Help! Im A Peace-Loving Zionist - Get Me Outta Here! (The Israel / Palestine Conflict - Is There A Solution?)

Member Name: funzo

Product:	The Israel / Palestine Conflict - Is There A Solution?
Date:	06/03/09 (309 review reads)
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What a topic to review to review eh?....and not an easy one to answer either. Many people a grand sight better than me have tried and failed to find a peace solution in Palestine/Israel and death and destruction continues on both sides. The most recent escalation of this was seen in Gaza only a few months ago, but remains just one sad,unfortunate episode of violence in a long history of violence.

I feel the need to speak up for Israel and in view of the record number of antisemtic attacks in the first three months of 2009 around the globe, i think its important that whilst we watch the upsetting pictures of Palestinian suffering on our television screens, we remember there are two sides to every story and this is to readress a bit of the imbalance that is causing such vitriol against Israel. Vitriol that has extended to record amounts of attacks on Jewish communities around the globe. Here in the UK there have been more attacks - phyiscal, abuse, racist vandalism, arson in the first three months of this year than there was in the whole of last year... and this as someone of the Jewish faith worries the hell out of me.....

Peace in the region is a subject that is very close to my heart, and between 1997 - 1999 I lived and worked (voluntary work without pay) on Kibbutz's that were at the forefront of the peace initiative between Jews. Muslims, Palestinians, Jordanians, Bedouins and Druze with the sharing of agrigultural techniques and knowledge designed to foster relationships and increase the prosperity of the poor, set up as a direct result of the Oslo Peace Accord of 1993. For two years I worked side by side in toil and sweat with Israelis, Arabs and other foreign nationals in working towards a lasting Peace at the very heart of the troubled areas in Israel as well as in Jordan and in Egypt. I had a truly amazing educational and humbling experience in that period and made friends for life in the most unlikeliest of areas and my desire for Peace in the region and willingness to work for it has not waned. But why isnt there peace? and can it be resolved? well here's my two penneth worth......


ISRAELS RIGHT TO EXIST.

The arab and muslim population in general have never and still not recognised Israel's right to even exist. Hardly a sound basis for discussion is it? Good luck on your job interview with an employer that doesnt even acknowledge your right to be there!. And if anyone doubts Israel's right to exist. Here are some facts. Jews have been living continously in the land for well over 3000 years. In 132 AD The Romans expelled nearly all of the Jewish Community creating the Disapora - exiled Jews living around the world most notably in Europe and North Africa.The first real account of any number of Mulsims living in the region came only after the Muslim conquests in the 7th Century. It became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1516 and then under British Colonialist rule in the late 20th Century.

The Jewish faith remained central to its core of returning 'home' to Israel with Jerusalem with its capital. Be it a Jew in Spain or a Jew in China, Jews always prayed facing Jerusalem and on the celebration of Moses leading the Jews from slavery in Egypt back to Israel the line "next year in Jerusalem" is said at the end of the prayers....this is a tradition that has continued for thousands of years. After a series of persecutions and sufferings that led to thousands being slaughtered in Spain in 1492 to the hundreds of thousands that were murdered during the Pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe the steady stream of Jews returning to Israel increased as the persecution levels had reached levels not seen since the Roman times. The right to a Jewish homeland was promised by the Balfour declaration in 1917 and ratified by the League of Nations in 1922, a full quarter of a century before the United Nations voted for the creation of a Jewish state and an Arab state in partioned land. Which for the record, the Jewish population agreed to and the Arabs rejected vowing to push every Jew into the sea.

The 1920's and 1930's saw the rise of fascism in Europe and even further anti semtic persecution forcing more Jews to flee to the British Mandate of Palestine. At the same Arab Nationalism and Pan -Arabism were spreading throughout the middle east and local Arabs were persuaded by Islamic Fundamentalists to go on strikes and cause revolts with the aim of creating a Muslim state and driving out the British and the Jews. The most famous of which was the Arab revolt in 1929 which saw the mass murderings by hate filled mobs against innocent Jews, Up and till then the Jewish administration (histadrut) had worked with the Arabs, even offering financial support to Arab strikers in 1922, which was rejected by the controlling Imams and Sheikhs, forbidding acceptance of help from Jews. Even then, the controlling Arab leaders would rather see their people suffer than work with the Jewish population.

