Palestinians

[Bez]

The Palestinians are [censored] on by all the countries surrounding Israel, especially Lebanon. Surely it's hypocritical to criticise Israel for treating the Palestinians as second rate citizens when all the Arab countries do also? Maybe it's because those of a left leaning political persuasion prefer Arabs to Jews that such a view is preverlent.

I am drunk, so my English may be poor, but my assertation stands.

[Slinky]

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Surely it's hypocritical to criticise Israel for treating the Palestinians as second rate citizens when all the Arab countries do also?

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Yes, it surely would be hypocritical... if those who criticised Israel were responsible for mistreatings of Palestinians in say Lebanon. But most of us aren't. What happens in Israel gets a lot of attention in the West, while few care about crimes in other eastern countries. That is why misdeeds in Israel are reported and debated all the time and misdeeds in say Saudi Arabia are not. That does not make criticism of ISrael any less correct.

i've always found this argument slightly ridiculous. Israel created the refugee situation. The countries surrounding Israel are hardly beacons of political stability. The most developed countries in the world struggle with refugee influxes, U.S. France etc... Syria and Lebanon can not be expected to welcome an influx of poor refugees with open arms. The Lebanese civil war, and the Israeli invasion of lebanon were directly influenced by the presence of the refugees. The PLO was based in lebanon, and was a major reason why israel invaded the country. In lebanon, refugees make up a sizable portion of the population, and are a drag on a struggling economy. The lebanese national debt is the second highest in the world compared to its gdp. In jordan, palestinians attempted coups to overthrow the government. Israel caused the situation, they should bear far more responcibility in rectifying it then the struggling arab states surrounding israel.

[Blackdirt12]

Israel does allot of [censored] up [censored].

[lehighguy]

I don't have a lot of sympathy for the Palestinians. Had the Arabs left Isreal alone, they would still control Gaza and the West Bank, perhaps even more territory. Thier continual efforts to eradicate Israel in the 50s and 60s and 70s resulted in a forfieture of thier rights, just as Japan's aggression in WWII made them forfiet thier moral highground when they were bombed. As soon as you attack someone, the person you've attacked has the right to obliterate you if they choose.

We rebuilt Japan out of our own kindness. If Israel chooses to give back land like Gaza it will be thier decision, they have no obligation just as we had no obligation. Doing so would certainly be more mercy then the Arabs would have showed the Jews had they won in any of the wars during that time.

[Matty]

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We rebuilt Japan out of our own self-interest.

[/ QUOTE ]FYP

And your premise that the Arabs were the aggressors is seriously flawed. This started with Arabs being forced out of their homes.

[FishHooks]

Isn't that like saying the U.S. is bad because we kicked out the American Indians? It was bad at the time, but kind of a moot point now.

[Zygote]

Good post. In all truthfullness, though, Israel should have either given back the land or made it apart of Israel within 10 years of the take over. I think most will admit that this is one of their largest mistakes. I agree that Israel shouldn't have been obligated to give anything, but i just think not doing something with land was poor strategic planning. Many of the anti-israel posters here don't seem to realize that in the middle east your reputation among your peers is very important. The situations that Israel was forced into left them with little choice other than to play back at the bully and take control of the table. You can't play girly when they dirty. Sure, the girly way sometimes looks good on paper, but those with a practical political philosophy know better.

[lehighguy]

My understanding was that the Jews purchased most of the land that was part of Isreal proper according the the 1940s partition during the Zionist movement in the early 20th century. As such, it was really thier land since they bought it. Most of the land given to Isreal in the partition was basically the shitty desert land no one wanted. Had the Arabs left it at that they may even have been able to confiscate the significant Jewish holdings on thier side of the partition.

The Palestians got kicked out of thier homes as a result of Jews gaining land during Arab invasions.

[fimbulwinter]

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We rebuilt Japan out of our own self-interest.

[/ QUOTE ]FYP

And your premise that the Arabs were the aggressors is seriously flawed. This started with Arabs being forced out of their homes.

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wait, wait. hold the [censored] on for just a minute. I agree with Grey?

Ok, my head just exploded.

fim