The “Mummy” franchise has again been the B-big rendering of the “Indiana Jones” films, which themselves are B bigs animated by Steven Spielberg into an proceeding-affair colossus. So what does that grasp the “Mummy” films in the huge projection of likings? C flick picture shows?
More in the matter of This film

The third installment, “mausoleum of the Dragon Emperor,” directed by Rob Cohen (“XXX,” “The fixed and the up the wall”), is by far the weakest. In it the upset-longing for squelch-and-missus exploring pair, Rick and Evelyn O’Connell (Brendan Fraser and Maria Bello, who replaces Rachel Weisz), assault out of retirement in 1946 to expeditions to Shanghai, where they are tricked into plateful retwist an degeneracy 2,000-year-old emperor (Jet Li). The emperor’s organizations to beassault celebrated all those years ago were foiled when a kind-hearted sorceress (Michelle Yeoh) laid a obscenity on him. While in
Shanghai, Rick and Evelyn run into their scampish college dropout son, Alex (the charmless Luke Ford).

When the obscenity is accidentally lifted, the emperor, joined by a dare Chinese army, rushes to the Himalayas, where a dip in a league in Shangri-La promises famousity. He already has mystic powers and likes to form himself into a three-headed dragon. Accompanying the O’Connells is Evelyn’s out of the ordinary, wisecracking fellow-creature Jonathan (John Hannah), who during the desert to the mountains is vomited on by a yak.

The kindest baggage to be said for this in a dither, cluttered foul-up of cheesy computer-generated combat-affair cliche's is that at least you can see how the estimated $175 million budget (according to the Internet film Database) was spent. We get an avalanche, an army of bow-and-arrow-wielding skeletons, a car pursuit that forms into a fireworks burgeoning, and a cadre of snowy yetis. In the film’s sterile ride to conjure visceral upset, the strength sequences are edited into an disjointed tangle that dos you bleed for trapped on a decrepit airplane sitting in a collect of yak vomit.

“The Mummy: vault of the Dragon Emperor” is rated PG-13 (Parents forcefully cautioned). It has some reinforced interaction and conciliatory violence.

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Mr. Ettefagh, I cannot believe I have not stumbled upon your page before today! You bring amazing insight to the international issues of today. I look forward to continue reading your posts.

A New Earth – Excerpt

By Eckhart Tolle //

The Arising New Consciousness //

Most ancient religions and spiritual traditions share the common insight that our normal state of mind is marred by a fundamental defect. However, out of this insight into the nature of the human condition, we may call it the bad news, arises a second insight, the good news of the possibility of the radical transformation of human consciousness. In Hindu teachings, and sometimes Buddhism also, this transformation is called enlightenment. In the teachings of Jesus it is called salvation. In Buddhism it is called the end of suffering. Liberation and awakening are other terms used to describe this transformation. //

The greatest achievement of humanity is not the achievements of its art, science or technology, but rather the recognition of its own dysfunction, its own madness. In the distant past, this recognition already came to a few individuals. The man called Gautama Siddhartha, who lived 2600 years ago in India, was perhaps the first who saw it with absolute clarity. Later, the title of Buddha was conferred upon him. Buddha means the awakened one. //

At about the same time, another of humanity’s early awakened teachers emerged in China. His name was Lao Tzu. He left the record of his teachings in one of the most profound spiritual books ever written, the Daodejing (Tao Te Ching). //

To recognize ones own insanity is of course the arising of sanity, the beginning of healing and transcendence. A new dimension of consciousness had begun to arise on the planet, the first tentative flowering. //

Those three individuals then spoke to their contemporaries. They spoke of sin, of suffering, of delusion. They said, “Look how you live, see what you are doing, the suffering you create.” They then pointed to the possibility of awakening from the collective nightmare of normal human existence. They showed the way. //

The world was not yet ready for them, and yet they were a vital and necessary part of human awakening. Inevitably, they were mostly misunderstood by their contemporaries, as well as by subsequent generations. Their teachings, although both simple and powerful, became distorted and misinterpreted. Over the centuries many things were added that had nothing to do with the original teachings, but were the reflections of a fundamental misunderstanding. Some of the teachers were ridiculed, reviled or killed. Others came to be worshipped as gods. Teachings that pointed the way beyond the dysfunction of the human mind, the way out of the collective insanity, were distorted and became themselves part of the insanity. //

And so religions, to a large extent, became divisive rather than unifying forces. Instead of bringing about an end to violence and hatred, through realization of the wonders of all life, they brought more violence and hatred, more divisions between people as well as divisions between different religions, and even within the same religion. They became ideologies, or belief systems people could identify with and so use them to enhance their false sense of self. They could make themselves right and others wrong and thus define their identities through their enemies, the others, the nonbelievers or wrong believers, who not infrequently they saw themselves justified in killing. Man made god in his own image. The eternal, the infinite, the un-nameable was reduced to a mental idol that you must believe in and worship as my god or our god. //

[The Arab/Israeli conflict will only be resolved by the coming awakening of the human race that will transcend these petty religious hatreds and focus on the truly important issues facing us, like global hunger and population control.]

To everyone who thinks that the solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is to figure out which side is "right" and then go around spouting propaganda supporting that view: please find something productive to do with your time and stop fueling this inane excuse for a discourse.

thank God....:-)....that CK is an honest information broker. after all, his posts are just chock full of unfettered, unemotional, unbiased, "educate the american people" truisms vis Syhrian and Iranian influence/depredations in Lebanon. He's absolutely right! Why it's just an unvarnished wash-up of those nasty Israeli's!

