The "Road Map"

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ok looks like my response got lost here.

kevin - it's really the opposite. if anything israel is less willing to come down hard on the settlements in a public forum. this has been going on for over a year now, and it's just making it's way to mainstream media...

but to answer... there will. and has been some civil infghting. not sure i'd expect a full on "civil war" though. here's what's going on. israel has turned it's back on the settlements and began targeting the "settlements" that are nothing more then two trailor homes propped up on cinder blocks on some empty hill. these are considered illegal to israel. very little of the housing is government sponsored. think of a complex the size of stuyvesant apartments in nyc, in relation to the entire east side of manhattan. not only has the idf become reluctant to protect the majority of settlements, they have forcefully removed structures, and evicted the residents as sqauters. this has led to violent clashes of a civil uprising nature. in one case last summer, the idf would tear down a farm house, and the settlers would symbolicaly rebuild it again overnight . they've taken to arming themselves not just against the palestinians but against the idf.

i think it's likely there will be attempts to kill sharon. we shouldn't forget that rabin's assasination was likely an inside job.

i want to say something that's very important. do not view all settlers as religious extremists or rebel rousers. some of these communities allow palestinian residents for example. do not assume all of these settlements are even jews. the reluctance to make these distinctions shows the same intolerance as the indymedia crowd who have taken to referencing all israel supporters as nazi's. vince's icon aside... it's frightening.

i still haven't heard an explanation for why gaza and the west bank should be cleansed of all jews. anyone want to answer that?