From the lofty towers of Capitalism..

George Soros speaks about the Middle East, as only a very very rich man enmeshed in his particular world-system/view would speak. I just love the language he uses, "The civilian casualties and material damage inflicted on Lebanon inflamed Muslims and world opinion against Israel and converted Hezbollah from aggressors to heroes of resistance for many.". In other words Mr Soros believes it was wrong to kill over 1000 Lebanese civilians because it inflamed Muslims and world opinion against Israel, not because that is murder. He doesn't even humanise them, they are just referred to as casualties and material damage.

Here is another one, "When Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority, Israel should have gone out of its way to strengthen him and his reformist team.". Yes, strengthen the man whom Arafat called an Israeli stooge before he died, and who has the criminal Mohammed Dahlan working for him.

There is a little light at the end of this tunnel however, and I would have been extremely worried if a man of Mr Soros' abilities and intelligence wouldn't have given this a passing mention, which he did: "The process has advanced to the point where Israel's unquestioned military superiority is no longer sufficient to overcome the negative consequences of its policy. Israel is now more endangered in its existence than it was at the time of the Oslo Agreement on peace.". Essentially, the Israeli military machine is useless against guerilla movements, the Israeli project (completely reliant on military strength to survive) has been jeopardised.

Finally, Mr Soros concludes by saying, "It is not too late for Israel to encourage and deal with an Abbas-led Palestinian unity government as the first step toward a better-balanced approach". Abbas and Fatah have hardly any credibility with the majority of the Palestinian population, that is why they lost the elections and Hamas won. What Mr Soros is suggesting would lead to nothing less than open civil war, perfect for an Israel that needs to ease the pressure a bit from itself.

Mr Soros is described as a financier and a philanthropist. He's written a book with a lot of pages and a very big title.