The strikes and riots during this period crippled the Palestinains as Jews learnt to be economically independant from the Arab population and that it cannot trust the Arab population...and they learnt the hard way. During this period, £10 million was spent buying land in Palestine by Jews. Over half of the money went to just 250 families who lived in places such as Damascus, Beruit and Cairo. They sold the land of the Palestinian farmers right under their feet, without compensation and without care. Rather than try and work with the Israelis in turning the malaria ridden swamps and deserts into viable farms, the Palestinians were encouraged and financed to try and destroy everything that was being built, something which continues today. The revolts meant Arab nationalists attacked the Transjordan oil pipeline that went through Haifa which prompted Britain to end immigration in 1939 ,thus condemning millions to their deaths in 1940 Europe. Even then, as we see now, the west's reliance upon oil was put before the lives of innocents.

The horrors of WWII and displacement of 100,000's of concentration camp survivors brought the now-illegal immigration to Palestine to the worlds eye and now Jews were fighting the British as well as the Arabs ( who incidently sided with the Nazis during the war) for an end to immigration restrictions. Eventually it was put before the United Nations who voted for the creation of a Jewish State and an Arab state. As I mentioned before, the Arabs flatly refused and no offer of any compromsie was made and the combined armies of Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen done their darnest to prevent the fledgiling state being formed. Heavily outnumbered by odds 100 - 1 The state and Israel was formed...legally, morally and every other ally.

Hamas and Muslim Fundamentalists do not see this. Hamas who rule Gaza, state in their charter of 1988 which they still lead from, that the jewish state should wiped from the map and replaced with a islamic state. Their refusal to pubically acknowledge Israel's right to exist is a major stumbling block to any peace process. Also bear in mind that Hamas is regarded as terrorist organisation similar to Al- Qaueeda by the European Union, Japan, Canada and the United States and outlawed by one half of the Palestinian population. The Saudi and Iran funded organisation has been behind thousands of Israeli and Palestinian deaths and is currently waging Jihad (holy war) against ALL non-believers of Islam.Once Israel is recognised as having a right to even exist by the Muslim/Arab world it might start to feel safe enough to look towards peace.

The wars of 67 and 73,saw Israel attacked on all fronts and nearly destroyed by all its Arab neighbours, hell bent on destroying Israel and pushing the Jews into the sea. This has left Israel fearful, distrustful and insular. in three weeks of fighting in 1973 - The Yom Kippur War - more Israelis died per capita than America in 10 years of Vietnam.

For Israel, there is no second chance...a defeat is not just a battle lost but would mean no more Israel. It has to be strong and not show signs of any weakness. To let continued rocket, mortar and bomb attacks rain upon its civilians is a sign of weakness and no government of any nation would let such attacks upon their citizens go without reprise..Pull a dogs tale for long enough and eventually it will bite.



Rockets

Sorry to dispel a few naive myths about the brave Palestinians heroically fighting the might of the Israeli Army with a few stones and home made bombs but Hamas is a highly financed organisation that is smuggling increasingly advanced rockets and missiles to be fired indiscrimintaley targetting Israeli citizens - For those all too willing to scream war crimes at Israel everytime they put down their Guardian. That is a war crime. as is using human shields or conducting warfare that would endanger citizens.... Hamas has openly admitted to using these tactics, continuing the long history of using the Palestinians like pawns for their own political, religious or personal gain.

Look at Yasser Arafat, long the leader of the Palestinian peoople; a 1997 independant audit showed he had amassed a personal wealth of $3 billion - money that was given by Europeans, Americans and fellow Muslims for the benefit of the Palestinian poeple - to build schools, hospitals and housing But yet the funds were diverted towards personal pockets and subsidising violence. Hamas recieves similar funding and does indeed provide the healthcare and schooling in Gaza - but these are just training and breeding grounds for the fundamentalists... as you cannot have your child schooled in Gaza without its parents being members of Hamas. In these schools there is the intensified religous intolerance and hatred that has been taught to many Muslims around the world resulting to in the murders of 'non-believers' in Bali, London,India, Madrid, USA and Spain to name but a few where innocents have been slaughtered in the name of Islam. Hamas also provides the families of suicide bombers with monthly money, encouraging 'martyrdom'.

Once Gaza was given over to Palestinian Authority, a supply line was established from Iran and over 8000 rockets and mortars have been fired against Israeli citizens since 2001. The most recent batch fired upon the cities in Israel with populations in and around the 200,000 mark have been traced back to China, highly advanced rockets with a kill and maiming radius of 100m and a range of approximately 25 miles putting a total of 800000 Israelis under daily, up to 3 times a day, attack, which incidently is still going on (over 100 rockets hundred since Jan 18th) as are resulting Israeli military operations in the Gaza strip.