CK..you are the beacon....you have illuminated the path to all that is righteous and just. Whatever you point to as truth...I accept.

TO: Realist
You certainly have the right ideas, but the entire story of isolating the Palestinians into ghettos [and the "definite may be" as some sort of South African Apartheid era "homeland" scheme] is due to the vast demographic difference.
This is why the Jews have no mind for real and true democracy in a one-man, one-vote state and they want to "eliminate" all non-Jews.

Look at the comments of the poster below, Yishai Kohen (probably an Israeli). His words are representative of that mentality and the use of "they" as a reference to Palestinians is a telling story.

BEN-

You stand corrected as your thoughts are quite irrelevant to the actual facts right on this page, in front of your eyes on the screen!

PostGlobal is a joint project of WP and Newsweek. If you look at the main page of this forum, PostGlobal, on the link above at the top of the page or on http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/
you can understand how this forum works, which has been around for about 2 years and every time the main topic of debate is a question to the "panel".

I now understand why you people have elected Bush and Cheney to lead and represent you and spend your taxes.

Doctor Ettefagh says: "Hamas has duplicated the dual military-political structures in Northern Ireland, namely the IRA & Sinn Fein. It has a noticeable support of the Palestinian electorate that yearn dignity, insist on fairness and stand against modern apartheid. As a grassroots movement of the Palestinian people, it has gained the following of a substantial majority, tired of inactions and corruption of the PLO and Fatah and the precious little built on the Oslo Agreement". There are some truth elements in this comment, but it does not reflect the whole situation about Hamas. First, Hamas, unlike IRA, does not accept the right of existence for Israel, as IRA accepted the same right for Great Britian. Second, IRA never engaged in sucidal bombing against civilians and killing civilians never was their main tactic. Second,it is right that Hamas got the majority votes of Palestinians in a free election. Also, it is right that both the U.S. and Israel made a huge mistake when they did not engage in talks to Hamas right after the eclection. But, one should not forget that Hamas got that vote on a platform for fighting corruption and delivering services including job and better life for people. They did not tell the voters that they would send rockets into Israel. Also, one should not forget that President Abaas got the majority votes of Palestinians and his votes were much more than Hamas. He became the president on a platform to continue talks with Israelis based on two states solution. However, Israel and the U.S helped the hardliners in Hamas by not negotiating with Hamas and by their preconditions for Hamas. At the same time, I do not agree with those who are telling us that the time for engaging in talks with Hamas is too late. There are many indications that there is a moderate wing in Hamas which is wating for the U.S and Israel signals to distance itself from extremists. More importantly, engaging with Hamas would have a huge influnce on some moderate groups in Iran which are in favor of a two state solution. In contrast to some common opinions in the West, it is not just Iranians that support hardliners in Hamas, the current situation in Palestine and the U.S and Israelis position in not engaging with Hamas justifies, to some degree, the hardliners' position in Iran against the moderates.Therefore, bringing Hamas into negotation table will have a huge impact on Iran's position about peace process.

To Buzz Bros.

I am not sure you are right. I believe the author chose the topic. It would be interesting if the moderator tells us which one it is.

He had a chance to write a blog in Washington post a premier US newspaper. wouldn't be interesting to know what is Islamic view of what is going on in Tibet, recent UN sanction, the role of Iran in recent cease fire in Iraq.

The Iranian obsession with whatever Israeli or Jewish is not even healthy for Iranians. They are stuck. Are they truly serve Iranian interest with writing such articles. How many Iranians know about Halevi or what ever he said.

The best term for this article is intellectual masturbation.

This is the second or third time that a comment I've posted pointing out the idiocy of this man's views has been posted and then deleted.

Terrific. Obviously Ettefagh can't stand substantive criticism.

I say let the Israelis have their religious state, it's their business, just tell Americans the truth on the violence so we won't be fools. Israeli sob stories in the US media have perverted Americans understanding of Arabs and Islam, that by itself is reason to end the media stranglehold.

Israel is not going to change it's stripes except on a temporary basis when it benefits their treasury They wanna milk the American cow without buying it. They are probably still lobbying behind the scenes to get Jon Pollard out of his espionage sentence in the Federal pen.

Bring back US values. American foreign policy toward Israel any time before 1980 would suit me fine. Fairness, not bias.

Good article,
I think this is a very secular thinking artilcle, I am so so tired of reading passionate but baseless articles written by both sides of the fence where the rehotric always turns to religion. The answer to peace in the middleeast is for the world to establish secular states where religion is freely practiced but it does not have any influence on the running of the state. This wold allow the sharing of Jeruselem by all faiths. My own thought is that the two state system is unworkable now, with the vast settlements and the potentialy geographically land-locked new state for the palestinians who will have no means to defend themselves or any real economies to feed its people. The solution (a real one if the people in that land want one) is a single state with all people living side by side and for that to happen Isreal must abandon its jewish state identity.

A compromise: let American tv viewers see and know what Israelis and other Mideasterners get to see and know. There is more honest debate and information about IDF abuse of Palestinians in Israel than here, (actually there is none here!)

It is sick that this country is denied by every means the simple truths. There is of course plenty of protest in Israel over settlements, occupation, killing. Most Americans don't know that!

Americans deserve no credit for being so damned naive, unaware of history, and bigoted that they swallow the tv media Israeli hogwash. But that's what you and I are doing here, you are the seawall of lies, and I am the waves beating crashing with truth. Eventually you fall.

