Despite the token Arab, Israel is not a diverse state,
You must be an Ivy-Leaguer... Your gift of unsubstantiated and inaccurate bluster and rhetoric can only attributed to such a pompous education.
If you're going to make inane statements like the above, you might want to check your facts. Israel is 20% ARAB or about 1 million people, 20% Sabra (native born Israeli) and 24% Oriental Jew.
Now what is an "oriental jew"? It is normally considered to be a Jew that has been fled an Arab country, where all of their worldly goods have been confiscated by those "honorable" Arab governments. They have no where else to go, so they flee to Israel, where the Israelis (Jews and Arabs) must spend government money to take care of them and integrate them into their society.
These Jews who lived in Arab countries NEVER had the opportunity to protest, throw rocks, or engage in suicide bombings. They were cast out of their homes and left with nothing except the hope they could make a new life in Israel.
In great contrast, the Palestinian partition was annexed by Jordan, or more appropriately put, they were conquered by their Arab "brethren". When Jordan foolishly opted to attack Israel in 1967, the Israelis counter-attacked and conquered the west bank and could have rightfully expropriated the property of any Palestinian who had supported Jordan's attack.
So the next time you find yourself overly concerned about the plight of the Palestinians who NOW control the greatest majority of the West Bank, ask yourself why Bethelem, which used to be 80% Christian, is now 80% Arab/Palestinian... Ask yourself about the oppression and violation of human rights those Christians have had to endure.
There are extremists on both sides Slushman... But there are also moderates on both sides. People who just want to live their lives in peace, without terrorist suicide bombings, sniping, or some joker like Yassir Arafat constantly inciting his people to seek the destruction of their homeland, while controlling all the purse-strings of any foreign aid given to the Palestinians.
Sharon is not in power by accident. He's there because the Israeli people have grown sick of trying to bargain with Arafat and those extremists he apparently can no longer control. So the Israelis bring in their own extremist and send the signal that enough is enough.
Many other Israelis governments have come and gone trying to make peace with Arafat, only to realize that Arafat CAN'T MAKE PEACE so long as Hamas, Fatah, and any other number of factions forbid his engaging in such a peace. For, you see, the only thing keeping Israelis and Palestinians from peaceful co-existence is the Palestinan leadership, who continue to willingly be used as pawns for more extreme Arab governments.
And the people caught in the middle, both Palestinian and Israeli Jews, can do nothing except avoid being killed in the mutual violence.
There will be peace when the Palestinians realize that they cannot resort to violence to press their claims, and when the Palestinian leaderhip represents economic progress, and not the whim of the extremist factions.
After all, Israel holds all the cards. They provide the jobs, the critical utility infrastructure, and the economic outlet for the Palestinian people. Eventually they will get tired of fighting and finally rely on negotiation and aarbitration rather than intimidation and violence.
But you're probably incapable of understanding that, given you obvious inability to analyze anything beyond a CNN newscast.
Hawk |
