This was done to prop up Abbas and the diplomatic route, since Hamas has done nothing but increase its prestige while Abbas has little to show for his years in power.

Netanyahu has failed spectacularly with his Gaza gambit. I wonder if this will affect his poll numbers.

Lulz @ setting unattainable goals and then chiding an entire group of subjectively defined people for not reaching them.

Other prospective races looking for independence should take their example: shooting rockets into your neighbor will get you recognition from the rest of the world that you have enough military material to get your own country. Feeding the fire. Terrorism wins. Hence why the USA didn't support it. Bad for Israel = bad for us.

As Octavious said, the Palestinians - and Arab community as a whole - have been given land, treaties, and occasionally resources by Israel. What more can they ask? Not much, other than the rest of the land, and that's what they are shooting for. That's why they don't quit while they are ahead. They want Israel dead, and probably the US after that.

Way to go, U.N. I always thought you all were useless, and now I'm proven right.

"They want Israel dead, and probably the US after that."

Reprinted here without comment. No comment is necessary.

Jk I'll comment. bo_sox that statement is asinine.

Yeah, unlike the rest of you, I have an Israeli tank commander that I asked, not the media. Asinine for certain. Do your research instead of letting them do it for you. Just because Israel's military strength is better and they respond with force when provoked doesn't make them the villain.

Of course terrorism wins. Terrorism won Kosovo recognition. Ditto Bosnia. Ditto Croatia. Terrorism got Libya back in the good graces of the West. Probably will do the same for Syria.

It's still way too early to say. The United States could still pull all funding from the PA as a result of this. If that happens and the Fatah government dissolves the West Bank could turn into another Gaza, giving Israel every reason in the world to continue the occupation.

We should all hope that this gives Abbas a huge boost, makes the Israeli people elect a Kadima government, and ultimately leads to a peaceful settlement. Abbas has said that to him Palestine is the 1967 lines and East Jerusalem. Maybe there could be border swaps (certain settlement blocs for the Triangle, for instance) but today's decision will go a long way to making sure this issue will be settled justly. Not much chance of a Palestinian state being an archipelago of cantons divided by the barrier, settlements, and access roads now.

Basically, this could be a very good thing or a very bad thing. Whatever it is, it's a big deal. As far as the overwhelming number of countries and the UN are concerned, Palestine is already a state. That means that negotiation, whenever they start again, will be much more likely to be conclusive. They still have to talk, though...

I like how people get so offended at the fact that violence often wins a better outcome than peace when it's someone ELSE being violent. Pay no attention to the fact that violence is used as a cudgel in all of our names. When it's done by people we sympathize with it's somehow more necessary and just.

Violence works because it's easy to understand. Peace has too much nuance, and humans are nothing if not repetitively, predictably stupid.

Good for Palestine, bad for Israel...

We'll see how it bodes otherwise.

"Just because Israel's military strength is better and they respond with force when provoked doesn't make them the villain."

Well said, +1

"Bad for Israel = bad for us."

Nope. Israel is a foreign country, and a country the United States has no mutual defense treaty with. Our interests often align, but they are not identical by any means.

Israel is really a strategic liability in the US's global scheme of imposing jihadist states around the world.

Honestly I cant really contribute much except pro-palestinian rhetoric.

FREE PALESTINE




ALL CAPS MAKE ME RIGHT

I don't do this very often, but +1 @ The UN.

And +1 to the Palestinians for successfully stepping outside the sham of a "peace process" that is designed to provide them with nothing more than false hope and perpetual helotry.

Taking Sicarius' logic of ALL CAPS MAKE ME RIGHT...

DOWN WITH HAMAS, PLO/ISRAEL ACCORD NOW

Apparently bo_sox is krellin now.

Seriously, don't make blanket statements about an entire race, and don't hold the opinion of someone who is going to be more biased on the issue than any external media outlet (that's right, even Fox News) over actual trustworthy sources.

Fuck the philistines!

"Yeah, unlike the rest of you, I have an Israeli tank commander that I asked, not the media. Asinine for certain."

Presented again without comment.

unlike the rest of you, i heard that israel is evil from a hamas militant. those guys always give me the fair and balanced version. not the media.

"Just because Israel's military strength is better and they respond with force when provoked doesn't make them the villain."

When you go around the neighborhood provoking "provocations" so you can then 'justify' beating the crap out of people, then yes, you are the villain.

Israel's military strength is rather overrated.

How can you overrate 200 (or possibly many more) nuclear bombs?

When is the last time anybody used a nuclear weapon?

Israel was defeated in 2006. They didn't do well in their last conventional war in 1973. They didn't do well in Gaza just now. Their air force probably couldn't successfully wipe out Iran's nuclear program. That's what matters. The nukes are a sideshow.

wait they were defeated in 2006? militarily i mean

Militarily, it was probably a draw. But a draw between a militia and the IDF is a moral victory for Hizballah.

It's about time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOava2P_ejM

well, was it a military draw though? i agree that they lost the war of ideas, but i can remember thinking at the time that they were getting their asses kicked in terms of actual firepower, as is usually the case.

the moral victories of israel's direct military opponents are usually gleaned because of israel's ridiculous ideas of proportionality (assuming they even know the word)

When the only countries that vote "no" on resolutions are Israel and the US, you can pretty much be sure that they are resolutions moving towards justice and peace that those countries are trying to block. The EU abstentions speak even louder than the Yes votes in this one - especially Germany, Australia, and the UK who can usually be persuaded to go along and play lapdog.

"Yeah, unlike the rest of you, I have an Israeli tank commander that I asked, not the media. Asinine for certain. Do your research instead of letting them do it for you. Just because Israel's military strength is better and they respond with force when provoked doesn't make them the villain."

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