's no UNSC condemnation of the Arab Leagues actions. It is customary. There was no threat to Israel or of extermination. http://wp.me/pDB7k-ki

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sticks to his demented rhetoric like bovine dropping to a wall. The West and Israel have been played like a violin by the self proclaimed master Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. When it comes right down to it all this will in the end be about Israel?s nukes not Iran?s nuclear program. This brings another interesting facet into view. Israel has nukes everyone knows it but Israel and India are given a pass; this does not reflect well on the West and the UN in the Islamic world. But then again Israel and India don?t go around threatening other countries with nuclear destruction.

Frankly, I recognize that the ideal desire of pragmatic muslim (1/3 of the whole) is to see a one state in palestine with jews and arabs in. But with the entity named Israel uprooted us the setllers do with olive trees. Which is very symbolic about the Isreali subconscious collective goal. Think about! That's the message Israel is sending to us. Our response is: you first!

Israel can never lose a War. Israel can never WIN a war, either, even a defensive war that was forced upon her by an Arab population that cannot come to grips with a non-Muslim entity. FYI, Israel will never be your homeland. Knock it off.

He Arik You can speak for yourself and all your Jewish allies and supporters that is the US,Britain,Germany, France even Russia but dont speak for the Muslims. Only the corrupt Arab govt side with US for their survival. Every Muslim in the world feels Israel is the biggest threat to them than our Iranian brothers. Period.

He is at a loss for words...and thoughts. He has painted a target on his oversized ego driven empty head and it won't be too much longer before his own people remove this head or someone does it for him...you'll see just wait! and good riddance to bad garbage!

"Where the thief wanted to give a small fraction of what it had stolen in order to keep the rest." Nothing was stolen JC. The robbery is in your mind and dreams. The 6 days war was a deffensive war and the territory conquered DID NOT BELONG TO ANY PALESTINIAN STTE. Peel, Partition, Clinton, Taba, Ulmart proposals, all symbolized Israel's acceptance to compromise at different times of history. Palestinian rejection is strategically and morally wrong. The blame for their losses should be put in Hadj Amin el Husseini, not the Palmach. The 48 war was a super defensive war. Plan Daleth was the minimum a tiny community of heroic Jews could do to overcome the threat of being exterminated. Just a very disturbed mind could even think in the odd that Israel should have waited to be destroyed in order to attack. In present times it is a similar game. Iran threats should be taken seriously. A preemtive attack (if could be done) is the right and moral thing to do.

You and all your bretheran talk peace yet none of you ever answers this question. Why did the Arab countries surrounding Israel not accept them to be living in their mandated area. They were not occupiers. They always lived there. It was their home land. And the land they were mandated to live on was a rock laden barren desert. You and your bretheran always talk of peace. Where was this peace in 1947 ?

I support a nuclear Iran as do progressives everywhere. It is no surprise that American president Obama is negotiating with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. There are more Iranians than Jews so we nee to get on the side of the majority

"..supporter and advocate of intolerance" Where? "How else can you explain your support for tyranny?" What support? ----------- "CJ denies Jews their tiny homeland" Strange, I'm Jewish and I'd like my homeland state to abide by the law. No more, no less. "Why do you support Muslim expansionism.." Oh? " and colonialism" Uh? " while falsely accusing Jews of the same?" Quote me You have a very fertile imagination....and a pocketful of the usual Hasbara accusations when you have no argument.

"if iran is such good regime as u described" But I didn't olde chap. I merely contested as to why two rapists were hanged. Iranian women are only required to cover their hair. You ought to learn to discern what has been said with what the voice in your head wants to be said. As for the opposition, they'd be Governing under the same system of Government as the current regime......BTW they would also pursue the Iranian Nuclear program, they did last they were in power.

Israel needs a definitive battlefield victory to secure a political peace. Stymied by the West after the 6 Day, Yom Kippur War, Lebanonese and Palestinian wars from finishing off the enemy Israel has been locked into an endless political stalemate.

//" cj "be rid of the israeli pest" " That's not what I wrote..... is there some contagion going around?? "..you are of course perfectly entitled to dislike us." A) Who is 'us'. B) Where have I mentioned disliking Israeli's? C) When you learn to 1) quote people verbatim 2) stop conflating Israeli's with the Government of Israel, come back, we might be able to relate.

The land is disputed not stolen and you are repeating your lies over and over.

