1. You have first hand knowledge of this?
I suppose you've never heard of Farfur the Mouse or Nahoul the Bee? Never seen pictures of Palestinian kids parading through the streets dressed as suicide bombers, or videos of Palestinian children singing about eliminating Israel? Never read what is taught in Palestinian textbooks about Israel and jews in general?
2. So they should rather teach their kids to LOVE the thug and oppressor?
They should not encourage their kids to seek conflict. They can call Israel a thug and oppressor and hate it all they want, but they don't need to be taught to seek violence as a solution.
1. Counter condition. Israel removes blockade from Gaza and from the West Bank AND returns all Palestinian territory stolen since 1947.
This would defeat the entire purpose of negotiations. You're asking for everything to be restored to the conditions which caused this crisis in the first place. This is the same sort of negotiation tactic the arabs are using- they call for a one state solution, knowing full well the jews will be subjugated once it's established.
After some initial hiccups, inspections have been carried out at ALL Iranian sites. No nukes.
That's not true at all. Iran has several sites it refuses to declare and refuses to open to UN inspectors. You sound like Baghdad Bob with your blanket denials.
What are you saying? There is nothing to argue. It is common knowledge that Iraq was the aggressor and invaded Iran.
And Iran replied with an even larger and longer lasting (8 years) wave of aggression. Not only did they demand financial compensation and the removal of Saddam Hussein, but they also demanded that Iraq accept several hundred thousand shiite immigrants and that its regime be replaced by an islamic dictatorship. Not to mention the fact that Iran had already been provoking border clashes with Iraq prior to the Iraqi invasion. What was that you said before about 2 wrongs not making a right?
Yes, back then Arafat was openly using Lebanon as a military base from which to unleash waves of terror into northern Israel.
If you FEEL someone has WMD and invade only to discover there are NO WMD what is that? EVERY RIGHT? How utterly hypocritical. Israel should show some respect. They are known NOT to be trusted.
I didn't call for anyone to be invaded based on suspicions of WMD possession. I said the west has very strong grounds for its suspicion that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, as well as good reason to suspect that such weapons are sought for other than defensive purposes. On these grounds, the west has every right to impose economic sanctions on Iran, as well as anyone who refuses to cooperate with these sanctions. If we decide that we don't want to buy oil and carpets from Iran, we are 100% within our rights to make that choice.
I take that as no links available?
No, take it as laziness that I won't look up something you can easily research for yourself, seeing as your bias against Iranian dissidents suggests you're not inclined to take them seriously.
Your source claims that, according to the Turkish census, there were roughly 430 000 arabs living in Palestine in 1893. That's a very disingenuous claim because it doesn't even account for the difference between what was then being called Palestine and what is today being claimed as Palestine.
According to this source,
http://www.mideastweb.org/palpop.htm, the correct tally in the area of relevance is less than 200 000, and by other historians is estimated to be even less. If you assume a very high birth rate and very low death rate, for a population growth rate of more than 2.5% per annum continuously for a period of 50 years, then you have a low number of arab immigrants in the range of 100 000~200 000 over that period to account for the population in 1948. This is assuming no major causes of death or disaster during that entire period in any part of Palestine, as well as taking the higher range of estimates on the arab population in 1893. This does not take into account any of the waves of immigration into Palestine by multiple different ethnicities that took place in the decades and centuries prior to 1893.
I also like how the article you referred me to implies that Nasser politely requested the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers from its border with Israel in 1967, as if it was done over a cup of tea and a friendly chat. Nasser ordered those peacekeepers out at gunpoint. The article also neglects to make any mention of the multiple speeches Nasser gave in the days prior to the war's outbreak in which he promised Israel's imminent destruction. Very objective reporting there.
A fairly expected response. Feel free to refute the points in the "blog".
