Can somebody explain the most recent Israel/Palestine conflict?

[Lady's Human]

Iran is not an Arab state, however they are a key backer of Hamas through weapons supplies and information warfare support, as is Syria (an Arab state).

I wonder how many photoshopped pics the blogs are going to uncover from this go-round? I suppose the media are going to have to be more careful this time around with the propoganda they choose to purvey.

The Palestinians were thrown out of Jordan for attempting a coup, and if they weren't a useful foil against Israel they would get nowhere near the support they do from the Muslim world.

[smokey the elder]

Hamas, good, bad or indifferent, was elected by the Palestinian Authority. I just wonder what may have happened if, instead of the USA blockading the PA, if we had taken a watchful stance and see if Hamas could *gasp* go legit. If a faction actually needs to GOVERN, maybe they'll change their stance, and maybe they won't.

This is a 5000 year old mess which will probably not get cleaned up in this generation or the next. There was plenty of warlike behavior from all parties from the Old Testament on; Babylon stomped on Judea; Judea stomped Jericho, and on and on.

[Lady's Human]

STE, I would never say that the Israelis have clean hands in all this mess, BUT......

The Palestinians elected Hamas to rule, and Hamas has done nothing more than escalate the violence in the region. Hamas has signed cease fires and broken them repeatedly, and continues launching rockets into Israel.

Egypt was trying to broker a new cease fire agreement when Hamas launched the latest round of attacks. They brought this on themselves.

[RICHARD]

I love the arguement that Hamas has the 'right' to shoot off rockets into Israel.


Let's put it into modern day ideals.

You buy a house in a neighborhood.
The house was taken over by the bank for one reason or another-that reason may not be right, but the previous owners were evicted.
The people who live in that house before come back and start to break windows with rocks.

When you toss rocks back to defend yourself you hit some of the hooligans that are causing the problems...

WHo is right?

The effing Hamas and all the people who support them and their murderous little pranks are wrong. I also love the idea of taking young men and women and convincing them to strap a bomb on and blow up a bus, car, school or checkpoint to make a point!

The Palis do deserve a safe and harmonious place to live, but they elected a bunch of moron, evil bees turds to run their 'government'.


They want peace, they should come to the table with their hands empty, as opposed to throwing rocks before they walk into the door, they crying to the world community that they are being treated cruelly.

Sometimes you have to eat a little poop before anyone believes what you have to say.....and I haven't seen it.

[caseysmom]

The palestenians are caught in the middle, hamas gets funded from countries that want to take down israel. The hamas uses that money and feeds the palestenians and put schools up, the palestenians elect the hamas cuz that is where they get there food and how they survive.

[Randi]

Let's not forget that the Palestianians were there first, and had lived there for a long time. Palestine was divided up... I think, after the 6 days war in 1967, but Israel still wanted more! At the time they had even been given more than 50 %. Where was the Palestinians supposed to go?

[Lady's Human]

The Palestinians were given part of Jordan as part of the settlement after WW2. They tried to overthrow the government, Jordan tossed them.

Israel wanted more? No, Israel was attacked by multiple countries, and expanded their borders to defensible positions in response.

If it was just about territory, Israel could have easily held onto the Sinai.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Let's not forget that the Palestianians were there first, and had lived there for a long time. Palestine was divided up... I think, after the 6 days war in 1967, but Israel still wanted more! At the time they had even been given more than 50 %. Where was the Palestinians supposed to go?

Really Israel was there first. They were thrown out by the Romans in 70 AD. There are still ruins from their original buildings there just being found by archelogists.

[jennielynn1970]

Let's put it into modern day ideals.

You buy a house in a neighborhood.
The house was taken over by the bank for one reason or another-that reason may not be right, but the previous owners were evicted.
The people who live in that house before come back and start to break windows with rocks.

When you toss rocks back to defend yourself you hit some of the hooligans that are causing the problems...

First of all, that's way too simplistic, secondly, it's wrong.

They didn't get "evicted" because they owed rent or back taxes, they were thrown out of their homes FOR NO REASON other than to have it given to the Israelis.

And calling them rock throwers, that's just a low blow, Richard.

I don't care who's book said what, or who wrote it (face it, it's a translation of one person's writing by another person... all books are), you don't throw someone out of their home to give another people housing. You build new, you find somewhere else. You don't block off where they live, put them in a refugee camp and then complain when they rise up against what was done to them.

Of course they're pissed off. I think any of us in that position would be. I don't care what religion is brought in, who says what higher power says they're right, it's a bunch of crap.

[jennielynn1970]

Really Israel was there first. They were thrown out by the Romans in 70 AD. There are still ruins from their original buildings there just being found by archelogists.

People were there, not "Israelis".

People.

Israel did NOT exist before WWII.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Really Israel was there first. They were thrown out by the Romans in 70 AD. There are still ruins from their original buildings there just being found by archelogists.

A slippery slope if you start relying on boundaries in 70 AD! Let's see...North America was inhabited by....

[jennielynn1970]

The Palestinians were given part of Jordan as part of the settlement after WW2. They tried to overthrow the government, Jordan tossed them.

Israel wanted more? No, Israel was attacked by multiple countries, and expanded their borders to defensible positions in response.

If it was just about territory, Israel could have easily held onto the Sinai.

Israel wants to control everything. Their flag says it all. The blue lines represent rivers. The star represents the people in between. They want to control what lies between the rivers, and that's a lot of land. From the Nile to the Euphrates, all the land in between is supposed to be an Israeli land.

Israel DOES indeed want more land. It wants to control whatever it can.

Israel, in my opinion, should not exist. It should be Palestine. I wish everyone could live peacefully under that name, whether they be Jewish or Muslim. I just don't see it happening.

Unfortunately, all the US does is back Israel. We do whatever they tell us to do (the government). We're just a puppet state for them, really. Heaven forbid we actually say we think that Palestinians have a right to want their land back, or that Fatah and Hammas are fighting for their rights and their land.

Both Israel and Hammas are armed. You can't say that one is wrong and the other is not. They both are fighting, and they both are killing, and the innocent are stuck in the middle. The whole situation just sucks.

[blue]

A slippery slope if you start relying on boundaries in 70 AD! Let's see...North America was inhabited by....

Nobody.

[cassiesmom]

Why is the Middle East so troubled by conflicts? Will the Middle East ever be a peaceful part of the world?

Doesn't seem so, if you ask me.

[Grace]

Originally Posted by momoffuzzyfaces.
Really Israel was there first. They were thrown out by the Romans in 70 AD. There are still ruins from their original buildings there just being found by archelogists.

People were there, not "Israelis".

People.
Israel did NOT exist before WWII.

Jews were there, along with Palestinians. Jews have been in that area for centuries. Israel is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity: It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language, and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago. You dig the soil and you find pottery from Davidic times, coins from Bar Kokhba, and 2,000-year-old scrolls.
The name Israel derives from the name given to Jacob. The name Jew derives from Yehuda (Judah) one of the 12 sons of Jacob (Reuben, Shimon, Levi, Yehuda, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Yisachar, Zevulun, Yosef, Binyamin). So, the names Israel, Israeli or Jewish refer to people of the same origin.

The people of modern day Israel share the same language and culture shaped by the Jewish heritage and religion passed through generations starting with the founding father Abraham (ca. 1800 BCE). Thus, Jews have had continuous presence in the land of Israel for the past 3,300 years.