Thursday, February 21, 2008 Benny Morris' letter to The Irish Times Madam, - Israel-haters are fond of citing - and more often, mis-citing - my work in support of their arguments. Let me offer some corrections. The Palestinian Arabs were not responsible "in some bizarre way" (David Norris, January 31st) for what befell them in 1948. Their responsibility was very direct and simple. In defiance of the will of the international community, as embodied in the UN General Assembly Resolution of November 29th, 1947 (No. 181), they launched hostilities against the Jewish community in Palestine in the hope of aborting the emergence of the Jewish state and perhaps destroying that community. But they lost; and one of the results was the displacement of 700,000 of them from their homes. It is true, as Erskine Childers pointed out long ago, that there were no Arab radio broadcasts urging the Arabs to flee en masse; indeed, there were broadcasts by several Arab radio stations urging them to stay put. But, on the local level, in dozens of localities around Palestine, Arab leaders advised or ordered the evacuation of women and children or whole communities, as occurred in Haifa in late April, 1948. And Haifa's Jewish mayor, Shabtai Levy, did, on April 22nd, plead with them to stay, to no avail. Most of Palestine's 700,000 "refugees" fled their homes because of the flail of war (and in the expectation that they would shortly return to their homes on the backs of victorious Arab invaders). But it is also true that there were several dozen sites, including Lydda and Ramla, from which Arab communities were expelled by Jewish troops. The displacement of the 700,000 Arabs who became "refugees" - and I put the term in inverted commas, as two-thirds of them were displaced from one part of Palestine to another and not from their country (which is the usual definition of a refugee) - was not a "racist crime" (David Landy, January 24th) but the result of a national conflict and a war, with religious overtones, from the Muslim perspective, launched by the Arabs themselves. There was no Zionist "plan" or blanket policy of evicting the Arab population, or of "ethnic cleansing". Plan Dalet (Plan D), of March 10th, 1948 (it is open and available for all to read in the IDF Archive and in various publications), was the master plan of the Haganah - the Jewish military force that became the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) - to counter the expected pan-Arab assault on the emergent Jewish state. That's what it explicitly states and that's what it was. And the invasion of the armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq duly occurred, on May 15th. It is true that Plan D gave the regional commanders carte blanche to occupy and garrison or expel and destroy the Arab villages along and behind the front lines and the anticipated Arab armies' invasion routes. And it is also true that mid-way in the 1948 war the Israeli leaders decided to bar the return of the "refugees" (those "refugees" who had just assaulted the Jewish community), viewing them as a potential fifth column and threat to the Jewish state's existence. I for one cannot fault their fears or logic. The demonisation of Israel is largely based on lies - much as the demonisation of the Jews during the past 2,000 years has been based on lies. And there is a connection between the two. I would recommend that the likes of Norris and Landy read some history books and become acquainted with the facts, not recycle shopworn Arab propaganda. They might then learn, for example, that the "Palestine War" of 1948 (the "War of Independence," as Israelis call it) began in November 1947, not in May 1948. By May 14th close to 2,000 Israelis had died - of the 5,800 dead suffered by Israel in the whole war (ie almost 1 per cent of the Jewish population of Palestine/Israel, which was about 650,000). - Yours, etc, Prof BENNY MORRIS, Li-On, Israel. February 21, 2008

I seem to remember that it was Arafat who turned down the two-state solution in 2000, and then he and other leaders on subsequent occasions.

What does the economic situation in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon have to do with Israel?

....is pretty much the same (demonstrators demanding more freedom regularly being shot at, peaceful resistance being systematically oppressed), I give a hoot about the terms "democracy" and "dictatorship". Or to put it with good old Hillary Clinton, that is then a distinction you can Xerox....

"cj "hanged only for homosexual rape" ... "untrue" It's not what I wrote.

Why do you support Muslim expansionism and colonialism, while falsely accusing Jews of the same?

How else can you explain your support for tyranny?

There is a definite sense of inevitability surrounding Israel's destined fate. Jews chose the Zionism of Jabotinsky over the Zionism of Buber, Magnes and Ha'am. The last 60 years Zionists shaped their future around the Iron Wall theory - and turned that into a reality in more ways than one. It's a fiat-accompli! Israel today is a state based on the extreme side of Zionism. Extremism in the pursuit of liberty and equality is no vice but when it involves the pursuit of oppression and exclusivity, something becomes terribly rotten in Denmark or in this case Tel-Aviv. Ahmadinejad is absolutely correct in his assessment of Israel. The record is clear for all to see. If only the 300 plus miles of walls and endless checkpoints could speak - what would they say about the "only democracy in the Middle East"?

So what's your hasbara? Still upset about having to live in your mom's basement?