Yadda yadda, Nazis blah blah blah. Just let the American public understand, see the dead children, the hunger, the walls. Israel is always going to be Israeli so there's no hope they'd ever see other humans as wquals, we don't need to support it. Israel modern beacon of democracy with a murderous thug army, fanatic population of whining civilian thieves obsessed about a money stream from the USA. Great nation!

Well, you're an animal, that's for sure. You define the world so you can kill who you need to steal from and you can have your will. Lovely, nice to see you are basically just a violent hegemonist hiding behind popular myth. What goes around....

CK,

The kill ration between the US and Nazi Germany also wasn't even.

The simple fact is that the Arabs choose war and terror, and therefore they sufer. It's that simple.

Again, we won't allow land theft here in OUR land:

The Philistines would have had a state in 1937 with the Peel Plan, but they violently rejected it.

They would have had a state in 1948 with UN 181, but they violently rejected it (and actually claimed that the UN had no such mandate!).

They could have had a state in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza from 1948-1967 without any Jews- because the Arabs had ethnically cleansed every last one; but they violently rejected it. In fact, that's exactly when they established Fatah (1959) and thre PLO (1964).

They could have had a state after 1967, but instead, the entire Arab world issued the Khartoum Resolutions:

A. No peace with Israel
B. No recognition of Israel
C. No negotiations with Israel

They would have had a state in 2000 with the Oslo Accords, but they violently rejected it- as always.

The Arabs will just have to learn to "make do" with their own 99.9% of the Middle East- including all of the oil, and stop trying to steal OUR tiny 1/10th of 1% without oil. The Philistines won't have a state here in Israel, and if they don't stop their violence, they won't even exist here anymore. They will have to go to their own land; Jordan.

I'm not interested in changing Israel, let the truth change it. I want an unbiased US media. Things like the IDF kill ratio, the ineffectiveness of the "deadly rockets," the tentacles of the Israel Lobby in us politics, the influence of fringe American Zionists like James Dobson, the land theft on and on, just let out the facts! It is a shining star of propaganda history in the world that the Israeli onslaught on Lebanon a couple summers back is prettified and a non issue. Tell me how that happens.

No way you'd do that right? And the sick part is that it is only that it would cost you $$$, and so it's a non starter. It's about money. Israel's security is not threatened, it's cash cow is.

CK,

Like it or nor, Judaism and the land of Israel are inseparable. Even the few remaining anti-Zionists' only qualm is about WHEN we can rule OUR land; not that it IS our land.

But that's not the issue here. THE issue is that as long as the Arabs choose war and terror, they will die. It's that simple.

They need to stop being greedy and violent and learn to "make do" with THEIR 99.9% of the Middle East and stop trying to steal OUR tiny 1/10th of 1%.

Lex,

Israel has defeated the armies of the larger countries that surround it time after time, with minimal help from outside. This included a war that began hours after the state was declared in which some of the Arab armies attacking it were actually lead by European commanders.

In terms of infrastructure, Israel has built up the country by Jewish labor, and developed new agricultural techniques to farm land thought to be non-arable. It has become one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world, where many products used world wide were invented, like the cellphone. Meanwhile Israel is responsible for the environment and was the only country to have an increase in the number of trees during the 20th century.

In politics, Israel has a democratic system where all people are equally represented and a judicial system in which people are equal under the law. Israel does well allowing minorities to be represented in its parliament (statistically better than the U.S.), and is seen as an attractive destination for the politically oppressed seeking asylum.

Israel is not a theocracy, unlike many Muslim countries, and it guarantees its citizens freedom of religion and freedom not to be religious. Yes, it is true that there are some areas in which religion intrudes into government, but this is to a smaller extent than in European countries like Germany or Italy.

Therefore, I think Israel does act like an adult, responsible state. The funding Israel and Egypt get from the United States is designed to encourage peace between the two countries, and is not particularly different from other instances of international aid.

I always say, don't blame the crimes of Zionism on Judaism! Many Jews are disgusted with the violent tactics of the IDF, the land theft, the long term game plan. You tell me how to put down the Israelis in a way you find acceptable. Please inform me, I can take it.

I looked at the post, what's the problem?

To suggest that pro Israel bias is hidden for the purpose of advancing it's agendas is not antisemitic, as I deny them nothing. If all the media are bent one way the whole country has a problem, and if it's not clear then the problem hides. We have a heavy preponderance of pro Israel tv talking heads, they stepped away from their responsibility to inform us, which has led to war in Iraq, against the truth of the facts. They are burying the murderous policies of the IDF behind reports of "rocket" attacks which are curiously enough rarely effective, and we can't know who where these guys allegiances lie?

If you are edgey with the yarmulkes let them wear Israeli flag pins, just stop hiding the bias. It's a foreign country, this Israel right or wrong movement is insane.

CK,

I think that both conservatives and liberals can appreciate the morality of Israel's foundation. However, I do think that many people have a highly distorted view of the situation, and that anti-Semitic views have taken root in certain liberal groups. I am skeptical of those Christian Zionists who view Israel purely as a religious matter, as I am skeptical of both Arabs and Jews who claim that the whole land is theirs by divine right. I think it is best to make moral arguments from an accurate view of history.

Regarding anti-Semitism, look back at your April 6, 11:38 post.

CK:

History IS long, and the nation of Israel survives ALL enemies- including those with NO history or roots.

