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Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ish who wrote (1797)	6/10/2001 5:54:23 PM
From: Carolyn	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 23908

I remember traveling to Beirut (before the civil war, when it was beautiful)and seeing the Palestinian camps. Being young and naive, I couldn't understand why they chose to live like that, when they could easily have been assimilated into the general population.

To: Ish who wrote (1797)	6/10/2001 6:23:59 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23908

Ish... you really don't have to be a student of the politics of a particular country, but mainly understand the history of the region and the interaction of the various states and non-state actors (terrorists, NGOs, the media.. etc). And you must understand the broad cultural context of that history (such as colonialism). There really isn't any right or wrong in this conflict, when you get right down to brass tacks. It's a battle of wills between cultures, both of which, at any particular time and place, will do and say ANYTHING, in order to press variety of claims over a a piece of geography. In effect, it's cultural darwinism at work, with cultures battling to dominate and disenfranchise the others. That's the "wide stroke" definition of their battle. When you start out with this fundamental perspective, then we can drill down and review where crucial events transpired that advantaged/disadvantaged one party against the other. We can analyze who has shown greater tolerance towards the other. We can see how such events drove future events and prevented peace from being achieved on mutually acceptable terms. I'm not a Jew, but looking at the history of the region, and seeing what culture has brought the greatest level of development and economic improvement to the region, I can only sit here and admire what the Israeli people have achieved and how they have defended themselves from all their assailants throughout the past 40 years. And I can compare the level of economic developments, despite the necessary heavy military spending, to those of the oil-rich Arab states where, despite their oil wealth, they have done little to economically develop their surrounding Arab brethren. As for Palestinians being permitted to live in Israel, many did remain after 1948, and they make up part of the more than 1 million non-Jewish Israeli citizens (A druze just gained the rank of Two star General in the IDF). But many did not remain, refusing to live in the middle of a war, and believing Arab assurances that they would defeat Israel within a couple of years and could leave their refugee camps on the West Bank, Gaza, and in Jordan. Some had fought against the Jews, some were just convinced the Jews would kill all of them, just as many Arab leaders had planned to kill all the Jews. But does that mean that Israelis don't abuse Palestinians, or appear to be over-reacting towards provocations? Does it mean they don't try to land-grab for their settlements, or use military might to push local political agendas? No... Every country has a similar situation where governmental authority is abused to the profit of special interests. Sometimes it's necessary (like eminent domain for a new highway).. and sometimes its pure political pandering (running someone off their land so it can be seized and sold to condo developers). This is the nature of power, and unfortunately what occurs when the Palestinians assist in creating a environment where sympathy for their plight, or their civil rights, is reduced to indifference or antipathy, both in the media and in the courts. Take the recent suicide bombing... Has it advanced, or harmed, the condition of the Palestinian people? Does it cause Israelis to see Palestinians as human beings, or as monsters who must be destroyed? Does it undermine Arafat's image as the leader of the Palestinian people, or are the actions of Hamas, and other extremist Islamic groups, clear evidence that Arafat has lost control and can't put the genie back into the bottle? Btw,... be careful telling anyone you're a medic... The next thing you'll know, Slushman will be asking you what a Flashball is... Hawk