CJ, you know darn well that Israel didn't just wake up one morning and decide to "take" other folks territory. It is the one-sided Arab thinking, not coming to terms with Israel in an "ARAB" Middle East that forced the Arabs to try to WIPE OUT the Jewish State. Israel has constantly wanted Peace, all she was offered was a one-sided Peace. Each Arab War resulted in more lost land, only a fool would surmise that Israel kept **taking** other folks land like it was premeditated. If Israel wanted other folks land, she would now control half of Lebanon without breaking a sweat. It is your Hasbara that makes you sound like a yutz. Reading your skewed views and half-truths every day doesn't make your posts true.

if iran is such good regime as u described why do i see in every european city thousands of exiled Iranians hating their own country for its regime. do i believe an iranian exiled poor guy or u from sydney= 10000000000 miles away from there? even in grenoble france i have many Iranian friends who re sick of the regime they said they hung homosexuals, opposition, even the opposition inside the gov is fearing they say they were not allowed to have fun in the way they want they cant walk in the sun with their girl/boy friends. and these people i talk about re not the ones who run from the revolution they re people coming to europe to study. you said ''WOW!! A lot of Iranian women will be surprised '' so why i never saw an iranian girl who covers up outside iran. in turkey tourists from iran as soon as they enter they wear normal clothes. i dont know if u know but before the revolution people covering up were less than half of iran.like it was couple of 5 years ago in turkey.

you are of course perfectly entitled to dislike us. no complaints.

untrue.it is more to do with the character with the person in charge at the time.if he has a thing about gays he hangs those caught indulging, it is true they live in fear of their lives.

see the armistice agreement signed "without prejudice to future settlements or boundary lines. article 6 section 9.jordan israel armistice agreement 1949 april.

Corrupt .. YES.. very corrupt ...but to collapse not at all because Israel will still have good people that care for this country and for years to come.

Brother Sadaam managed to kill about a million Iranians in the period of this conflict. Meanwhile Arabs/Iranians have killed untold numbers of Kurds and continue to occupy Kurdistan. The mullahs sent their own children running over landmines. None so blind.

So because of their own mistakes (the arab ones), Israel will think twice before giving back the Westbank, and it will all take more longer. Gaza was like a test to see if the arabs want to have peace, and to see if they are able (mature enough) to literary live side by side with Israel. Which apparently they are not.

The only correct accusation here is that Israel has indeed nuclear weapons. I do not agree with that either, but the main reason Israel started to have it is because of ''the samson option''. This states that if Israel is doomed to be destroyed, it will take its enemy(ies) with her. Israel will never use nuclear force if its existence is not really really threatened. Another thing is that Israel has NEVER started a war without being it a war of self defense. The 2006 lebanon war was to free the kidnapped soldier and to stop the rockets, the war against Hamas was again, stop stop the rockets. No rockets=no war. Which other country in the world wouldn't react if constantly being attacked by rockets? Israel could already have given back the westbank, IF giving back Gaza would not have been such a failure. Because by giving back gaza, what Israel got were rockets. If they give back the westbank, and the same happens, Israel can be attacked from 3 sided (west, north and south)

is there the answer israel can give to iran!!!

dig deep into history Marie, and you will see the events of 1948 and 1967 in a different logic. Consider the 2000 years that Jews have waited to go back to their homeland and the effect this had on the Jewish population, including in arab countries. Consider also the way the "countries" now in place in the ME were established in the first part of the 20th century and how long they have refused to recognise Israel as a country. As for ethnic cleansing have you also considered the number of Jews that were expelled from Arab countries in the 1900s? For example, what is the proportion of arabs in today's Israel? What was the proportion of Jews in Baghdad in the begining of the 1900? And now?

The fact that you can't even distinguish between a Islamist dictatorship and a Jewish democracy shows a worrisome lack of basic civics. Do you know where this mindset come from and where it can lead?

condone the illegal acquisition of Palestinian territories and who seem bent on starting a war on the Iranians, based on nothing more than suspicions raised by the US President who started a war in Iraq, based on suspicions that turned out to be completely fabricated. "What does that say about your paper." Nothing.

If I were you. Israel unlike the neighbours brings corruption at every level to trial. But why let the facts get in the way of slogans?

It's hardly likey you would agree on an incorrect point. Duh!

A preemptive war is 'started' by the preempter. "Then there was the Arab League 1967 No peace No Recognition No negotiations with Israel" Of course not, Israel refused to withdraw from "territories occupied" i.e., STILL occupied. And then failed to adhere to the GC's on occupation. "Then there was the Pal refusal of the Clinton plan" Where the thief wanted to give a small fraction of what it had stolen in order to keep the rest. "Lets face it when have you people EVER admitted you are wrong?" It's Israel who is in breach of the Law. It's Israel who has illegally acquired 50% of the Palestinians rightfull territories.

