In the "You Don't Always Get your Money's Worth" Dept. comes this via the ever dubious al-Jazeera.

An Israeli soldier who three days ago mistakenly shot and seriously wounded a Jewish demonstrator in the northern West Bank has told interrogators he thought he was shooting a Palestinian, not a Jew.

"I am sorry, I never thought I was shooting at Jews, I would never shoot a Jew," the soldier reportedly said.

It continues......

Shooting Palestinians is "different"

However, when another Knesset member further asked YaÂ’alon if shooting a Palestinian would have been legitimate under the same circumstances, he sought to dodge the question, arguing that "the army deals differently with the Palestinians."

"Soldiers feel threatened by Palestinians and open fire when they feel threatened. This is not the same when soldiers deal with Jews."

Israeli occupation troops have shot and killed hundreds of Palestinians and a number of international activists in controversial circumstances, prompting human rightsorganizationss to accuse the Israeli army of adopting a “shoot-to-kill” policy in the occupied territories.

Earlier this year, the Israeli Hebrew paper Ha'aretz, published a report showing up to 80% of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army since the outbreak of Al-Aqsa Intifada, were either innocent civilians or people who played no role in the hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians.

I have always tried to remain neutral in the Palestinian/Israeli issue. However, it has become increasingly clear to me that both sides are too afraid to sit down and hammer out a settlement(no pun intended).

At this juncture I propose giving no further aid to either side until an agreement has been reached. Draconian? Sure. But I believe it to be the only effective way to deal with this issue. I'll bet that an agreement could be worked out in one day.

Cutting funding is a tremendous motivator. I know, I have relied on grant money in the past to fund research.

No one is Washington is really serious about ending this war. If they were, it could be done with remarkable speed and permanancy.

Our special relationship with Israel is, and always has been a pretty much one way street. The answer to this absurd loss of life on both sides is crystal clear. It is time for action. End this strife now.