They have the same posters. They all get locked anyways for the same "moment of reflection" that obviously never accomplishes anything because the same posters have the same argument again and again. Why not a permanent ban?

I'm not Randy, but I see a total of one thread on Israel-related topics that was locked. Surely I didn't do a really exhaustive search of OMNI/PR, but I went back about 10 or 11 pages of threads and found very few of any topic that were locked (less than five I believe), and in each case it was because of a discussion that turned awry. Randy might as well ban topics on any sort of discussion that has two sides if he were to do this to Israel-related ones.

Why not ban all threads that evolve around the Middle East conflict?

I think OMNI was designed for those topics, and it should stay that way. Nobody is forced to read and/or participate.
Also, a lot of threads turn awry, not only in OMNI.
And I feel, generally the discussions here tend to be more civilized than somewhere else, which is a good thing, as discussions can proove to be educating and/or mind broading.

I really don't see the Middle East conflict to be more controversial or heated than other issues like the healthcare debate, abortion, the Bible, the view on the TSA or other such topics. I would agree that if there was a prohibiton on that discussion you might as well ban most debate or eliminate the PR section entirely.

I'd say that post #2, 3 and 4 accurately reflect the same type of view I have on this. I'm not that far if at all removed from knowing that there are likely the same posters who for whatever reason will never budge or give an inch on a view they likely have had their entire lives. FlyerTalk doesn't invent these beliefs for them, prior life experiences do. But it would certainly be hard to play a role in censuring this topic. We do on occasion as has been noted, invoke cooling off periods really for the sake of the members themselves -- we don't like to see them suspend themselves and try as we can to provide some sort of protected custody for the topic and the members involved. That approach seems to be appreciated by many. I actually don't think they "all get locked..." and that has been pointed out by another member who posted here. While it is clear that a handful of members continue to end up at the very same situation they left the last topic, let's not forget that there are a sizable number of members who do participate in these threads and do not have problems managing their opinions, beliefs and respect for others.

Your input is not neglected and I'll certainly add it to my knowledge of the feeling of our members over time on this issue, but at this time, i see no absolute wisdom in banning Israel threads.