I came across this "Letter to the Editor" in our local paper this week. I think the following excerpt summarizes the elements of the conflict nicely. Unfortunately, many people fail to acknowledge the history of the situation or the simple goals of each side, destruction versus survival, when they're bashing one side or the other.

"...The Arabs’ idea of “peace” involves destroying Israel. The Palestinians could have had their own country in 1948. They rejected it. The final solution of the Arabs was to drive the Jews into the sea. Thankfully, they failed. For 58 years, slaughtering Jews has been more important to them.

The oil-rich, land-rich Arab countries have had 58 years to resettle the people displaced by the Arab invasions of Israel. They have not done it. Seventeen Arab countries have a total area of 9,314,656 square kilometers. That’s 448 times bigger than Israel’s tiny 20,770 square kilometers. For Arabs, the one small country that absolutely wants peace is the one they love to blame. The Palestinians can have a country any time they want. All they have to do is stop slaughtering Jews. That’s all.

If terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas disarm, peace settles in. If Israel disarms, the Jews are slaughtered...."

The simplest and clearest way of looking at it is that one side has always fought to destroy out of pure hatred, while the other side has always fought for the reason of survival.