JERUSALEM


I would advise anyone and everyone to go Jerusalem no matter what creed, colour, race or religion,. You cant help but feel the magic and history of the place. Jerusalem is mentioned by name a total of 632 times in the Torah and a total of Zero times in the Koran.

The only possible verse that has any remote connection in the Koran (Sura 17) is "blessed be He who brought His servant at night from the holy sanctuary to the outermost sanctuary." The words here "outermost sanctuary" are "misgad Al Aksa" which in later times was connected to the Al Aksa mosque in Jerusalem built only when muslims invaded the land. Israelis would be as willing to hand over Jerusalem as the Muslim would with Mecca.

It is worth noting that in the thousands of years of history of Jerusalem there has only been one prolonged period where Jews and Christians were not permitted to visit the holiest of sites in their religions and and that was between 1948 - 1967 when Jersualem was under Muslim Jordanian rule.The Al-Alska mosque, the third holiest of site of Islam has never been closed for Muslim, jewish or Christian visitors under Israeli stewardship. Israel would never cede Jerusalem to anyone it is too important to too many people of too many faiths for it to become the islamic capital of an islamic state which is what the Hamas Charter dictates.


GAZA

Israel forcibly removed all its settlers from the Gaza region some years ago despite many historical and biblical claims to the region. It done this in the hope of peace. What was the response.? Increased rocket attacks. Israel allowed commercial activities from its port in the belief that it would increase economic prosperity. what happened? boats carrying high grade weapons were being used to smuggle in weapons to be used against Israeli citizens and rocket attacks increased.

I have seen Gaza.. seen the deprivation and the suffering and know enough that as well as the pain that is inflicted upon them by the Israelis, the Palestinians have suffered under religous intolerance and incitement for too many years and have hatred for Israel ingrained upon them. I see economic propserity and a better life for the individuals as the way forward but to pick up the shovel you first must put down the gun. When I was there in 97-99 I worked on a series of agricultural projects that were not only handed to the Palestinians intact worth millions with some of the most advanced irrigation systems in the world, but the Palestinians were trained on how to use it. This was something that took years to develop and was given to the Palestinians to build from...what happened.....?? 48 hours and everything was either burnt, looted or destroyed. It was heartbreaking for everyone who worked on the projects, but a source of celebration for Hamas

RIGHT OF RETURN

Anyone forced to flee their land becuase of persecution or intolerance is a heartbreaking thing, 711,000 Palestinians either left or were forced from their homes after the 1948 war and the right of return has been a contentious issue since then. In 2000 Ehud Barak, the Israeli PM, offered a limited number of returning refugees and compensation for those that could not. Due to the international law that, descendants of refugees can claim right of return, the number of eligable refugees stands at nearly 4 million. Israel could not cope with such a sudden influx of such a large number of hostile people. It simply isnt feasible.

Having already mentioned that Jordan has been the only country to accept Palestinian refugees and grant citizenship, it is also worth mentioning that the Palestinians repayed Jordan by launching a violent coup against the Jordanian government in the 70's and no other country, no matter how large or oil rich have offered assitance in solving the Palestinian plight other than in weapons furthering Jihad.

WIth regards to Compensation. No Arab government has offered compensation to the 2 million jews (900,000 to Israel) that have fled or have been forced to flee their Arab homelands (Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, Syria, Algeria etc ) for the persecution they suffered since 1948. Being the grandson of refugees myself I understand the suffering and pain that is caused by being forced to flee a country for fear of your life, and refugees are fleeing wars all around the world, some of which here in Blighty and good for them that Britain has such asylum laws and they have been able to rebuild and better their lives.

It suits the Arab nations to have Palestinian refugee problem which is why none have offered their Muslim bothers and sisters that same chance to rebuild and better their lives. As long as they are a tool that can be used against Israel, they will be will be downtrodden and used as such. Millions upon millions are spent by the oil rich nations on such frivolities as a ski slope in the desert but what has been offered or spent in actually solving the Palestinians refugee problem? Refugees are a sad fact of war, every war creates them and it is up to the international community to ensure genuine refugees of the war are given asylum. There are millions of people living their lives away from their homes because of war or persecution, millions more looking to do the same.The same Muslim brother nations that protest so vehemently about treatment ofthe refugees, keep them in camps of squalor and degridation. The Palestinian Refugee situation has been readily exploited at a cost of many lives.

