I am astonished by the amount of naivety on this thread. I'd like to think it is naivety and not (as PigletJohn keeps harping on about) anti-Semitism.
It would be fantastic if Israel could just lay down all weapons and instantly Hamas would respond by doing the same and everyone would live happily ever after, both sides respecting the other, in peace, to discuss in a constructive fashion how to divide up a fairly small peace of land or share in peacefully. That would just be so great, wouldn't it?
But in the real world, we all know that every time Israel has agreed to and stuck to a ceasefire, Hamas has gone on firing rockets and mortars in breach of the ceasefire, in an attempt to kill innocent Israeli civilians - yes, babies and children. (That they've failed to kill as many innocent Israeli babies and children as they'd like certainly isn't from want of trying.) We have now seen that millions (billions?) of dollars of aid money to the Palestinians have gone on building tunnels to transport arms and terrorists directly into Israeli territory in order to kill innocent Israeli civilians (and I note that those who complained earlier on this thread that the Israeli blockade was leaving the Palestininans deprived of building materials have gone all quiet on this since the tunnels were discovered).
So demands for Israel to turn the other cheek have to be met with realism. I wonder how many of those demanding Israel take no action felt the same way after 9/11 or 7/7? 7/7 was just one attack on British territory but I know I felt absolutely terrified. And I know I wanted those responsible for it brought to justice. So if I was Israeli, I know that it would be my first priority that my government destroyed those tunnels and rocket-launching sites.
Having seen how this thread has gone so far, I know I'm now going to be personally attacked with wails of protest that I'm in favour of killing Palestinian children. I'm not and it really isn't an either-or situation - either you agree with killing Palestinian children or everything Israel does is wrong.
I happen to believe Israel has a right - a duty, in fact - to protect its own people. Like every other state. I'd be interested to hear from those opposed to everything Israel does how you would propose stopping Hamas from launching rockets at innocent Israeli citizens? And how you think those tunnels will get destroyed of the Israelis don't do it?
I'm interested to hear from those with peaceful solutions to the conflict - because ultimately, that is what we all want. (For the record, posts telling me I'm a troll/like killing babies will mark out the writer as a nutter whose views I shall henceforth ignore on all topics.)
So - wise (wo)men of MN - how can we resolve the conflict in a way that leaves both sides safe and secure?