But I do want to note a line from Ehud Olmert's speech today (italics provided by Critical Leverage).
I wish to say, from the bottom of my heart, that I know and acknowledge the fact that alongside the constant suffering which many in Israel have experienced because of the history, the wars, the terror and the hatred towards us -- a suffering which has always been part of our lives in our land -- your people have also suffered for many years, and some still suffer.
For dozens of years, many Palestinians have been living in camps, disconnected from the environment in which they grew, wallowing in poverty, neglect, alienation, bitterness, and a deep, unrelenting sense of deprivation. I know that this pain and deprivation is one of the deepest foundations which fomented the ethos of hatred towards us.
We are not indifferent to this suffering. We are not oblivious to the tragedies you have experienced. I believe that in the course of negotiations between us we will find the right way, as part of an international effort in which we will participate, to assist these Palestinians in finding a proper framework for their future, in the Palestinian state which will be established in the territories agreed upon between us. Israel will be part of an international mechanism which will assist in finding a solution to this problem.
Read that again: "We are not indifferent" says Olmert regarding the suffering of the Palestinians. In a sense, of course, he is right: Olmert cannot be indifferent to the suffering, starvation, economic desperation and isolation that he is willingly causing Palestinians as I write this.