You should know that by now.

America is in a process of massive transformation and real change, economically, demographics and a split from the last 28 years of Bush-Clinton (including as V.P.). And the last 7 years has made change in foreign policy urgent, as a very rough economic ride is around the corner.

One of these days, USA and the world will soon tell Israel that, hey guys, you wanted your own country, you got it. As adults, it is time to act like a responsible state. This will translate to the end of a religious state in Israel and its racist regime.

This is why a top intelligence director of Israel has made these comments.

A. Kuhn ah the anti-Semite call! What took so long? It is interesting that our press disdains Islamic tribalism. Jewish tribalism is sacrosanct!

Why don't you denigrate the approach of the American Christian Zionists whose support has bent perception, justice, and popular truth to Israel's favor? They put all Jews in hell at the end of their fantasy interpretation of reality, yet I don't see Israel or Jews denouncing Chrisitian Zionists as anti-Semite. Ah oh I see, it's the money, the donations, the political support of voters who go like cattle from church to the GOP vote booth, I get it now.

Principles are ignored for payday, right?

Israel is a done deal, what we should fight over is getting the truth out, at least see if Americans have any conscience. If Americans remain pro Israel in the face of truth then we truly are unworthy of this great land and it's laws, (we probably aren't.)

If the Wolf Blitzer's and Tim Russerts would wear their yarmulkes when they present their deadpan pro Israel attitude on tv that would be a great start. Control of popular opinion = $$$ donations to the Israelis, and of course the illegal land grabbing and apartheid come with it too. Steal now worry later, so practical! Israel plays chess while the American public plays checkers, pretty cool if it weren't over human lives and loss.

Yishai Kohen: history is long, and what goes around comes back around, God willing!

CK is wrong when he says "Taken by violence upon the natives." The late 19th and early 20th century Jewish immigrants paid for the land they worked and built their communities on that land. There were also many Jews from Jerusalem and a few other cities whose families were already living in the region. In fact, before the foundation of Israel, it was the Jews whose property was illegally seized by violence such as in Hebron in 1929. When the United Nations created the partition of Palestine in 1947 only the areas with a Jewish majority were allocated to become part of Israel and Palestinian property rights in these areas were to be respected. It was only the 1948 War, when Arabs attacked trying to wipe out the Jewish presence in the region, that Palestinians lost their land and property.

I suspect that if people knew Israeli history more completely, most people who are not anti-Semites would realize the morality of the foundation of Israel.

A two state solution will never work. In order to solve the problem once and for all, Israel must cease being a Jewish state, and should take over Gaza and the entire West Bank, governing all as a single secular republic which includes all inhabitants as citizens.

There's no other way to ensure against attack by Arab states, apart from the reasons a brother Arab state may be attacked.

The population problem and gangsterism, you say? The answer is to get the Arab birthrate down. To do that Israel must educate them, give them equal services, and let them earn decent jobs. Most predominantly middle-class societies have trouble achieving growth.

A visit to the White House quickly reveals the problem. The place reeks of fear. The sad realization dawns that Cheney and Bush are cowards.

BEN-

You ought to remind yourself that this blog is in an American paper, not in Iran, and editors of the American paper choose the topic, as the moderators sign the question put to the panel. Can't blame you, chances are that you are in USA and the media blast is thinking for you!

I analogize Israel's legitimacy to America's. Taken by violence upon the natives, it's a done deal with no turning back. But, the truth about the history is not a done deal, it is a work in progress.

This is what we are left to work for; the perception of the truth of the conflict. Israel's supporters are bright, and they already know this, and this is why any effort to clarify what is going on there is stifled by a wildly pro Israeli American tv press, (as Jimmy Carter has outlined.) They know that to control the popular truth is to control the stream of US funds, and bend the application of justice heavily to their side. The political rise of evangelical Zionist Christian America with it's preconceived notions of Israeli ascendancy has greased the slide for an unchallenged pro-Israeli propaganda machine to flourish here.

A wise man once said that nations should swap history books every few years to see what others are doing with the same set of facts.

TT,

You obviously can't read. I'm not the problem. I IDENTIFY the problem; the Philistines, and the end result: The abyss for them choosing war insyead of a state time and again:

They would have had a state in 1937 with the Peel Plan, but they violently rejected it.

They would have had a state in 1948 with UN 181, but they violently rejected it (and actually claimed that the UN had no such mandate!).

They could have had a state in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza from 1948-1967 without any Jews- because the Arabs had ethnically cleansed every last one; but they violently rejected it. In fact, that's exactly when they established Fatah (1959) and thre PLO (1964).

They could have had a state after 1967, but instead, the entire Arab world issued the Khartoum Resolutions:

A. No peace with Israel
B. No recognition of Israel
C. No negotiations with Israel

They would have had a state in 2000 with the Oslo Accords, but they violently rejected it- as always.

The Arabs will just have to learn to "make do" with their own 99.9% of the Middle East- including all of the oil, and stop trying to steal OUR tiny 1/10th of 1% without oil. The Philistines won't have a state here in Israel, and if they don't stop their violence, they won't even exist here anymore. They will have to go to their own land; Jordan.

JAY BOOTH--
You don't get it, do you? Hamas is not fighting for aid from Europe. They are Palestinians fighting to return to their land, homes, restore their dignity and rights. In the same breath, when will Israel stop bombing with American F-16s, with approval of USA? In fact, what has Israel achieved for years of trying to bomb the other side into submission? Answer: zero!

