First, what causes the swamp? There are many, many reasons, and we can go down the list starting with corrupt, despotic and ineffective Arab goverments and an Arab civilization that has failed to adapt. But forget that - let us see what makes it a "swamp" for the U.S.
Well, you've got that part straight... SFD
But then you let your anti-Israel bias show by claiming that somehow they are an "apartheid" society and the rest of the Arab world isn't.. Very clever, but not quite correct:
Israel happens to be an colonial apartheid regime occupying a nation. Apartheid - a significant number of Israeli citizens are second class based on race (Arabs without all rights given Jewish citizens).
The reality is that the only reason you can even claim that Israeli Arabs are somehow "second class" is because people in Israel actually HAVE RIGHTS... And they have rights because Israel is a democracy.
NO other citizen of a middle-eastern country can claim that they are all equal to everyone else. NO Saudi Shiite is "equal" to any member of the Saudi royal family. The rights incumbent to their citizenship exists solely because their rulers "grant" them certain rights, which can be rescinded at any time at the discretion of the monarchy/dictator.
Israel is trying to annex territory from another nation.
What other nation?? Jordan?? Didn't they annex it back in 1948?? And didn't it "belong" to the British as a result of conquering the Ottoman Turks in 1917??
If you are referring to the Palestinians, please tell this board exactly what differentiates the "nation" of Palestine from any other Arab in the region.. Language?? Religion?? Culture?? Please be specific... Since I can be VERY specific with regard to what quantifies the Jewish nation... (and I'm not even Jewish).
I just don't want you to throw around terms like "nation" so loosely. Nor do I want you to ignore the fact that most of these Arabs are neither united in culture, religion, or purpose, nor in their family ties. One only has to look back a mere 80 years to see that the majority of the region consisted of clans and sultanates, not nations.
And many were bedouin tribes, roving around beating up on one another (much as American Indians did), taking land, surrendering it, and scraping out a meager living herding goats, sheep, and conducting trade.
So don't fall prey to this propaganda that the Arab nations have always existed and that somehow the Jews took something away from them... They were taking it away from each other for hundreds of years. And when the Ottoman Turks were defeated they SCRAMBLED to take land from one another... The Saudis took the Hijaz from the Hashemites. The Hashemites were then given Syria, but the French opposed this so they were given the eastern portion of the British Mandate, present day Jordan.. In addition, they were given rulership over Iraq...
So if you're going to gripe about the land the Jews were granted in exchange for their support of betraying and overthrowing the Ottomans in Palestine (who had let them settle previously), I expect you to equally gripe about Jordan..
And I expect you to defend the rights of the Sunni majority in Syria, currently brutally ruled by the Alawite (Shiite) minority.. To point out how 20,000 Sunnis were massacred at Hama in 1982, and their town completely obliterated by Hafez Assad. To point out that these Sunnis, despite being the majority population, are "second class" citizens who have little political say in how they are ruled.
I expect you to point out how Syria has been constantly attempting to annex Lebanon in order to form "greater Syria", and to this day have 30,000 troops stationed in that country, as well as supplying groups like Hezbollah. Many Sunnis consider this Iranian colonialism due to the strong ties between the Alawites and Shiites.
So SFD... let's truly try and understand the politics of the middle east rather than merely feeding the anti-Israel frenzy... Look at the historical context involved in the region, and the basis for any country to claim they have some "special right" to their sovereignty or monarchical claims over the people within their geographical borders.
At least in Israel, there are Arabs serving in the Knesset, in the IDF, and possessing the right to vote.
Show me where a Jew, let alone an Arab in Saudi Arabia, has such "rights"...
And Israel is a democracy... And THAT is what truly worries the rest of the Arab world. It worries them because democracy is anti-thetical to their dictatorial and monarchical legitimacy and aspirations.
Bottom line.. you went to some length to parade your list of "atrocities" that Israel has apparently been guilty of. However, you seemingly went to equal effort to avoid describing the imperialism, atrocities, and outright agression perpetrated by Arab nations in the region. And that just ain't condusive to properly understanding the region.
Israel possesses nuclear weapons SFD.. Were they so motivated by the imperialist agenda you claim they have, they could EASILY turn every capital in the region into an obsidian parking lot. But they haven't done so.
They could have said, politics be damned, and forced out every Jordanian on the West Bank (since the West Bank was part of Jordan until 1989) when King Hussein foolishly decided to participate in the 1967 war and attack Israel. After all, they were Jordanians and this was captured territory. But they didn't.
But is Israel perfect?? Heck no...
Do the Zionists amongst them "like" Arabs? Not particularly.
But are they willing to find some measure of detente with the Arabs?? ABSOLUTELY.
Does the entire population of the West Bank depend upon Israel for jobs, markets, as well as utilities and infrastructure?? ABSOLUTELY.
The bottom line is that ALL the people in the region have more to gain from cooperating with one another, than spewing their hatred of Jews as a means of distracting their own people from the corruption and ineptitude of their own rulers.
(btw, I've been SCUBA diving at your gravesite down near Portobelo Panama..... pretty nice plot you have there... :0)
Hawk |
