> What exists now is a corruption of the original idea meant to "keep the peace".

True. I imagine Israeli making a farce of this well-meaning peace treaty (more so in Hebron and Jerusalem) is why it is hard for Palestine to trust Israel on any more peace-keeping measures.

> ...local Jews begged the local Arabs to stay.

I think Israelis should work towards a policy that, for once, favours the Palestines (but unfortunately, the incentives have never been there as Israel effectively has won every battle and war).

> In terms of values the median Palestinian is FAR more religious and conservative.

I live in a country where conservatives and liberals co-exist just fine. Israel's biggest ally is a country that has survived just fine. I understand the fear however.

> There's a lot of seriously crazy people there.

The Oleh doesn't discriminate between orthodox and non-observing Jews? Not saying the Orthodox are "crazy", but unlikely they support, for instance, a yearly pride parade at the Western Wall.

> That's the main reason Egypt refuses to let anyone in. It isn't something that can be realistically assimilated.

I believe, they just don't trust Israel. There are scores of refugees in Lebanon and Jordan who aren't allowed to return. Israel is as much Levantine as Jordan and Lebanon, while I'd argue, Egypt isn't.

> To be fair, it's hard to know what needs to be done here. There was no prior country that can be rebuilt.

Yep: So, just Israel, and the Israeli citizens of Palestine. Or: A federal government can be worked out? But there's nothing I feel (other than the situation like in 1973) that would bring the Israeli government to this compromise.

> The reason they have weak leadership is due to the Israeli right wing which sabotaged that leadership.

What's their end-goal, though? imo, this goal should inform the International support (for or against) Israeli aggression (wars, settlements, discrimination, barriers, etc) against these stateless people. And if this goal is henious, then it behooves Israeli liberals to speak up, because right now, everyone else who does is being cancelled in the name of crimes the Axis power were party to.

> It's still horrible, but at least some effort is going into minimizing civilian impact.

I can see why that is okay with the Israelis (large-scale surveillance, using autonomous weapons are also okay when it comes to Palestinians), but I also see de-humanization, which is what worries me more than anything else.

> The differences between the countries in the EU are relatively small. They are all of the same religion and were all liberal democracies before seeking unity.

Point.

> I don't think we can culturally assimilate.

btw, I don't see any resemblance between the Turkic and the Celtic peoples, or the Iberian and the Slavic peoples, or the Scandinavians and the Greeks. So differences do need to be put aside (:

> It might go away as our society becomes more homogeneous but it will take a generational shift.

Another reason why I think that assimilation instead of alienation with Israelis is the best way forward for the Palestine people.

> They failed pretty badly in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Those are massive territories unlike Gaza and WB. Hopefully, long-term view prevails, despite the designs of the military (or, if one prefers: terrorists) on both sides. You pointed out that PLO already gave up arms in good faith... and it is most likely the militant wing of Hamas wouldn't exist post this war... A chance (again) for Israel to be as benevolent as it can muster up to be and take drastic (not comprised) measures towards peace. A man can dream.