Israel is the last apartheid state on the planet.
It was supposed to be a refuge for Jews after the War, but have not seen peace since inception. Time for Plan B, as the article spells it out.

To Buzz Bro.:

We have gotten it. Iranians hate Jews with all their being. Jews are anathema to every Iranian and their version of Islam. An Iranian can not be if there exists a single Jew. WE GO IT. Write something different.

I checked the author's archives, there is not a single post about Iranian economy. He has article about Chines and US economy but not about Iran.
They can comment and try to solve all the world's problem except their own.

May be if he does they will shut his blog. He knows better what to write.

What kind of "peace" would there be between Israel and Hamas? Would anyone agree to a peace when the other side, in it's charter, calls for your extermination?

There will be peace in the Mid-East when I can openly bring my Bible to Mecca or publish the Danish cartoons in any Muslim country without fear of death.

What a crappy, awful and disrespectful metaphor. I read the title, was revolted, then read the first paragraph and saw it was so one-sided that I gave up.

Sayyid Ettefagh, you've seen the most recent polling regarding Hamas's popularity? You understand they enjoy the approval of far, far less than a plurality, let alone the "substantial majority" you describe? Fatah has a higher approval rating, by the numbers.

The day Hamas starts acting like a reasonable player and knocks off the rocket firing BS, aid from all the european countries will flood into Gaza. But then that would be bad for them.. hard to radicalize people who aren't hungry or fighting, eh?

Agree with the writer, CK and TT.
Israelis have no clue about peace even if it lands on their head. They have been in a permanent state psychosis, war since 1948.

I think the comments of Halevy the Israeli are hollow and just a cheap posture for the election cycle in USA, as America is no longer in a position to afford the bad bet on Israel, financially, politically & reputation wise.

BEN-
This is a discussion blog about a topic as a round table. This round is not about Iran or Iranians. If you open your eyes, and that is a big if.....the writer has written about different subjects as a regular commentator.

The important thing to keep in mind is the worth of the two peoples: One Israeli is worth at least ten, and probably countless, Palestinians, as evidenced by the kill ratio maintained by IDF. A scratched finger on an Israeli is worth your baby's life, and God help you if you wake up an Israeli neighborhood an hour early with a bottle rocket, as this will get your kindergartens bombed by F-16s. This is the basis on which Israelis will have peace. Peace for them, hell for Palestinians.

I see a great deal of articles about Israel/Palestinians from Iranian writers. A day does not go by without an Iranian blame all the world ills on Jews. I do not see any Iranian talk about their economy. I imagine the writer to be the prefect person to write about Iranian economy, but NO; It is about Jews again. Why Iran has 30% inflation, 40% unemployment, close top 6 million addicts in a 70 million population?

Wouldn't Palestinians be entitled to know why the people who are trying to save them, can not solve their own issues. May be may be Iranians are using them like Arabs in the last 60 years as a way to fool their own people.

SUSAN-
You have not heard of Israel bombing Gaza with F-16s? Amazing to read your comments!

If any one prefers violence, then I suggest Uncle Sam arm both sides of Hamas and Israel with the same weapons and let it rip. Alternatively, if Uncle Sam wants true peace and stability and security (for both sides), it is obvious that the only way to do that is to disarm both sides, put troops on the ground and police the place. It is not a very large territory (Israel, Gaza and the West Bank all together are less than 5% of Iraqi territory and about half of Bosnia).

Zionists want all the land up to the Jordan River and beyond, including all of Jerusalem. Anything like a "peace process" is just one more step in this direction. Ultimately they will take all the land, with the US's help. That is the plan, that has always been the plan. What the Palestinains think is secondary. So, let the peace talks go forward, with or without Hamas, because the end reuslt is going to be the same.

I don't see how talks with Hamas can lead to peace. I don't think Hamas wants peace. The "political" structure of Hamas is no less antisemitic than the military wing. It is equally opposed to a Jewish state. I don't think that comparisons to Northern Ireland work. Great Britain is and island away from Ireland and even the most extremist IRA groups never denied the right of Great Britain to exist. Have you heard Meshaal's interview on Sky News? I have.

"ineffective sanctions or collective punishment schemes akin to dark practices suffered by Jews during the Second World War II"

Well, the sanction seem to be ineffective, but there is no possible comparison to WWII. That is so inaccurate that it minimizes the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust and comes near to being Holocaust denial. Jews never bombed anyone and they never denied any country's right to exist.

Yes, the US is doing far more harm than good by backing extremist tendencies in Israel and drowning out the moderates. In my view, this is posturing aimed at the elections in the US, not a good faith attempt to resolve a conflict that the US has "assumed" responsibility for. There is no responsibility here.

As a jewish i cant understand how peace will prevail in the holly land. When the blood of palastinians is shed by my own people.Peace will only prvails once we jewish learn to live with others in the holly land like we do in other countries. It seems our existance in Isreal will be short lived simply because we acquire our existance from others pains,misfortune and killing.

The military capability of Dick Cheney combined with the world cowardnsess towards Cheney trorism the world would never witness peace. The curse of GAZA infants and children murdered by the Isrealis child killers will hunt the world decades to come. Peace will start once humanity do some justice to the hundred of thousands palastinian chlildren Slaughtered by the jewish with the blessing of most of us.

