If a people is downtrodden and oppressed, it fights back. People have the right to resist against injustice and occupation. You expect them to resign to Israel's whims.

The conflict is older than the occupation, and there was unprovoked Palestinian violence against civilians even before the creation of Israel. Examples include the 1929 riots  in Hebron  and Jerusalem. Most people under occupation don't blow up civilians in supermarkets or busses. Most 'resistance' of other peoples was and is focused on soldiers, sometimes politicians, but seldom at killing as many civilians as possible. Often people resist oppression in non-violent ways. What is also quite unique is the extremist anti-Semitic propaganda (Mein Kampf is a best seller among the Palestinians). Nobody likes his oppressor, but such propaganda is unprecedented. However, the heart of the problem is, again, that most Palestinians do not accept Israel and their resistance is directed at its very existence. Palestinian violence increased at moments that Israel made concessions and handed over territory, because these 'resistance groups' are opposed to peace. Every country has the right and also the duty to protect its civilians. It is strange that Israel is often denied this right. It is true that not everything that Israel does in the territories is related to security, and we do not approve of everything happening there. However,  Israel doesn't celebrate after it has killed Palestinian civilians, and often there is an outcry in Israel if a military operation leads to innocent deaths. Recently a female Palestinian tried to blow up herself in an Israeli hospital where she was treated for burns caused by a cooking accident. She was caught at a checkpoint. There was no outcry and no official condemnations in the Palestinian media.

Ami Isseroff