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| Re: Israel Invades West Bank (1226959) | |||
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Re: Israel Invades West Bank |
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Posted by subfan on Wed Sep 17 22:50:36 2014, in response to Re: Israel Invades West Bank, posted by SelkirkTMO on Wed Sep 17 15:40:11 2014. There's a false equivalency in your statement that "BOTH sides need to stop shooting at each other". As the saying goes, if the Arabs stopped fighting, there's be no more war. If the Israelis stopped fighting, there'd be no more Israel.I don't say that Israel has never done anything wrong - they undoubtedly have. But I see the clear cause of the present situation as the Arab unwillingness to accept Israel as a Jewish state in any borders. Yes, they make noises about two states, but they insist that all Arabs who left what became Israel in 1948-1949, plus all their descendants, be allowed to settle in Israel - which would destroy Israel as a Jewish state. This is therefore a complete non-starter from Israel's perspective. In looking at the justification for Israel's position, it's important to note that while about 800,000 Arabs left what became Israel, a greater number of Jews from the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa fled on account of anti-Jewish rioting that broke out on Israel's formation - and about 850,000 or 900,000 of them ended up in the new State of Israel. Essentially, there was a population exchange, similar to what happened when India and Pakistan were created. No, it wasn't pretty, and there were clearly injustices that took place - but on the whole, there's no justifiable reason for Israel to be required to accept the Arab population back into its borders (whatever they're ultimately determined to be). So, it's a much more complex and nuanced story than the one told by the Arabs - and the demands placed on Israel to allow the Arabs who fled and their descendants to "return" are just not going to happen, and there is no good basis to demand that Israel allow it to happen. The recognition of this fact by the Arabs is necessary before there will be peace - and I'm not holding my breath waiting. I'm just getting on with my life, as do most Israelis, with a hard-eyed realism and the realization that there isn't always a good solution to every problem. subfan |
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