MindfulCoug, give your perspective on the current ME conflict if you will.
 

I already know about the atrocities Israel is perpetrating.

Please answer whether Hamas and others in the Near East want Israel destroyed.

I think it's pretty obvious what Hamas wants but the real question is, does Israel want to survive in such a hostile environment? Does her close western allies want her to establish a strong yet peaceful relatioship with her neighbors? Becuase the way they are acting, doesnot support that. Spoiling a troubled child is not the best way to build her future, IMO.

Iran supreme leader calls for armed west bank.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/07...-in-palestine/

Most Iranians are not necessarily happy to see thier money and resources being used to support Palestinans but when Israel does what it does best, atrocity, they wont mind doing whatever they can to help fellow human/muslim Palestinans out.

Iran has enough oil resources to be successful and prosperous. Investing in conflict may raise prestige at home and with certain sectors, but in reality it stymies its domestic growth by diverting necessary funds. Is the trade off worth it?

I think it's the question both Americans and Iranians have to be worried about.

But its a little bit more concerning for Americans becuase they finally get to see the real bride with no heavy holocaust make up on for the first time. Seeing the ugly bride with no hair extensions and no false lashes is really scary.

They can't help but think is it really worth spending all our much needed money on her??

In American, the religious right strongly supports Israel. Blank check.

The foreign policy hawks on the right support Israel as well.

Most of the Jews in America support Israel. They are generally liberals.

And lots and lots of liberals support Israel as well.

So it's the one thing where there is bipartisan support.

Saying "what about the Palestinians?" is definitely against the grain. Americans have been taught that the Palestinians are something akin to terrorists. Hamas doesn't help change that perception.

Well, the perception IS changing. I remember when I joined the board, I was told to "tune it down" becuase there was no way the board would stand my rant about Israel. And now that I have been reading your posts through all these years, I clearly sense the change.

Plus for Hamas to actually care enough to change American perception is a chance to be alive and have a decent lives. The luxury they obviously can't afford.

There is so much hate and violence that people tune it out, until it is on one's front doorstep. The realities of support for Palestinians is that there is virtually none in the US. Israeli support transcends party lines and even reason.

The problem for the Middle East, if it cares what the US does and thinks, is most Americans view the Middle East as one monolithic whole, and perceive it through the lens of the worst actors, such as Syria, sometimes Iran, Hamas, Libya and Iraq. Because the states are so distant and alien, the average voter see things simplistically and ignores the dissonance.

What does make Syria, Hamas, Iran and Iraq the worst actors in the middle east and not Saudi Arabia, Jordan or Egypt? May be we can get somewhere if you try to answer this question honestly.

What do you think of this ?

Israel, Not Hamas, Orchestrated The Latest Conflict In Gaza

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer...after-all.html

And here is the more detailed version of the story.

http://www.informationclearinghouse....ticle39199.htm