The Arab/Muslim world has always used the Palestinians as a convenient irritant against the USA. But they have done little to help them economically or politically. The Arab world has exploited the Palestinian issue for their own purposes, and to distract their own populations from the oppression of their own authoritarian governments.

The Israelis have been militarily occupying Palestinian land and running their lives for decades, and they have been moving into Palestinian land and communities for all that time, both by legal but pressured land purchases, and by downright bullying, displacement and coercion. Palestinians are a source of cheap labor and even the so-called "Arab-Israeli Citizens" are second class citizens. It can be argued that Israelis occupied Palestinian land after the unsuccessful Arab wars against Israel, and that they did so to ensure their own security. But the Israelis have also taken full economic and political advantage of these occupied territories, far beyond any legitimate security concerns.

Israel is a liberal democratic state and offers the Palestinian more rights and security than the Palestinians offer them. But Israel is also a semi-theocracy, where hard line Jewish sects have an inordinate amount of control and influence. This crowd sees the Palestinians as sub-human vermin which must be oppressed, and if they protest, exterminated. The conflict between progressive and reactionary elements in Israeli society is viewed with contempt by Palestinians as a sign of weakness and indecision. This does little to give liberal Israelis an edge over their fundamentalist faction.

Meanwhile, both the US and the former Soviet Union used the Levant as an arena for big power cold war conflict. In the USA, the cause of Israel has been championed without question by the politically influential Jewish community, which is to be expected. But there is also a source of support for Israel by the normally anti-Semitic fundamentalist Christian community because of the way Israel fits into their Apocalyptic fantasies.

I like the Israelis. As a rule, they are an admirable and brave people who have suffered mightily in the past. No one can blame them for defending themselves the way they do. I am suspicious of the Palestinians, I don't like their friends and I have a tendency to despise people who fight for their freedom by killing civilians and taking innocent hostages. But who can blame them for their desperation?

I don't see any way out of this. And I fear it will spiral out of control into another World War.