From experience, refugees can rebuild lives..... but only if they are allowed to and the Palestinian refugees havent been allowed by their Arab brethren let alone the Israelis - people they are still attacking.


SECURITY

The overwhelming concern for Israelis... Israel and Israelis do not feel secure and rightly so. Since the 1920's there has been continuous attempts to eradicate its population. Every peace treaty that has been signed has been used by its enemies to rearm and come back stronger. It is worth pointing out that the PLO, Hezbollah, and Hamas have only ever used the Arabic word Hudna in discussing Peaces and Ceasefires with Israel..Hudna has a distinct meaning to Islamic fundamentalists, well-versed in their history: The prophet Mohammad struck a legendary, ten-year hudna with the Quraysh tribe that controlled Mecca in the seventh century. Over the following two years, Mohammad rearmed and took advantage of a minor Quraysh infraction to break the hudna and launch the full conquest of Mecca, the holiest city in Islam.

The majority of Israelis want to live in peace, They do not want the fear of rocket attacks, suicide bombings and hostile Arab nations threatening to wipe it off the face of the map as Iran has done... all the while busy producing the nuclear capability to do exactly that!!.

Israel agreed to live in partioned land with a seperate Arab state and it was thrown in their faces and they paid for it in blood. They ceded land......94% of all Palestinian land territory demands were ceded to the Palestinians in 2000. the 1% of land that realistically could not be returned was given in undisputed Israeli territory making the total an astonishing 95% of land demands of the Palestinian Leader .But Arafat refused, and walked out of the conference not even bothering to make a counter offer. Hamas is no different,its worse! It does not want Peace with Israel, It wants to destroy Israel which is why Gaza is suffering as it is. It has to recognise Israel publically and put down their weapons. something that the Islamic Fundamentalists in the region who hold the purse strings would never allow.

Israelis live in fear and have done since its birth and since their birth. If anyone wants to know what injust things are done by nations living in a state of fear just ask the family of Jean Charles de Menezes.......ask the families of those held in Guantanamo without charge .....ask the families of those blown up in July London bombings......theres plenty of injustice you could fight, right here on your very own doorstep.

Once Israel feels secure there will peace and this can only happen once the Arabs stop giving Israel cause to feel unsecure, which as yet to date has not been the case....


THE FUTURE

Is there hope?probably not...... the distrust from the Israelis and the hatred from the Palestinians runs too deep If it is gonna happen. Its not going to happen overnight but as the cliche says Rome wasnt built in a day. A druze arab once told me that if the Arabs put down their weapons there would be peace, if the Israelis put down their weapons there would be no Israel. and this is true. The IRA has learnt that discussion and political means got you further than by violence so why cant Hamas? why beacuse what we are seeing on a global scale is the rise of Islamic fundamentalism heavily funded by oil rich nations with the sole purpose of the islamification of the world. Israel is at the very front of this battle, a democracy...a country that has given the world the technology for Windows XP. the mobile phone, breast cancer screening, camera phones......all came from the research facilities within Israel.

Peace can only be achieved through the end to hostilies and economic prosperity of the Palestinians....the viscious circle that both parties are in needs to be stopped. The sooner as a planet we are less reliant on oil the better, ...but without the oil would we care what happens in the region? in the same way nobody seems to care for oil less Rwanda or Zimbabwe ?...or at least enough to go marching on the streets for which the usual left wing guardianista are oh so readily eager to do with every picture of an injured Palestinian child. and you wonder why Israel feels on the defensive??

For Peace to happen Israel has to feel secure and until then it will continue to do things that upset the viewing public who pass judgement, from the comfort of their fearless life on subject matters they have neither experienced and know very little about. I yearn for peace in the region as does the overwhelming majority of Israelis but until the attacks from all quarters stop Israel will continue to do things that although i dont agree with... i understand. In the same way I understand and have seen with my own two eyes the suffering of the Palestinians at the hands of its so called leaders.

I would love to see Palestine flourish as a democratic, peaceful and prosperous state but whilst it is under the grip of extremism (Hamas have forced women who commit adultary to be suicide bombers) then Peace is not round the corner.


There....and done..... ummed and ahhed....rewritten and redone...all without spell check (lost Microsoft office) so any spelling mistakes im sorry and hope my thesis left some awake....:)

Summary: where did it all go wrong!?!?!