An inbox, a blog and views on the Middle East

In online terms, this period of conflict in the Middle East has proved particularly revealing.

It started, as these things do, with a bombardment of my inbox by all parties.

But over time my normal communion with the Israeli lobby has fallen away, each day I have had less.

The mainly Muslim in-take in the period remained high, but now that too has subsided to be replaced by a huge mailbag from those with mainly Anglo Saxon surnames.

I begin to sense some former Israeli supporters are becoming worn down by the sheer weight of evidence of the civilian cost of Mr Olmert’s second great military adventure.

I’m getting more contact from people who have lost considerable sympathy with Israel over what has been done it her name.

Interestingly the phone lobby has remained almost unchanged, an equal weight or pro and anti Israel calls. Today about a hundred on each side following my Dispatches: Unseen Gaza last night.

It’s not scientific, but there may be a truth in there somewhere.

Seeing as it’s the end of the first week of Snowblog I’d like to say how great it’s been to read your comments.

I commend Jock for his persistence and as to any idea we censor stuff going on here, as my Snowblog editor has pointed out, we do exclude the purely abusive and defamatory but everything else flies.

This has been an amazing experience for me in the blogosphere, and I’m rather chuffed that the old, conventional media have had such fun with it, without actually admitting where they got there sources from.

I look forward to next week’s activity.

(Reminder that comments submitted over the weekend will be posted on Monday morning – Snowblog editor)