popshopper
Acrobat
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2002
- Messages
- 459
You're right. Our conflict with our Palestinian neighbors started before this campaign.....like 60 years(!!) or so ago. We have never had a moment's peace since the Jewish people returned to its ancient homeland and established the state in 1948. The very next day we were invaded by all of the neigboring Arab states who, even then, refused to accept our existance - and this was BEFORE Israel had any land to give back. They just didn't want us here and tried time and again to erase us from existance. The conflict didn't start in 1967 and it certainly won't end with this campaign.
Here's a brief history:
The Palestinian problem could have been solved 60 years ago if the Arabs living in Palestine had accepted the UN partition plan and put down their arms against us. The Palestinian state would have been created 60 years ago alongside Israel and the Palestinian people could have been ruling themselves and providing for themselves.
There were so many missed opportunities to solve the middle-east crisis - just to name a few:
1. After the six-day war in June 1967 when Israel captured the west bank, the Golan Heights and the Sinai Penninsula. These terrirotories were captured in a defensive war which we won by the grace of G-d. These territories were never officially annexed by Israel and we've always said that we're waiting to negotiate their return in exchange for peace - which of course was out of the question for the Arab countries, until Egypt took the bold step of making peace with us in 1979 - and as a result we gave back the Sinai Penninsula.
2. Another missed opportunity (in a chain of missed opportunities) came in 1993 when Israel recognized the PLO and the Oslo agreements were signed, granting the Palestinians autonomy leading up to an eventual Palestinian state which was supposed to be established by 1998. While the Fatah party laid down their arms, Hamas raised the mantle of radical Islam and waged a murderous campaign of suicide bombers against our population.
3. In 2000, Israel reached an unprecedented decision to sign an agreement which would effectively return 97% of the west bank to the Palestinians, including dismantling the settlements. Yassar Arafat turned us down cold and missed a true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
4. In August 2005, after realizing that we had absolutely no one to talk to on the Palestinian side after Hamas took power in Gaza, Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip, dismantling settlements and relinquishing the land to the Palestinians. Israel left all the infrastructure intact and the Palestinian government could have used the land to resettle the poor people of Gaza City and to take them out of the squalor of the refugee camps…but no….they preferred to use perfectly good land to place rocket launchers and fire them into the nearby city of Sderot – it was much more important for the terrorist government to fight us instead of taking care of the needs of their own people.
5. Iran is pledging hundreds of millions of dollars to the Palestinians. Do you think it’s for food and medicine? Think again. The Hamas government will use this money to arm themselves with more sophisticated weapons and long-range missiles that will put us AND them in grave danger.
I could go on and on but I think you get the point. Time after time after time Israel has tried to reach agreements with the Palestinian governments, to no avail.
You're also right about Israel being founded on violence and bloodshed - as was every other country in the world (including the United States). Independence isn't achieved by folk dancing and cotton candy - it is won by the blood of the people and the courage of knowing that our cause is just.
As for bombing hotels......I would suggest that you read this account of the bombing of the King David hotel in Jerusalem by the Jewish resistance and then tell me that it's the same thing as strapping bombs on people to blow themselves up in restaurants and stores and busses.
The Bombing of the King David Hotel
As for civillian massacres, I assume you're referring to Dir Yassin - here's something else for you to read and see:
Israel Matzav: The truth about Dir Yassin
I suppose the United States won it's independence by having tea and crumpets with the British, right?
EVERY country is founded in violence and struggle - the only difference being that Israel is STILL locked in a daily struggle for survival and we are still defending ourselves against our enemies.
"Independence isn't achieved by folk dancing and cotton candy - it is won by the blood of the people and the courage of knowing that our cause is just." So I take it the palestinian's cause isn't just because...
So it's ok for you take land via terrorism, but not ok for Palestinians who are evil thugs? Just trying to work out the logic.
And the land wasn't yours, there were people living on it, your people had bothered with it for centuries, you murdered your way into then used the guilt of the western powers to keep it.
The six day war wasn't defensive, you attacked first in response to military build up by Egypt and a blockade of the Straits of Tiran. Of course when you blockade something it's in the name of peace.