I am a Jew, but I am an American first. So do not assume that being Jewish is automatic support of anything Israel does, just like being American doesn't mean I automatically support the polices of the United States. That is my right has an American citizen. That is also the right of the Israeli citizen because Israel is a democracy. Do the Palestinians afford the same right of protest to their citizens. NO! Unless of course its against Israel. Enough said.

I watch your show almost everyday - what about Palestinians? Have they sacrificed more than Israelis? In recent fighting, 100 something Palestinians died, only a handful of Israelis died. Please stop this nonsense and report on Palestinians.

THIS IS WHY WE INVADED IRAQ

Oil spikes as Iraqi exports halted to protest West's support for Israel.
April 8, 2002: 4:35 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Iraq suspended oil exports Monday to protest U.S. support of Israel, causing a spike in crude prices on the same day the U.S. government predicted record summer demand for gasoline.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said in a televised speech Monday that its embargo will be in effect for 30 days or until Israeli forces withdraw from Palestinian territory. Iraq exports about 1.5 million barrels of oil a day, nearly a million of which go to the United States.

http://money.cnn.com/2002/04/08/news/international/iraq/index.htm
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A little over a year later, we undertake one of the biggest mistakes in American history by invading their country.

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9/11 COMMISSION: NO AL-QAIDA LINKS & ISRAEL

Ultimately, commissioners decided to touch briefly on the Iraq war by concluding there was no “collaborative relationship” between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida; the administration had asserted there were substantial contacts between the two.

Israel.
The commission disagreed as to how to characterize al-Qaida’s motives for attacking the U.S., with Hamilton arguing that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the presence of U.S. forces in the Middle East were major contributors.

Unidentified members believed that “listing U.S. support for Israel as a root cause of al-Qaida’s opposition to the United States indicated that the United States should reassess that policy,” which those commission members did not want.

Ultimately, the panel made a brief statement noting that U.S. policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iraq are “dominant staples of popular commentary across the Arab and Muslim world.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14191255/page/2/

Stephen//Boston, MA
You have to understand both sides of the conflict, UN mandates Israeli back in 1948, If you're property and personal property was destroy in minutes of time you won't attack. I don't blame the Arabs countries for attack the Zionist State.

Ann, You are without a doubt the queen of the story. Your honesty, candor, and compassion do not go unnoticed. To answer those postings who feel Israel is an aggresor in their desire to protect their existence let me remind you of some recent Jewish and world history. I am the Cild of Holocaust Survivors. The formation of modern day Israel came about only after six million innocent Jews were slaughtered by the Hitler murder machine. With Israel sperheading the defense of our people it is imperative that they be proactive rather than wait to be attacked and murdered by today's anti-Semitism. The Jews are fighting for their existence while their surrouinding world aggresses toward Israel's extinction. We as Jew will never wait for the murders of our people to be at our door. Ann, Thank You so much for being factual and leaving the political coerrect views to the news readers. You are truly a beacon of honesty and courage. Most Sincerely

Ann, wonderful reporting as usual.

I wonder why American Jewish people are more loyal to Isreal than to the United States of America. They should pay more attention to the US interests instead of supporting Isreal in fighting against Arab countries. The Jewish heavy influence in Washington D.C. is what makes Arab people to hate the US. Our meddling into other country politics is another reason.

Ann,
you are an amazingly open and intelligent individual and I applaud you for your courage in showing a side that is more often the not the unpopular side.

I would like to know why is it always in the name of God, God has nothing to do with your fighting, it's all about money and power and you use the name of God to brainwash people, now there is the biggest crime of all.

Thank you Ann for showing that the Isreali's are just like us. Would we act any different if we were exposed daily to homicide bombers? What would it be like to be afraid to eat in a restaurant? Ride a bus? Or go to a movie with the constant fear of someone exploding a bomb and killing or maiming my family? If the news showed the pellet and nail mangeld bodies of the children that have been killed in Israel then maybe we'd have more symathy. It's sad that we as American's are so short sighted and hypocrytical. Our liberals stopped our support of democracy in Vietnam and let the Kmer Rogue murder 2 million inoccent civilians, Clinton allowed the UN to pull out of Rwanda, allowing 800,000 people to be machetted to death, and now we want to tell Israel to throw up their hands and hope that they survive without using their military. What would the liberals do if 800,000 of their friends (entire cities) were murdered? Would they wake up and realize that there are some people out there that put no value on human life? Including theirs?

Ann
You forget Israels is the aggressor here. I don't support the Arabs but facts are facts. Many more Arab famillies have suffered as Israel has attacked civilian targets. Why are they getting a free ride on this?
As for why people blame the US, witout our money Israel could not exist. What country gets the most foreign aid from the US? A third world nation trying to feed its hungry? A country rebuilding from the tsunami? NO!! Israel adn it has been that way for decades. Our taxes paying for Israeli aggression. The media has a lot of Israeli symapathisers because of the large number of Jewish Americans in management. The real story will never be told.

Thank you for your wonderful reporting, Ann.

