It appears that some may need to be reminded of exactly what western civilization is confronting with respect to the middle east. For years islamic extremists have infiltrated western society, received college educations, procured very good jobs and started organizations that funneled extremely large sums of money back to terrorist groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hizballah and Al-Aqusa Martyrs Brigade. This has been all too easy to accomplish with our open door policies. What is all that money spent on? Food, medicine, clothing, education?.....no. That money goes to weapons, explosives and supplies to construct more terrorist training camps and draft more suicide bombers. Why do you think Saddam was handing out $25,000 to each of the Palestinian families of suicide murderers? Rest assured it wasn't to console them for their loss but to strengthen the wedge between Palestinians and Israelis.
Today, Wahhabism is the dominant Islamic tradition on the Arabian penninsula. As Osama bin Laden comes from Saudi Arabia and is Wahhabi himself, Wahhabi extremism and radical ideas of purity have obviously influenced him and many other islamic extremists considerably. Followers of Wahhabi Islam do not regard it as simply one school of thought out of many, rather it is the only path of true Islam - nothing else really counts. Simply put, the US , Israel and everyone else are considered infidels. Our very existence denies them the kind of "peace and harmony" that this form of Islam seeks. They are not a small, isolated fringe group but a series of interconnected organizations that are getting a foot-hold in many areas of the globe spreading fear and death to any that oppose them. Wahhabi children are taught to hate westerners from day one and nothing we've said or done , from a diplomatic standpoint, would make them change those teachings.
Most Palestinians appear to be either unwilling or unable to take control of their situation. With pressure from terrorist groups constantly on their doorstep, I would say fear is a major factor and a legitimate one at that. Yet this does not change the fact that sooner or later they need to make a choice or I fear that one will be made for them. Do you think a diplomatic solution can be reached with those who's only acceptable solution to the Palestinian issue is driving every Israeli into the sea? I used to think so many years ago. I used to believe we could negotiate at least some kind of resentful coexistence if only to stop the attacks and counter-attacks. Then it became clear to me that while we've been sitting around for decades enjoying our lives of comfort and complacency, they have been planning, plotting and breeding a new generation of suicide killers that will soon have the capability to take out entire cities in the name of allah, not just the occasional building or two. For those of you that think this is just a scare tactic, why dont you ask Iran why they need to bury their nuclear facilities under the sand if they are only for the production of electricity.....hmmmmmm.

Helix - Re. The sending of the money. If not withdrawl, Stricter terms could be set as to what the money goes on. Threats to pull out funding could / should be enforced if they dont comply.

As for US harrassment - as todays international court ruling on "the wall" shows, the international community may not have the exact same views as America. The only vote against ruling the wall illegal was the American judge, Thomas Buerghenthal. Unless the US know something the rest of the world doesnt about this wall (which is possible but then why would they not share the info?) it would seem that the international community might not feel that giving Palestine a bit more liberty is a bad thing.

Zobelisk - The points about how the some people are brought up in a certian kind of way - ie. "hating the west" is a good valid point. That said I have met a few immigrants and asylum seekers here in London, and they really dont seem to support the terrorism one bit. There are many Islamic people out there, and the Wahhabi sect dont set a precedent though they are still definitley a risk. Its a nightmare scenario - as it only takes one man to bomb a bus. It would take thousands, possibly millions of guards to keep the busses safe... then they would start on something else...We cant win with force - that is obvious. War on terror is as rediculous as the war on drugs.

Could the early-aged brainwashing be similar to the way that many Americans are taught to hate "commies". Obviously, you are not about to start out shooting random Chinese people, but there have no doubt been many "joe public" Americans over the years, especially during the cold war, who thought America should have made a move and pressed the big red button on Russia, Cuba etc - when we see that it wouldnt have been necessary now.

As for general hatred towards the west - its not everyone! Those that do dont just decide to hate with that much passion for no reason. The western world has pretty much abused the east throughout history. We should have been expecting some kind of backlash - though due to our thankfully (?) more passive nature now-a-days, we probably couldnt have expected it to be so fierce.

Killing is not going to be the answer here, as for every militant killed will likely have two more to fill his place - who will believe they have more just cause to fight the west than the first.

I dont want to be seen as "the guy supporting terrorists" here - which is how some people seem to look at this. I am just stiring up debate, and trying to get all cards on the table.

A plus point for us is that the "free world" is also an "interconnected organisation. A negetive to that is that its a damn site easier to light a fire than it is to put one out - making our job much harder than theirs.

"Killing is not going to be the answer here, as for every militant killed will likely have two more to fill his place "

Not indefinately. In terms of a slow attack/response possibly, but 3 palestinians have been killed to every 1 Israeli, that isn't a ratio you can keep up for long. There is less tolerance to attacks now on more fronts, and groups like Hamas and Hizbullah have lost most of their popular Western support. Soon, not even the leadership in Syria and Iran will be safe.

As long as there are attacks, any questions about Palestine will be centered on terrorism. Once the terrorist attacks stop, then people will be able to address the needs of Palestinians. The only other choice is for Israel to simply stop responding, and I don't believe anyone could ask or imagine them doing that.

After searching on the net for Hamas- I found that they have their own website, listing the things they have been doing. Not your normal site... it contains things like...

"Gaza - The Qassam Brigades, military wing of the Hamas Movement, fired at dawn today an anti-armored Battar missile at a Zionist army unit near the Jani Tal settlement in central Gaza Strip"

I thought I had better tell the world on here about it. Im worried that the cia may be monitoring the sites activity. If you dont hear from me in a while... call 1800 Guantanamo.

Sam: Do what you like but I would suggest not spending much time on those sites. They have an affinity for posting beheadings and such. One I went to once had the Daniel Pearl beheading made into a short looping GIF and was using it as a popup. I've seen as bad or worse elsewhere. Sadly you can't un-see things once you have seen them.

There's a lot worse than Hamas sites. Admirable to want to check into it, but you'll find a lot more than you want. I did, anyway.