I do notice that most of the respondants to this article are anti-Israeli. What does that say about your paper. Sad.

Then there was the Arab League 1967 No peace No Recognition No negotiations with Israel Then there was the Pal refusal of the Clinton plan Now there is no peace ever by the elected govt of Palestine backed by Iran and Hezballah. Lets face it when have you people EVER admitted you are wrong?

But who is the country constantly at war with its neighbours, Arik? Who is constantly invading its neighbours? Who is a brutal occupation force? Who has caused an ethnic cleansing of the aboriginal population of the land it has seized? Who is in possession of the nuclear bomb NOW? Iran or Israel? Come on, be honest!

You are not Mickey, You are Mouse! :)

I hate the bastard but I can not but agree with him on this correct point.

I hate the bastard but I can not but agree with him on this correct point.

"..the warheads are ther mainly as a deterance and should so be as long as 100 of millions of muslims are threatening the jewish states very existance" Well, Israel keeps on taking other folk's territories, who wouldn't want rid of such a pest? "Don't they hang homosexuals.." A couple of homosexuals were hung for RAPE. " and force women to cover up" WOW!! A lot of Iranian women will be surprised " Is this your wetdream?" Most of it is yours

What makes a reputable newspaper like Haaretz repeatedly publish the derogatory quotes from this lunatic Ahmed? We know what he thinks and the Iranian nuclear and military development is an issue, his offensive language needs no platform in the Israeli press.

That man constantly describes his own regime in his vitriolics against Israel.

Iran has a perfect environment to spread its poison. Israel has a right wing government that is not willing to compromise. More settlements, settler attacks on mosques and cars being torched on weekly (or daily) basis. Natanyahu only cares about his coalition and of course staying in power. The longer this coalition stays in business, the stronger Iran, Hamas, Hizbullah, and Islamic Jihad will get. Natanyuahu and Ahmedinajad love to Tango and always remember it takes two to Tango.

even if iran says it or anyone else. You israel wanted no state solution ... you never wanted anything but land.. look at your support for settler terrorism and record of stealing land during 40 years of negotiations. Cry about Nazi or nonesense but fact is you brought this upon yourselfs when you turned down the 2 state solution and even now your mocking all solutions. So being uprooted is your destiny

...the following to happen, as he stated quote:"I want [Israel's] supporters and creators to stop backing it and allow the regional nations and the Palestinians to settle things with them," he said. Wrong move, simply put, should the current arming of the proxies continue, Mr.Ahmadinejad may well prepare himself for martyrdom. Its only the USA that has placed a binding leash on Israel. For without that leash, the Regime, would not be in the news,....! Good day.

In Israel, beeing a democracy, the warheads are ther mainly as a deterance and should so be as long as 100 of millions of muslims are threatening the jewish states very existance. but you Maureen, why do you trust the mullah dictatorship?, please let me know. Don't they hang homosexuals, supress democrathy, free press and force women to cover up. Is this your wetdream?

You forgot to mention Israel, while teaching us political science. May be Europeans disagree with you re their best interest. Threatening Iran with destruction is the best you can do? And the people of TA will agree with you they will pay the price while you live in Europe?

#3#4 you are mentally unwell, seek immediate treatment.

about insecurity to the region.. about the economic situation in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq.. about banning Iran from peaceful nuclear... about the war between certain groups and their governemnts..etc...Wondering when this will end? If Israel thinks everything other than Jews is not important that will only get them back to point one at some point. Peace is a logical solution..hidden agendas will go nowhere.

It just wants shiite hegemony on the Persian Gulf and wants nuclear power to achieve it. Germany should have been stopped before it started war. Iran should be stopped before it achieves nuclear power. It will be less painfull nowadays. Nothing to be afraid of Iran at this point. There will be missiles over Tel Aviv but the Israel population is ready to pay the prices if Iran is neutralized even for 10 years. By that time Ahemdinajad will be history. This is on the best interests not of Israel alone, but of the Persian Gulf countries, America, Europe and even Russia, which does not need shiite influences on its Muslim population.

You're not a Jew, You're a JOKE!

there is nothing wrong with being holocaust denial. 6m is a lie. and you are holocaust denials too. so you cry for what you are doing yourself? you just never make sense.

jewish people is a mistery to me. and israhell is not a jewish state so you make no sense with your accusations how this man is a threat or whatever. you dont make sense. this man sounds like the most sane official. all your western setup puppets that lie daily are scum

sign the NPT and open your nuclear doors to IAEA.

....troublemakers in this world of ours (to use a little bit more polite language than "uncle" Ahmadinejad did).