Targan,
With due respect: (disclaimer: All opinions are my own. In the interests of full disclosure, I have in-laws in Israel).
1) That area of the world has had trouble since the Sumerians and Babylonians threw down over god knows what excuse lost to the passage of time. In some ways, I doubt anyone in the Mid East is ever going to know complete peace...just lulls to reload.
2) As for the current Israel-Pali trouble. Well, my opinion is complicated. The cycle seems to be that the Palestinians and Israelis make a deal. The Palestinians then provoke a response, then Israel reciprocates. No, it's not good, and yeah, innocents on both sides die. But here comes the question, at the end of the day, who do you want as neighbors? I could argue the fact that the Israelis aren't the only folks in the region to have problems with the Palestinians. I could argue that were Israel to cease to exist, that you'd just be adding to the stateless persons issue, not to mention the old "Jews need a state because of historical abuse when they live anywhere else". As for disproportionate...well, I dunno. Who defines that? You, me? the UN? The politicians? Sure it stinks when we see a six year old kid on the news screaming in pain. But does anyone ask, WTH was she doing anywhere near where the Israelis were bombing when they're using GPS guided munitions and calling folks on cellphones in Arabic to get the hell out before the strikes go in? Me thinks Hamas might not be letting them leave because they are using that poor kid for their own ends. You might not like it, but as was said in Merc 2000 Gazetteer "Both sides have a point". (See, brought it back to Twilight 2000) When you have an entire population that's being at the very least made indifferent to their children being radicalized and martyrdom being made a status symbol, then it's hard not to see that Israel's in a nasty situation. Yes, she had something to do with that. But the fact remains, hindsight is 20/20, and when Hamas talks about "driving the Israelis into the sea", then the Israelis had better believe it. I think the Arabs are getting nervous as well. They helped create this mess as well, and now, they're beginning to recognize just how much work they are going to have to clean it up. Will they? I don't know.
3) Fall back on what I do regarding things Mideastern. It's all the fault of the Brits and French: Balfour Declaration and the Sykes-Picot Agreement. If they had just kept their damn secret treaties straight.....