If Israel and the US don't want to deal with Hamas, they should allow the emergence of a Fatah which is not hopelessly corrupt and which can win elections. That means ceasing to funnel money and power to their favorites while arresting or killing the more honest and capable Fatah leaders. As long as Marwan Barghouti rots in an Israeli jail, it is obvious what Israel really wants: the excuse of Hamas in order to grab as much land and water as possible.

I think the writer is right. Those that are commenting about this article must always remind themselves that America is just the broker and it is up to principles to cut their own deal.

Sadly, the American broker is taking sides and is not neutral and wants people 7 time zones away to adhere to American political games for domestic purposes.

Only one thing. It is too late anyway to think of peace. The Adenaur Foundation did a poll of Palestinians (both W. Bank and Gaza) and found that over 80% now believe that Israel will not make peace unless forced to violently. ie. Discussions do not lead to anything good coming from Israel. (The facts on the ground give them reason; The new 2000 new housing units in the settlements OK'd since annapolis, and the latest IDF tactic of simply killing "Militants" or farmers "met" when doing a foray in Gaza -without even the pretense of arrest)

Even the Israeli's themselves are starting to ask questions about their own attitude to possible peace moves (Haaretz, today re; Syria and "panics")

Hamas non-recognition of Israel is simple. Israel wants recognition, not simply of it being a state (which most have accepted anyway), but of it's borders (Where?) and it being a "Jewish" state, excluding both Muslims and Christians. (Christian affairs are under the Palestinian authority, and the resident population has almost disappeared as it is submitted to the same pression as the PA's).

Bush may want to exclude Hamas, but he would have to exclude 80% of the PA population to get peace, if it does not include some real concessions from Israel. Not the usual spin.

ROGER-
Being an "Israeli" (which only happens if one is Jewish) is a state of mind. So, Mr. Halevy sits on the fence of being British and Israeli. He was born and educated in UK and then immigrated.

YISHAI KOHEN-
It is precisely hard-headed and dangerous people like you that the world could do without. You want to to go back to 60 years ago? What is wrong with going back to, say, 62 or 70 years ago when Israel didn't exist?

Ananymous wrote:
'Jews are not allowed in any muslim government,..'
Hog wash! the state of Bahrain, to mention one, has one jew in government....the country is small; not much larger than a neighborhood in Chicago.

Interesting comment. But I'm mystified: is Halevy British or Israeli? Where do his loyalties lie? If Tony Blair has come to these conclusions about Hamas, why doesn't he say so himself? We've heard precious little from Blair lately. It seems as if he has joined the ranks of the thousands who make their living off the Arab-Israeli "Peace Process".

Anyone who THINKS that George Bush and Tony Blair might bring peace to the Middle East is living in fantasy. Anybody that SAYS so, is probably making a living on the "Peace Process".

The whole Israeli project is doomed thanks to Bush's crusade. It was at root an attempt by Europeans to dump their Jews on Palestine. It could have succeeded if the Israelis had followed Einstein's advice to make sure the Palestinians were on board - and they might have been, if the could have kept their homes and been given the chance to be part of a vibrant, new democratic Palestine.

Now it's too late. Iran (and in time. a reborn Iraq) are the ones to watch. When Turkey or Egypt swings, the game will be over. Just as well: Americans (and many Europeans) are tired of paying the bills.

The question is: which country will take the Jews in? Halevy can go home to Britain. Germany ought to make a good 2 million feel welcome. Many will prefer to go to the U.S - and many of them already have dual citizenship there. Maybe some will want to go back to Russia where over a million of them are from -and help make it a real democracy. The Russians should be so lucky.

don't know who you are but your tone and some ideas are right on, especially your willingness to analyze other occupations/
terrorist campaigns for similarities and possibly a better understanding of the religious/territory/ethnic conflict at hand(IRA, which of course has several distinguishing characteristics but is still useful to the issue).

another example, Iraq. as it's not an existential war for the US, maybe our eventual resolution there (and I'm not talking the ann coulter variety) will set a good example for the Israelis.

force Hamas to retreat from it's insane charter by talking to them, setting some prisoners free, taking down some non-UN compliant settlements, getting Egypt Jordan and others to put pressure on Hamas, and establish mutually agreeable milestones
that are objectively verifiable and necessary to ceding control of
pre-67 lands. and don't sweat the hawkish freaks spewing filth
in their comments.

There's only one way to get peace. Get rid of those who seek to derail it. Get rid of Hamas. As long as Hamas exists, there will be no peace! Their sole existence is to wipe Israel off the map, through terrorism. How can you include this group in PEACE talks???

I never fails to amaze me at how many times the analogy of WW2 is trotted out. If the Israelis were really acting like the Nazis, there would be no Palestinians left, Instead, the Palestinian population has grown!!

Hamas has already made their position clear, No Israel. Its hard to bargain with that basic stance. The hatred and bigotry taught by Hamas, especially to the youth, makes the KKK seem like boy scouts.

Still, it is unclear if the majority of Palestinians support the elimination of Israel. Sadly, the Palestinians have failed to have the leaders that could result in a positive movement. Ever.

And the Palestinians have the worst friends in the world, those that encourage them to go down a dark path will never provide dignity or pride. Its tough enough to fight the Israelis, but they have to fight their 'allies'. One thing is certain, Hhamas will never be the answer.

Israel has a lot of corruption too. I have to wonder if the Israeli government likes the PLO for that reason as well, not just because the PLO is more compliant to Israel's negotiating position for a peace settlement.

Actually the apartheid movement is on the part of the muslims. Israel has muslims in the Knesset, there are muslims living in Israel.

