Quote: Robert Wexler, the Florida congressman, opened up for Obama and assured the audience that "'Obama unequivocally rejects the Palestinian right of return' because he understands that Israel must remain a Jewish state." It is a great thing that the Right of Return is at last being debated in American politics.

Errrr, but IS it being debated? Sounds more like Wexler was trying to back Obama into a corner by making an assertion that, because Obama failed to counter it, gets transformed into a "commitment" to the Jewish community.

I would really resent having an introductory speaker play that sh*tty game with me on a podium, and would call him on it. But then, I'm not a political candidate who has to step and fetch it for private Jewish audiences in major cities across the country. And Wexler's little gambit probably was a mere love tap, compared to the way the Lobby breaks knuckles and kneecaps behind closed doors. Just a word to the wise, as it were.

Again, here we have an American Congressman presuming to dictate the terms of a peace settlement in a faraway place, simply because he belongs to one of the warring tribes. Zionism requires an ethnically-cleansed Jewish state, just as old Adolph wanted an ethnically-cleansed Aryan state. Different tribes, same twisted goal. But this time, the U.S. backs the ethnic cleansers.

I just hope Obama don't end up another FIEL' HAN' on Uncle Ehud's plantation, the way Sister Condi did. Slavery time s'posed to be over.

F— you. Sorry I realize that I should be more politic, etc., but this kind of garbage does not deserve a decent response. Until all nationalisms are done away with then we have a right to our state as much as anyone else. I guess 21 or 22 states has just never been enough for the Arab nation.

With a clear majority in either state, the majorities can tolerate a minority, and on equal footing legally and socially, possibly.

Israel need not be Arab-free, nor Palestine Jew-free.

I favor the opportunity for Arabs to seek legal redress for land claims in Israel and Palestine, and in the majority of cases settled in the form of compensation, NOT forced removal, nor even a general right of return to Israel for citizenship.

There is a pattern of ethnic exclusion and cleansing in both societies, of Jews over centuries. There still are laws in Palestine prohibiting sale of land to Jews.

Its not color-blind, and if a color-blind society is your goal in the region, it will take work, and agitation oriented to Palestine, that likely considers you foreign (So long as you willingly criticize. People that fawn over the existing power structure are liked, as ethically compromised as that is).

If the right of return creates a situation in either community that is in parity in population without first establishing a civil middle as THE prominent majority, comprised of a-nationalist civilists including leadership from both ethnicities, then civil war is the likely result.

Better to drop rhetorical idealism, for practical peace and viability.

The Israeli labor party does or did have a couple Arabs somewhat prominently in their list, and last year an Arab for the first time assumed a ministry role (though not one of the critical ministries).

Ali Abuminah is appealing to the dissenting community to force Israel to relent to a single-state, imagining South Africa and Israel/Palestine to be largely parallel situations, with parallel solutions.

That is DIFFERENT than what I perceive as a precondition of the civil middle forming the a-nationalist nucleus, rather than the primarily dissenting left.

Area C strikes fear into the heart of Palestinians as homes are destroyed:

In the end it came down to a single-page letter, written in Hebrew and Arabic and hand-delivered by an Israeli army officer who knocked at the front door. The letter spelt the imminent destruction of the whitewashed three-storey home and small, tree-lined garden that Bassam Suleiman spent so long saving for and then built with his family a decade ago.

It was a final demolition order, with instructions to evacuate the house within three days.

If Suleiman was in any doubt about the Israeli military's intentions he had only to look outside his back door where large piles of rubble and broken concrete mark the remains of the seven of his neighbours' houses that were demolished in the same way last year…

"Everything I did in my life was for what's now inside this house and now it's going to be destroyed," said Suleiman. "It's very hard for me to find somewhere else to live."

…The Israeli authorities argue that Suleiman's house was built in a part of the West Bank known as area C, a designation from the era of the Oslo Accords which means Israel has full military and administrative control. In order to build, a Palestinian must apply for a permit from the Israeli authorities. If there is no permit – as in Suleiman's case – the building is liable for demolition.

Area C covers 60% of the West Bank, home to around 70,000 Palestinians. It is also the area in which most Jewish settlements, all illegal under international law, are built. Compelling statistical evidence shows that while it is extremely hard for Palestinians to obtain building permits, settlements continue to grow rapidly.

Research by the Israeli group Peace Now found that 94% of Palestinian permit applications for Area C building were refused between 2000 and September 2007. Only 91 permits were granted to Palestinians, but 18,472 housing units were built in Jewish settlements. As a result of demolition orders 1,663 Palestinian buildings were demolished, against only 199 in the settlements. "The denial of permits for Palestinians on such a large scale raises the fear that there is a specific policy by the authorities to encourage a 'silent transfer' of the Palestinian population from area C," Peace Now said.

The article continues. It is from the Guardian, April 15, the International Section

I could ask many, but ask only one question: "There still are laws in Palestine prohibiting sale of land to Jews,"

What is the history of this law? What do you know about it?

"Until all nationalisms are done away with then we have a right to our state as much as anyone else." — David Cherson

Where do you find this right? Many of the participants here are of U.S. nationality, which is not an ethnically or religiously exclusive nationality.

I'd like to join a libertarian/anarchist nation, but I cannot find any UN resolution or edict from God which says that we free-thinkers have a "right" to our own state. If it ever happens, we'll just have to buy it.

Ironically, Europe — with its multiplicity of micro-states such as San Marino, Leichtenstein, Andorra, Luxembourg, Vatican, etc. — probably would have been a far more receptive and fruitful ground for a Jewish state, composed largely of European Jews. The lingua franca could have been Yiddish instead of Hebrew. Would have been interesting.

Moving into the heart of Islam sounded good in theory. But those ancient scriptures can lead one far astray. They were meant to be taken metaphorically; they function as a leghold trap on the ankles of literal thinkers.

By the way, no offense taken at the F.U. bit. Say what you like. I'm listening to your opinion.