*AV*--My history books tell a different story. Apparently Palestine was formed 50 years ago which was a checkerboard like Partition of the country as to displace as few people as possible even though all were able to stay put if they liked.
Israel came about after the British troops withdrew from Palestine and the Arab nomads tried to overrun the Hebrew settlements and Kibbutzes which were supposed to be easy targets since they were defenseless. Turns out that with one airplane and a whole lot of guns hidden for defensive purposes, the Jewish settlements were not only able to defend themselves but they wound up winning a war they did not start and unified the partitioned Palestine as spoils of the war they did not start. That caused the major displacment of refugees.
Rape of Palestine is not really accurate. It was a well thought out separation of a large wasteland and desert that would have allowed the coexistence of two groups of people with minimal disruption to everyday life. Remember, most of the Jews were refugees from the European Theatre of War that were left homeless and displaced due to the concentration camps and confiscation of life, liberty, and property. It took tremendous amount of effort to get passage out of Europe and to make it to Palestine. There was room for everyone in Palestine but the centuries of anomosity between the Hebrews and the Arabs, going back to biblical times, became the key criteria by which they tried to ban Jews from immigrating to Palestine.
There was roon for all people there and if both sides could have just co-existed with each other, a desert would have been turned into an Oasis. Instead, you have half a century of strife and destruction with pockets of successful oases being created.
I galls me, according to my history lessons, that after attacking the settlements which were supposed to be helpless and starting the War, that the losers of that War feel they have any rights to any land or consideration. To the victor goes the spoils, especially if they were the victims to begin with. The Bully loses all rights when the 98 lb weakling kicks his butt. Only the USA goes to War, wins, and gives the land back.
Sorry if this sounds too Zionist for you but the Arabs got what they deserved back then. Over the course of the past 50 years there have been issues on both sides of this Middle East Crisis. Israel has made peace with some of its neighbors and is still at odds with other neighbors. Let us not forget, there are still those in the Middle East that would like to see all Jews exterminated throughout the world, in the name of Allah or Islam. Thank G-d these fanatics are not growing in number and that tolerance on both sides might eventually prevail.
Should the Palestinians have a homeland? Yes, they should. They should assimilate themselves throughout the entire region INCLUDING Israel. Do they deserve a homeland. Not really, they started a war 50 years ago and lost it. As wrong as Palestine might have been in its creation, there were other peaceful avenues that should have been explored prior to taking up arms. Generations of Palestinians living in refugee camps is a symptom of not being willing to accept your fate and move on. To think after all these years that you will regain all of Israel is ludicrous. Come to terms just like Ireland is trying to do.
This world has no place for religious crusades and wars. This world has no place for this type of prejudice and racism. This goes for all intolerance based on color, ethnic background, age, sex, or religion. Fanaticism of this type is just beyond mental comprehension. Because my forefathers may have owned slaves or died in the German Concentration Camps is no reason for anyone to hate me or for me to hate others. Tolerance of each other must occur or our world is doomed.
Again this is not a Zionist treatise but rather a reminder of a great phrase, "NEVER AGAIN." No more Nazis (but we have the Aryan Nation), No more Idi Amins (we have Saddam Hussein), no more ethnic or religious conflicts (We have the Bosnian ethnic cleansing and India/Pakistan), and no more positioning of nuclear weapons at other countries or proliferating of nuclear technology (we have China and India/Pakistan). This is not an Arab/Israeli thing, it is a global cluster-f**k of fanatics that think their cause is right and everyone else is dead wrong or that certain people should not be allowed to exist on this planet. What gives anyone the right to inflict their bigotry and racism on future generations of society based on the rantings and ravings of certain lunatics.
Consider your personl interpretation and vision of Heaven. Consider all the atrocities perpetrated by these fanatics in the name of their G-d. Then consider Judgment Day when all of us are standing in front of our Maker only to find out one of two things:
1. Our "Maker" is really a panel of "Makers" that consist of Jesus, the Judeo-Christian G-d, Allah, Buddah, etc. who will be sitting in judgement of all of us. Maybe they have carved up the G-d business by territory because of the billions of people they knew would be walking the face of the Earth. This would however be contrary to personal beliefs that there is only one supreme being.
or
2. G-d is Jesus, Buddha, Allah, Mohammed, etal. are all one in the same and that these names are just a few aliases used along the way. Judeo-Christian have G-d, Lord, Adanoi, Jehovah, etc. so why not Allah as another translation.
I do not mean to be sacreligious but I think we will be surprised at how unforgiving our Lord will be when we try to expalin how we violated the 10 Commandments because we were doing it for him and in his name.
BYW-I really do not know why I wrote the above diatribe. I am not a very religious individual nor am I a bible thumper. I think this is more of a human tolerance issue than a religious issue anyway. It scares me that India and Pakistan are acting like nuclear idiots today. It horrifies me to know that China has missles pointing towards the US. It scares me that between China, India, and Pakistan, weapons of mass destruction will undoubtedly fall into the hands of terrorists and terrorist nations. I am neither a hawk or a dove but I would bring the full weight of the world down on both India and Pakistan to the point of systematic bombimg of their nuclear sites to put them out of business. The world has moved on and there is no cause or reason for anyone that does not have nuclear capability to develop it. Instead we need to dismantle the capability by banning the delivery vehicles and the warheads to the point of mass retaliation on a global scale.
Destroying Saddam's weapons of war as a result of an armed conflict he lost should be carried forward to destroying the ability to develop weapons of mass destruction before they can even be threatening to anyone. Cut of all foreign aid to both Pakistan and India immediately and move aggressively to collect all debts owed to the USA by them, even if it means bankrupting their country. It's better to rebuild those economies and lose soem people to disease or starvation than to lose millions as a result of a Nuclear Holocaust. the choice is theirs and the fate of their nation is in their hands. Our government should refuse to fund, negotiate, or deal with any nation on any level that is trying to develop nuclear strike capabilities even if it also includes Israel, Egypt or any other Middle Eastern Country.
The "Rape of Palestine" mentality is just fertilizer for future types of stupidity and intolerance.
Forgive my political outburst here. It seems I had this all bottled up inside me and a slightly offensive phrase opened up the flood gates and I just couldn't stop typing until I vented. I am no angel but if color, nationality, or religious affiliation are good enough reasons for hating and killing, what stops it from becoming age, weight, height, sex, color of eyes or hair, or even level of education and mental competence. Whoops, shades of Nazi Germany revisited.
Andrew |