Jews are not allowed in any muslim government and Jews are not recognized as a nation by the arabs.

So, who are the apartheid fascist bigots here?

Hamas is not Sien Feinn and the IRA.

The SF/IRA never intended to take over Britain and turn it into a Catholic state.

The SF/IRA did not call for the destruction of the English people.

The SF/IRA never looked on the establishment of an Irish state, as the first step in the "liberation" of all of Britain from the British people.

The SF/IRA charter did not call for the destruction of a U.N. member state.

To name just a few differences that our erudite author overlooks.

I keep saying it ... but nobody listens. So I'll spell it out. A lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians is impossible, that's i-m-p-o-s-s-i-b-l-e, without Great Power ensured security, that's s-e-c-u-r-i-t-y, for the territorial integrity of both parties to the conflict. No security, no peace. Why is this so difficult for anyone to understand?

There is no "peace process" and there never was. It was always a lie. Hamas is a murderous terrorist group and Fatah is no less.

ALL of them need to be eliminated.

The Philistines would have had a state in 1937 with the Peel Plan, but they violently rejected it.

They would have had a state in 1948 with UN 181, but they violently rejected it (and actually claimed that the UN had no such mandate!).

They could have had a state in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza from 1948-1967 without any Jews- because the Arabs had ethnically cleansed every last one; but they violently rejected it. In fact, that's exactly when they established Fatah (1959) and thre PLO (1964).

They could have had a state after 1967, but instead, the entire Arab world issued the Khartoum Resolutions:

A. No peace with Israel
B. No recognition of Israel
C. No negotiations with Israel

They would have had a state in 2000 with the Oslo Accords, but they violently rejected it- as always.

The Arabs will just have to learn to "make do" with their own 99.9% of the Middle East- including all of the oil, and stop trying to steal OUR tiny 1/10th of 1% without oil. The Philistines won't have a state here in Israel, and if they don't stop their violence, they won't even exist here anymore. They will have to go to their own land; Jordan.

The walls and fences contine to be erected in N. Ireland, to enforce the 'piece' or to difuse a potential confrontation? Tony Blair as PM saw the madness of loyalist opposition, and converted to the Catholic faith on retirement. His involvement in the Middle East peace process has clear parallels with Ireland.

What remains to be seen is the influence he may have as a powerless broker. 6 counties in the north are occupied, the Orange parade of apprentices is set to begin in summer. They continue to march and celebrate the defeat of King James.

Israel has no time for celebration, they build the walls and fences higher, continuing illegal settlements, occupation, and sanctions.

This is where the parallel with Ireland stops dead.

Great article. This is why wrong time to try for peace there. We can't deal with Hamas until we deal with Iran. Bush critized Clinton for trying peace deal at end of presidency then turned around and did same thing himself. It will just be another lost in the win/lose column for his administration.

The intellectual fraud vomited forth by the defenders of Israel is truly amazing--and sickening.

Stars and Stripes Forever: When you talk of making peace with Israel, I guess you mean Baruch Goldstein and Yigal Amir. Or Ariel Sharon of the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camp fame. Or Menachem Begin of Dier Yassin fame. Make peace with a nation founded in and by terrorists? You can't blame the Palestinians for following the Zionist model of success through terror. Terror works. Israel is the pre-eminent exemplar.

OY!: Don't you mean a Palestinian-Frie Israel? Who did the ethnic cleansing in 1947/48? Who did Dier Yassin? You gotta get your history right. Fast forward to now: The Palestininan Untermenschen not expelled or killed in 1947/48 are stuck in the Gaza and West Bank ghettos. These Palestinians are denied access to their holy sites--and to medical care, food, water, education, and a life in general. Just like those in the Warsaw Ghetto in WW II. And don't forget the Israel-supported Hamas that won the election fair and square, but then had to deal with a Fatah attack orchestrated by the US and Israel. Peace with Israel? Sorry, mass suicide by the Palestinians isn't an option.

A Kuhn writes: "Jews only started to separate their communities from the Arabs and create self-defense organizations in response to Arab anti-Semitism and violence, which had been imported to the Middle East from Europe." As Israeli historians such as Illan Pappe and Benny Morris make clear, the Zionists had planned all along to expel the Palestinians from Greater Israel. They used mass terror to do so. The Jewish "self defense" forces were really aggressive paramilitary terrorist organizations executing a long- and well-planned ethnic cleansing.

There will never be peace until Israel and its supporters face their own history.

A. KUHN
Please get your facts straight and differentiate between the Ashkenazi (immigrants to Palestine, now a minority in Israel but still very much controlling the politics of Zionism) and Sephardic Jews (Middle Eastern, majority of the people but not in control of Israeli politics).

The fact remains that the minority Zionists are having flashbacks of "getting even" on episodes of WWII. But they forget that WWII was in Europe and there is no need to do the same to Arabs.

Please also remember that it was that minority Zionist lot that rejected the British Palestine Mandate of 2 state solution in 1947 and unilaterally declared independence in 1948 and since that time they have been in a state of war, seized up and paranoid state of mind.

Now, they want to talk about the 2 state solution again, more than 60 years after the original plan.

I couldn't disagree more strongly with Chris K. The Jewish immigrants who came to Israel didn't come "to occupy and to kill." They came to escape discrimination and murder, to find a new home after being expelled from their old countries, to freely practice their religion, and to have political and economic freedom. At home early immigrants had faced persecution, pogroms, and rising Nazism, and after the Holocaust many of the Jews in Europe were still living at the sites of former concentration camps converted into displaced person camps. Jews only started to separate their communities from the Arabs and create self-defense organizations in response to Arab anti-Semitism and violence, which had been imported to the Middle East from Europe.

