It was without doubt a war crime. It was also an act of terrorism. The UN school in which Palestinian refugees had sought sanctuary was deliberated targeted by the Israelis, even though the UN had given GPS coordinates to the Israelis to prevent such a Massacre of the Innocents.

On Newsnight last night the Israeli Prime Minister's spokesman, Mark Regev, tried to hide behind "the fog of war" and a 2 year old YouTube video in which it is claimed Hamas used a school as a human shield.

GPS is not affected by fog. The UN has categorically stated on this occasion that no rocket fire came from the school.

All of this has been caused by the Tory Arthur Balfour agreeing to support the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland's campaign for a permanent homeland for the Jewish people.

The Jews claim that God promised them land in the Bible.

As the Americans are in favour of the saying in God we trust, and are in favour of supporting the Israeli struggle, rather than steal Arab land to give to the Jews, might I suggest that America donates a large chunk of Alaska to become the Promised Land?

I don't believe questioning the basis of the Jewish state - or blaming the Tories for it - helps the current situation one iota. For a start it implicitly gives succour to every anti Israeli rocket, suicide bomber et al to continue their attempts to wipe Israel off the map. Israel exists - legally - and its citizens have just as much right to be safe as have the Palestinians.

What is needed is some of the most complex, dedicated and sensitive diplomacy the west has ever managed - and it will be interesting to see if America still has such skills, for it is America's influence with Israel which is crucial. The need for the creation of a totally independent Palestinian state is overwhelming - and one which guarantees the freedom of access of all its citizens but that won't happen unless Israel gets some very tight guarantees of its own.

Fisk is right in that Israel's response to threats is always violently over the top and they have not learned from their experiences in Lebanon, but the causes and problems are not one-sided. It is going to be a long diplomatic slog which Obama should put top of his foreign affairs priority list. If the US can show enough far sightedness with its long term ally, and bring enough pressure to bear on Israel to put more emphasis on diplomacy and less on brute force, then not only might significant advances be made towards a long term settlement but the US might recover some of its own standing in world opinion.