Two key roles in the sixth Harry Potter film go up for grabs, with open casting sessions due to be held in London...

Two key roles in the sixth Harry Potter film go up for grabs, with open casting sessions due to be held in London...

British download store 7digital relaunches with a promise to offer cheaper prices and greater ease of use than iTunes...

British download store 7digital relaunches with a promise to offer cheaper prices and greater ease of use than iTunes...

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all i can say is "one man one vote" for everyone that is within isreal. sepreration of church and state!!!

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Karim: I'm sure that the Copts of Egypt, the Animists in Darfur, the Sunni majority in Syria and the Shiites of Saudi Arabia all concur with your comments about oppression. Then again it is useful to see your reaction to "Jerusalem Israel" as a yardstick to judge your other comments.

The choice between Abbas and Hamas is basically no choice at all. Hamas can not wage a war against Israel and benefit from Israel at the same time (tax refunds owed to the PA by Israel for imported goods destined for the PA). First stop the violence and then start talking so that funds can flow.

Yassir:

That's exactly what it is.

Israeli realized that they can't hold the territories for ever (demographic, not good will), so they are bleeding the Palestinians as much they can.

Also some Israeli even though are against the occupation (many in the Israeli left), they have a hard time imagining Israel without Judea and Samaria (West Bank and Gaza) for ideological reasons (promised land).

I really see no near end to this conflict because as long as Israel is not punished for its crimes, they will not let go their control of the territories. They might change the way they administer them but not so much the balance of power. Israeli want Palestinians to be their inferior neighbors.

Our coward Arab governments who are doing nothing are also part of the problem. Arab citizens are also not doing enough to change these authoritarian governments who do not represent the will of the people in anyway.

It is shameful that 2 Arab states have full diplomatic relations with the state that oppresses millions of Arabs like no other Arab state does.

Does anyone know of any people in the history of mankind who were told to have a democracy before the occupiers left? Was Kuwait(part of Basra, Iraq till the British annexed it)told to hold elections before the iraqis left. Saul Singer and his ilk are raising the bar and making excuses so Israel don't have to leave the occupied territories and can build more settlements.

What do *any* of these comments have to do with the substance of Mr. Kuttab's original question or Mr. Singer's response?

Suppose Abbas does disolve parliament; there will be a civil war that will probably result in either one side gaining a military dictatorship or Israel disolving the PA.

Whatever..

I hope I see you guys step in everytime bloggers go off on virulent Islamophobic tangents as well....

Point noted though.

At least Hamas was elected after Abbas. Lex posterior derogat legi priori

Please focus your comments on Mr. Singer's post. If you'd like to engage in tangential debates, please propose the topics to postglobal@washingtonpost.com and we will try to open a separate forum for you or direct you appropriately. This is to maintain the integrity of our discussions and make this a fruitful experience for all readers. Thank you.

Alexandria,

"Karim, your remarks are remarkably ignorant and unhelpful (as I suppose mine are, but at least I acknowledge this)."

Actually Karim brings up an important point (in fact he, and others, has been bringing this point up regularly). Jerusalem's status under international law is "undetermined". Instead of name calling, how about factually, logically and rationally refuting his point (and please try to not use mythology, like our friend Shalom Freedman).

The Washington Post should address this issue and show the location as either "Jerusalem" or "Israel".

Karim, your remarks are remarkably ignorant and unhelpful (as I suppose mine are, but at least I acknowledge this).

"Jerusalem was never the capitol of any Arab country."

Nor was it ever the capitol of any "country" a KINGDOM maybe, but for how long?

To add to my previous comment, unless one reads the bible, most people on this planet know nothing about some 50BC era Kingdom of David that our Israel apologists chant to us.

Iraq's history is more relevant to mankind than ANYTHING in the so-called kingdom of David.

Really, what did this kingdom of David bring to mankind? few religious books?

Shaloom Freedman:

We are not in 100BC.

It is true Jerusalem never was a capitol of any Arab/Muslim empire (and neither was Mekkah), but that doesn't mean that few messianic fundamentalists can impose their view of history on its residents because of few myths related to the Kingdom of David etc.

Israel ceased to exit for 2000 years so I am not sure what mankind you were talking about.

Arabs will not let go their rightful legitimate claim to parts of Jerusalem where Arabs reside.

The Israeli settlers however are what they are: messianic fanatical settlers who stole other people lands with no shame or impunity.

This is the operative clause in Saul Singer's statement.
"People cannot effectively choose representative governments if there is no rule of law, no free press, and no true freedom of expression."
Unfortunately the Palestinians would rather hate and try to destroy their Jewish neighbors than strive for a better life in some kind of cooperation with them.
Had the Palestinians in Gaza chosen upon Israeli withdrawal to stop firing rockets at Israel, stop attempting terrorist attacks, and instead build their economy and society we would all be in a different situation than the seeming no-way - out one we are in today.

The two respondents who claim that Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel are willfully ignorant not only of present- day realities, but of historical ones. The city of Jerusalem has its place in the hearts and minds of mankind because of the history of the people of Israel there, beginning with the great - founder of the city , King David.
Jerusalem was never the capitol of any Arab country.
Jews lived in Jerusalem with minor interruptions from the time of its founding.
One of the major prayers in the Jewish liturgy is for return to Jerusalem.
The population of present- day Jerusalem has a large Jewish majority. It is the capital of the modern state of Israel and the seat of its Parliament, and other governmental institutions.

Once again, the Washington Post is taking sides in allowing Singer to use a false address:Jerusalem, Israel. As far as the rest of the world, the status of Jerusalem has not yet been definitely determined. Canada's passport policy is that Jerusalem must stand alone. It cannot be entered in conjunction with Israel or Palestine or any other country name. If Singer and the Washington Post think that they can get away with this BS, you can be sure the world won't rest until the new address becomes Jerusalem, Palestine where Israel has become a state of Palestine. This is only as arrogant as Singer's address!

1- Jerusalem is not in Israel. Eastern Jerusalem is illegally occupied by the state of Israel (since 1967) in violation of many UN resolutions.

I do not understand why the WP chooses to mislead its readers this way.

Jerusalem today is really an Apartheid city where Jews and non-Jews are basically ruled by different laws under the control of the same government.

2- When Mr. Singer talks about the rule of the law, well who actually rules the occupied territories if it is the Israeli government through its military?

3- The Israeli government has been violating the law in the occupied territories for the past 39 years and continue to do so as we speak supported by billions of dollars from US taxpayers.

4- Mr. Singer forgets one major basic right that his government is violating in the territories: freedom of movement.

Palestinians, who still hold no passport and who have to get permission from Israel to leave their own occupied country, live in one big open air prison maintained by the apartheid government of Israel.

These Palestinians wouldn't have to suffer all of this had been lucky to be born Jewish.

I saw this headline on my Google page and I was surprised that the Washington Post was making such a strong comment about the precarious state of the upcoming US midterm elections. "How true! How true!" I thought. But upon clicking the link, I see you wrote about Palestinian elections. Sigh. Let's hope for fair elections in the US on November 7.