that the Swiss military is by no means an OCCUPATION army whose main mission is to enforce a colonialist order
Well, I guess King Hussein should have followed Israeli advice, and not that of Egypt's Nasser, when Israel pleaded with him to ignore Nasser's urgings to attack them in 1967.
They lost it fair and square.
Btw, I would suggest to you that the Arab leadership that took control of vast portions of the Ottoman Empire, were on a mission to enforce British colonial rule.
I highly doubt that they "selected" and granted their respective territories without showing some level of fealty towards the British commonwealth.
Look at Iraq... There you have a artificial border that was granted Faisal, under which Kurds, Shiite Arabs, and Sunnis were all collected together under the rule of a Hashemite.
Of Syria.... where an Alawite minority excercises absolute control over the rest of the population.
Yes... all of these Arabs were either pawns, or the product, of colonialist powers. And many are still in power.
Btw, the REASON the Swiss haven't had a war in close to 200 years is because of their military system, and geography (as well as playing the convenient financial safe haven).
And of course the IDF has served as the major integrator for Israel's diverse ethnic population. It provides the common denominator, education, and sense of self, that is all important to a nation.
I would like to see the same thing in the US. Then, no matter how wealthy we might become later on in life, we would all possess the shared experience of having trained to defend our nation.
And btw, Arabs can serve as well. In fact, one of Sharon's minister without portfolio is a Druze, who served as a Captain with the IDF paratroopers.
jpost.com
""Minister without Portfolio Sallah Tarif, the country's first Druse minister, yesterday praised Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's restraint in the current crisis with the Palestinians.
"I'm surprised at the objectivity of Ariel Sharon, his restraint, his wisdom," Tarif said.
Speaking to the Abraham Fund - a group that promotes coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Israel - Tarif called on Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to abide by the Mitchell Commission report and halt all violence.
He criticized Arafat for continuing terror attacks against Israel.
"Arafat succeeded to destroy the whole peace camp in Israel," said Tarif, adding that former prime minister Ehud Barak offered Arafat "a 100 percent solution" at Camp David.
"After the tragedies we had on Shabbat [in Tel Aviv] and other attacks, Arafat understands that's it, he has to stop it." said Tarif.
"We are waiting to see whether he can control his people. It's his exam," he said.""
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A Druze, Gustave... One of the original Arab people's who can trace their history in the region back for over a thousand years. A people that have suffered the racism of other Arab Muslim sects.
And he's praising Sharon's moderation!!!
Hawk |
