"What about the checkpoints, the Wall cutting farmer's lands in half, the settlers continued incursions into Palestinian territory, the control of food and medical supplies that either get into Gaza (and the West Bank) or not on the Israeli's say so?"

1. Checkpoints would not be needed without the attacks.

2. The Wall wouldn't be needed without the attacks.

3. The farmers' lands wouldn't have been cut in half without the attacks.

4. Settlers' territory is admittedly an incendiary move, but how many settlements are in Gaza now? Can we hear a collective none? Has that stopped the attacks? Remember, Gaza is now governed separately from The West Bank.

5. Israel doesn't control the Egyptian side border. Palestinians had a shot at a completely self-governed border during negotiations at the end of the Clinton era.

One side in this conflict has taken some of the other side's land while also giving back some. The other side continues to argue for the eventual takeover of the whole territory. Tell me, if Hamas governed all of Israel plus Gaza and the West Bank, what would that area be like?

Finally, if a few rogue drug dealers in Mexico kill people at the border, we would get together with the Mexican government and try to find them and convict them individually. If the Mexican government were to give public assistance and open support to those drug dealers, there would be war. Hamas, like the IRA in Ireland, are now part of the governing political structure. Time to grow up and go to the bargaining table. And that starts with recognition of their neighbors' right to exist, no matter how distasteful it may be to them.

I had a good discussion a couple of years ago with an Algerian friend while we were travelling in India. He felt the two state solution was a raw deal for the Palestinians and questioned why the whole region couldn't just unite as one democratic republic. As an American, this seemed reasonable to me on first glance. However, one has to consider the demographics. What is the likelihood of continued existence of religious, personal, and womens' freedoms in what would certainly become an Islamic Republic? If you were Israeli, of almost any ethnic background, which would you prefer remain in power?