Thanks for your comments, Stephen and sober honesty. Much of what you say is sadly true. And it is true that the current round of violence was triggered by the horrific Oct 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and other smaller groups. That said, the collective punishment of the Palestinian people is horrific, shameful and an affront to our shared humanity as well as to the Israeli people, in whose name it is being done. At this point of time, when lives are being lost, better to stop this madness at whatever price. We can leave for later all the parsing of pros and cons of how it should've been and could've been. As the vastly more empowered partner, Israel can afford to show magnanimity. It will only gain respect.