Sure. The author of the blog which you're using as a primary source claims there's no evidence for an exodus of jews under Roman and other foreign rulers. The jewish population of Palestine in 1st century AD is estimated to have been as low as 1 million and as high as 6 million. Even in the 1800's, almost 2000 years later, the total population, including muslims, was still much smaller. I doubt the crusades could account for such a major impact.
Thus the need for unconditional dialogue.
That won't get you very far. Israel: "Stop shooting rockets." Hamas: "No." Ok, what now?
So there you have - conflict. And yes, two wrongs don`t make a right, but there comes a time for humility and dialogue.
If Hamas keeps shooting rockets or stands by while others do it, nothing will be accomplished. Maybe you magically assume Hamas will renounce violence if Israel does likewise, but you have no plan for how to hold them accountable if they don't.
Why would hordes of Christians go live in Saudi Arabia? The Arab Israeli birthright is higher than the Jewish birthrate which reflects a general Western trend to smaller families. These are cultural differences.
Why are the few christians who go to Saudi Arabia forced to hole themselves up in walled compounds? Not only are all religious minority populations in virtually all muslim countries receding relative to the general population, they are in an outright recession, period. The stories of religious persecution in muslim countries abound, you have to be willfully ignorant to deny them. Give me evidence of anything more than a token minority being tolerated in muslim countries. Like I said, they can't even tolerate homosexuals, how can they be expected to suddenly move in peacefully with the same Israelis they've been trying to blow up these last 60 years?
Like the US eh? Once again, the arrogance of the superiority of the "Western" model of civilization is clear. And inappropriate.
You're asking for Israelis to submerge their nation inside someone else's culture. Since you're the one doing the asking, the Israelis are allowed to be as snobby and arrogant as they please.
The Arabs in Israel are second class citizens and do not have equal rights.
Their treatment is no worse than how most racial minorities find it in France, Britain and even America. On paper they are equals, in practice they don't get equal treatment. Now as for the treatment of jews in muslim countries, I guess we'll just sweep that one under the carpet eh?
Any way you cut it, they ARE discriminated against. Israel is a JEWISH homeland, G-d help us. Those pesky Arabs are a blight. What to do...
Meanwhile in Iran and Saudia Arabia, all the races and religions of the world are holding hands and dancing in a circle.
No Captain. I am saying the Arabs were right to be weary of Jewish settlement.
So they resorted to violence when negotiations weren't going as well as they'd hoped.
All nations have tales. But on the second point, yes, the Jews have every right to protect themselves, as do the Arabs and Palestinians against Zionism.
Ok, and by promoting the arab side of the tale while outright dismissing all arguments to the contrary, you're not providing constructive help or reducing tensions.
Wow. They must give up LAND? Provide financial COMPENSATION? I am at a loss for words...
Now you know how Israel feels when they're asked to do the same.
So I can buy a ranch in Texas and proclaim a sovereign state?
If you can demonstrate exclusive usage over that land, sovereign control of its borders, and you have a functioning community there, you can file a case for consideration. If you can demonstrate further that sovereignty is needed in order to protect you from outside persecution, or you happen to be attacked while in the middle of negotiations, it would add strength to your case. Of course, to buy a ranch in Texas you'd probably have to sign some agreements with the US government first, which would probably limit your ability to make such a claim.
I am so tired of this old chestnut. There is violence from both sides. But how can you possibly compare 8 fatalities against 1300? How can you possibly compare a handful of destroyed homes to 21000?
Having Israelis do nothing but watch Sderot get pounded on a daily basis is unacceptable. Having a tit for tat leading to an endless cycle of violence is unacceptable. Postulating that Israel must abandon sovereign territory it's held for over 60 years before the Palestinians are even required to consider peace is unacceptable.
If you think there's a better way Israel can defend itself, why don't you call for international peacekeepers to travel to Gaza and show the Israelis how it's done? I presume you're not implying that Israel must wait for 1300 of its citizens to die before it acts against Hamas the way it did, so what point are you trying to make?