Read all the comments. Decided to look up history of Israel to get better picture. Why does everyone blame the US? If you go back to 1948, it is Great Britain that caused a lot of upset. And then later France got involved with the Suez Canal. Which, by the way, the US did not support Israel's invasion. The other interesting fact was after the division of Palestine, there were more JEWISH refugees than ARAB refugees. Both sets were offered the option to go back to their source country or country of choice. Majority of the Jewish refugees were absorbed by Israel. That had to truly affect their economy, etc. The Arab refugees decided to simply stay in the camps. They did not go back to whatever Arab country they originally came from. Makes me wonder why? Later in history, Jordon expelled guerilla fighters from their country. Where did they settle? Imagine this - the refugee camps. There seems to be a trend in the Middle East. We don't them and wouldn't be nice to have all that Israel has done for themselves. Is war the answer? I hope not. But it is starting to look there are no other answers.

I think what bothers me the most is that people still don't get it. God gave the children of Israel the land of Palestine. The only way the land will flourish is if Israel is on it. Muslims have it in their koran to kill the jew and hate the infidel (christians). So is this my imagination or what?

You can hear thousands and thousands of similar stories from the other side (Lebanon). Who said its Israel’s land!!!!... Who said Muslims hate Jewish people?. Islam doesn't not hate Jewish region, it actually believes in Moses as a profit. Mostly it doesn’t approve occupying other peoples land, killing women, children, destroying homes, schools, hospitals. Why have a country for just one religion (Israel for Jewish religion). Why not live in peace with others in different countries.. What is your definition for that!!

Ruth,
My prayers are with you and your country. If I were young again and healthy I would want to be there to help you.

Response to Alex, NY, NY -
I can think of three root causes of Arab hatred toward Israel:

1. Dictators who horde their country's wealth, leaving the populace poor and neglected, need a convenient scapegoat to deflect the people's anger from the corrupt leadership. They rile their people up about the Jews and Israel, the perfect scapegoat, so that they can live in their palace cities without challenge.

2. Arab countries, clinging to medieval ideas and values, have been left in the dust by the technological and societal advances of Western civilization, and they are intensely jealous. Remember that in the Middle Ages Arabs were on top of the world and Islam was the religion of progress. Israel is a thorn in their side that reminds them of how dramatically they have been surpassed.

3. Radical Islamist theology teaches jihad in its mosques and schools, raising generations of radical Islamists who see their religious salvation in wiping out the infidel from among their midst. Israel, a successful, Jewish nation situated in the middle of the Muslim Arab world naturally attracts the jihaddists.

I want to clarify better what I wrote.
Remember, this is not our first time in Lebanon- we did pull out before. But Hizbollah has ignored that pull-out and has sent rockets and kidnaped patrolling soldiers. Israel has often sat at the peace table. But how can you make peace with someone who today is still training their children that it is glorious to make suicide bombings in shopping malls, and that Israelis are evil incarnate?
In Israel, we do not teach our kids to hate Arabs. Hate bombers, yes, Araab, no. An arab could walk the streets of my city unaccosted, unhurt. He might be frisked before he would be allowed to enter a mall. What can we do? But if I was to enter Jerico, let alone any Arab country, I would be luckey to escape alive. Peace will only come when Arabs accept that we also have a right to live.

The simple reason for the large number of Lebonese casualties is that the Hizbolah locates themselves in civilian areas. Israel warned the civilians to leave. What more can they do. We have tried peace talks; too bad the other side always walks away or bombs kids.
Note that Israeli cassualties are largely civilians NOT living near military bases.

Before Americans make any judgement on the Arab people or any other country that is a 3rd world land they should put themselves in their shoes. I use to say how can people live like that until I went overseas and spent 3 months living and learning how people can survive and who they blame and why. Remember, the American Press only reports what our government wants or their views.

I just want to ask all you people this question: why do you think there is such a hate towards Israel from the arab world? Do you really think that the hate came from nowhere? Can people please start thinking for themselves and not just listen to the biased one sided media? If we were more aware of the root of this problem, maybe we could find a solution to it. I think it is horrible that so many people lose their lives in this war, doesn't matter whether they are israelis or lebanese...

Jeremy, Saginaw, TX

yes, you're right... and he probably died in Lebanon.

If generations of their familys live in squalid refugee camps, speaking of these supposed martyrs, shouldnt their anger be with their leaders and not the "Zionists" as they call it? The hatred is spawned by their leaders for fear of loosing their absolute power and with absolute power comes absolute money. Why do you think their leaders hate the western world so much? The young people in many of these less repressive countries are getting tired of the opression of the government and old beliefs and slowly the government has changed things with the times in order to keep the people happy. In places like Iran, pre war Iraq, Syria etc they carefully control the media and what exposure their people have to the outside world. They make sure what they do get supports their retoric that the outside world are all devils. This secures their position. Like in Iran, the ayatolla's official title is Supreme Commander. Sounds like something out of a planet they landed on in star trek.
Look at Iraq, another place with many citizens living in poverty(pre war). Was Sadam living amoung them? No. Was Sadam fighting along side his overmatched Army until the bitter end? No. Where was he? Loading up U-hauls full of all of his possesions from his umpteen extravagent palaces and another few with all of the cash from the bank so he could send them off to safety while he lie low in the hole he was hiding in. Now how does making yourself into a human bomb aimed at another country,race,or religion that has nothing to do with your living conditions resolve this?

Thank you Ann, for your great reporting.

This is the second coming of Christ. Be warned!