[Barry the Sprout]

Sorry not to have replied to this for so long, its been a bit of a busy week - mostly due to politics actually. So far since Monday I've been on a picket of the Isreali embassy (in support of the refuseniks), a debate on working class representation in politics, a carnival against student fees, a meeting to discuss autonomous Marxism with a contact of mine (just don't ask... because I don't know either...), and finally the Stop the War Coalition national conference. The disturbing thing is that thats a pretty normal week for me. Anyway, thats all completely off topic, I just felt like ranting for a while.

To respond to your surveys I should first point out that they are both the same survey, or at least appear to be so. Just reported by two different newspapers. If anything that in fact damages the impact of the survey in question as they report it in such drastically different manners that its hard to see exactly what the survey is proving at the end of the day. I find it hard to believe that the fact that 85% of Palestinians support a mutual ceasefire means that "Jew hatred" is at fever pitch, as the second article seems to claim. Their most damaging stat appears to be that a slight majority of Palestinians say terror attacks have helped their position, something which I would even agree with - but that doesn't necessarily mean I support those attacks. The American use of the Atom bomb almost certainly furthered America's goal of ending WW2, but that doesn't mean I support it!

I'm sorry I don't have any actual figures to counter with, but it seems fairly obvious to me that even if the fundamentalists are in the majority then terror tactics are not the best way forward - thats whats put the fundamentalists in the majority in the first place! Or at least, thats my take on it. If someone were to have to blink first then I'd say it would have to be the Isreali's, simply as they have a state structure and army and as a result it would be much harder for the Palestinians to try anything unilateral. Obviously a simultaneaous solution woiuld be best, but I'm presenting a logical extention of my own views onto a next best scenario.

Err, thats all a bit garbled... sorry.