Fred Lapides wrote me
"Stumbled upon your newish site whilst avoiding my family--all sleeping, still. Two things that seem never get fully flushed out:

1. Arab-Israelis can leave if unhappy with citizenship in Israel. If they want to stay and make things better, then they ought to try that course of action rather than destroying the place they seem unwilling to abandon.

2. All those who we seem to label pro-Palestinians forget a basic fact of history: no country in recorded history ever gives back land taken in war unless there is (1) strategic reason for unloading that land, (2) a peace accord that returns the taken land because differences have been settled. Look at the history of,say,America: Germany and Japan were made to surrender, unconditionally, occupied by troops, and had a constitution etc imposed upon them.
Mexico lost much lad to the SouthWest of the U.S. in that war and America compensated them at the price dtermined not in negotiations but at the price they were told to accept. Why would any nation lose its young men in warfare and then simply walk away with the enemy still demanding the destruction of the prevailing army? America did this in the war with Iraq and now regrets and will once again go to war with that country till they get what they want--a chance for peaceful regime in Iraq. Merely longivity in occupation seems insufficient motivation for an "occupying" army to walk away.

3. And a bonus: the Hamas and other groups constantly refer to getting Israel out of Palestinian land. Few interviewers or writers ever pin down what they men by Palestinian land--does that mean the territories? All of Israel? There is, after all, a big difference that the Left of Center folks ought to consider when they state that leaving the territories will bring about peace.

buckle up for safety"