Also, most Jewish Israelis today were born in Israel and have as much connection to the Middle East as any other Middle Eastern people.

The current peace process should be called a "piece" process. It is nothing but the old divide and conquer principle. How can one expect to negotiate exclusively with of piece of the adversaries and ignore the other? The piece that is representing the Palestinians lost the elections and lost militarily in Gaza. The winner of both is excluded from the talks that are supposed to bring peace to the whole. It makes no sense. Propping up a loser does not make him a winner and we all know it. Until the puppeteers who pull the strings in the US and Europe accept this reality, there will be war. Bring in all the parties for the sake of humanity, real PEACE will come to all. Finger pointing, name calling and double talk don't work. God Bless all his children, Jews and Arabs.

Maybe this is what you mean by making peace with Arabs.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/31/wsaudi131.xml

We are fed anti-Hamas propaganda as truth, so how would Americans judge Hamas? We can't.

I found Steve Erlanger's article in the NYT very informative, in trying to demean Hamas it informed me that they are not anti-Jew, something I would not have imagined. Hamas spokesperson said this:

But “our battle is not with Jews as Jews,” he said, “but those who came and occupied us and killed us.” After all, Mr. Barhoum said, “the Jews who recognized the evil of the occupation stayed outside and refused to come to Palestine as occupiers.”

“The Jews who came, came to occupy and to kill,” he said."

I think that's an attitude Americans can understand an accept as fair. Thanks to Mr Erlanger for the "leak." I'm sure his handlers reprimanded him

Lets call a Palestinian a Palestinian [like lets call a spade a spade].

All the right people know that really there is no such thing as a Palestine. or for that matter Palesstinians. 86% of the population in the diminishing West Bank and in Gaza are recent emgires [actually since 1948] from places such as Poland, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Rumania. Hungary with a smattering of families from Coney Island, Miami etc,. etc.

Their migration into the areas mentioned resulted in about 6 to 800,000 refugees having to move to make shift housing in Lebanon.

Those folks who migrated from the above mentioned nations have been the recipient of billions of dollars and still receive 3/4 billion a year to make the desert bloom. The local and rightful residents have had to scrounge for themselves in the areas allocated to them by the UN in a geogarphic entity named Israel which in order to exist enlarges its territory on an almost daily basis just to keep from starving and for all intents and purposes lives at the mercy of all those Palestinians who arrived right behind the Stern and Irgun Zvai Lumi gangs from the countries named above.

The only way a peace, a just and honorable peace between all those Palestinians who have been migrating into the area since 1948, and the local original inhabitants is to form one society and live as one semitic people. Either that or make sure that all those who claim that they have lived there since time began receive as much finacial aid as all those Palestinian who have been coming in from all sorts of regions in the worl to live there.

Cause the only way waterboarding is most enjoyable is when everybody is in on the fun.

to TT:
Egypt and (Trans)Jordan finally figured out it was more to their own advantage to live in peace with Israel than it was to try and push them into the sea. When the rest of the region figures that out, we'll have peace.

And aren't you being a tad selective in your response? The 1948 partition was for a Jewish majority state and another Arab majority state, Jordan, with Gaza remaining with Egypt. Until 1967, the West Bank and Gaza were under Arab control, no push for a state. Why not?
PLO was formed in 1963 or so, not to form a second state but to wipe out Israel and the Jews and form a Junden-Frie state in Israel. And until the liberation of Jerusalem in 1967, Jews had no access at all and their holy sites were not protected but were defiled.

Fast forward, the "piece" seeking Arabs elect a terrorist group through a democratic process they didn't have before the "occupiers" took over, when Israel leaves Gaza, do they build or destroy?
They destroy the assests abandonded by the Jews, and they create rockets to send to civilian targets in Israel. Hamas chooses to use fuel to bus in the masses to show how terrible the suffering is, rather than use the fuel to keep the hospitals running. Sort of the reverse of the Nazis and Japenese model prison camps during WWII. Of course, with so much tutoring and recycling of Nazis and their lies in the Arab world, your accusations of criminal behavior, "against international norms and laws and inhumane" is accurate, just applied to the wrong group in this case.

Interesting views. You are right on different agendas of Cheney and the Israelis. Remember that both Arab-Israeli peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan was done during Republican administrations.

to OY!--
You seem to forget who is the occupier and who is the occupied. Try living in Gaza for, say, 24 hours without water and electricity and you might change your mind. Cutting off electricity, fuel and basic medicine as a method to pressure people into submission is criminal, against international norms and laws and inhumane.

The only "piece" Hamas (and Fatah, the PA, etc) want is the piece labeled on the map "Israel".
They continue to teach the next generation to hate. Withdraw from "our" land they say, so that we can have peace. Israel withdraws from Hamas run (after Hamas kills and violently throws out Fatah) and what does Hamas build on the opportunity? An infrastructure to run a State or an enhanced terror infrastructure to throw rockets at civilians and then hide behind women's and childrens skirts hoping the mean non-occupiers will strike back causing "civilian" casulaties?
We know the answer and until/unless the Arab/Muslim mindset changes to seek opportunities instead of death and destruction of Israel and the Jews, there is no hope for Peace.