We did go off topic, so to speak, being that this thread is supposed to be about the Apartheid debate.
While Israel is wrongfully demonized for a lot, the fact remains that they are the ones in this conflict with the power to forge peace and they have repeatedly refused to do so. Simply extending citizenship to Palestinian refugees and treating them as human beings would be a start. If they did this, as well as ending the crime against humanity known as their settlement program the Palestinians would have nothing to retaliate against. Don't let the media fool you, Israel is the aggressor. PS I am Jewish so don't accuse me of anti-semitism.
If only it were that easy.... The Palestinians have rejected every single peace treaty offered to them. They are hellbent on receiving the entire territory Israel sits on. Their main desire is to have the west bank, but due to the security threat it poses (Tel Aviv is only about 34 miles from the west bank), the threat of even more rockets coming from that region would be greater if it was handed over to the Palestinians. The West Bank barrier has reduced the rate of violence tremendously as well. Death toll of Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians hit a low in 2006 | McClatchy Imagine if the increase in violence if the West Bank was handed over to the Palestinians..... It's even worth mentioning that the WB was invaded by the IDF during the Six Day War. I personally find it humorous that the Palestinians engaged in combat with the Israeli's, lost the territory and the war, and are now whining to get the land back
Israel's peace treaties rang hollow every time. Israel needs to offer a significant improvement to the legal rights of Palestinian people, including citizenship and an end to the settlement program. In return the Palestinians must recognize Israel's right to exist. Both sides must lay down their arms and have legitimate peace talks without a zionist backed superpower (aka US and UK) brokering it. Both sides must stop targeting civilians. This is not a black and white issue. The conflict was started by Britain, the UN, and the Rothschild family and has roots in policies with the Ottoman Empire dating back to 1859. It is time to stop pointing fingers and forge a new peace.
Like I said already, the Palestinians are hellbent on the destruction of the state of Israel and its inhabitants. It's hard to treat them as humans when they continuously launch rockets at civilians and use suicide bombers whenever the opportunity arises. I have another point of discussion for you guys: 1.Palestine never existed. Look it up and tell me what it's capital was, currency used, what was the name of its president??? 2. Jordan was part of the British Palestinian mandate, yet no effort is made to have them give land for a state seeing as they are several times bigger than Israel.
Basically what happened in Israel is that many wars were fought over the land. When the wars were won (by Israel) treaties were signed ceding the land to Israel. Same thing when the British decided to give the land they won in a war to Israel. This process has occurred many times throughout history. If Israel should give the land back, shit, we owe a pretty big debt to the Native Americans, huh? Why should Israel be expected to give back land it won in a war? Why don't the surrounding Arab countries want to cede any of their land to their Palestinian "brethren?" Israel is always judged by a massive double standard. OP hopefully ill remember to +rep when I'm on the computer
US Taxpayers paid more to Israel's "defense" budget than Israelies ever did. Source: Veterans News Now I have no problems against Israeli people, but there is no denying that the government is unlawful. They break every UN Rule and just go "fuck it, nobody's really gonna do anything about it"
Not only have we given Israel aid upon aid, but we have also used our CIA to help bolster Israel and US interests in the region since g-d knows when.. I'll agree that those endevours were also in our "interests", but to act like we've never "helped" israelis ludacris. and by "interests" i dont really mean "interests" if you catch my drift. stop all foreign aid to israel and let them sleep in the bed they have made for themselves. the sooner the better.. You cant be a murderous tyrant for half generation and not expect consequence..
Those rockets are complete fail and now with the Iron Dome up and running they are practically useless. Seriously, those rockets do more psychological damage than physical. Israel's military response to these fail rockets means people die, both civilian and terrorist die and that's why so many more Palestinians have died compared to Israeli's. Good news about Israel though, they are making headway into taking on less collateral damage. Their numbers are better than the USA's.
Israel does this also. Twice when asked by Hamas to sit down for peace talks, Israel refused. The second time, former USA president Jimmy Carter was there to help lead the talks and Israel refused to even sit down.
Funny you don't mention Pakistan, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan hopping off America's dick The only difference between them and Israel is that Israel is productive with regards to what it does with the aid money (only $1.5 billion a year) by putting it to good use (medical, electronic inventions), while those countries are bitter enemies of America.
Remind me again, who were the ones to launch the second intifada after the Oslo Accords? Under the Oslo Accords, Israel committed to the phased withdrawal of its forces from parts of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, and affirmed the Palestinian right to self-government within those areas through the creation of a Palestinian Authority but unfortunately those plans went down the drain after the second intifada.......... EDIT: Can you provide evidence as to when Hamas has ever asked Israel to sit down for peace talks ("peace talks don't include the destruction of Israel btw)
Regardless, even if you think the rockets have caused more psychological rather than physical damage, any nation, including Israel, has every right to defend herself. Reducing civilian casualties in one of the most densely populated regions in the world is hard, even more so when Hamas terrorists hide among civilians. The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Hamas and Human Shields at the U.N. School
Perhaps you do not know this, but Hamas is not a party to which any Israeli government would have any talks with. The reason is simple, and Carter may not want to see it, but Hamas is nazis in islamic guise. All they talk about is extermination of jews. It is right there in their charter. No more jewish state, no more jews in what they call palestine. Genocide. That is their agenda. And Hamas, as if it was not known, is just the more militant part of the muslim brotherhood who is now in power in Egypt. Times will get interesting. What baffles me though, is how many socalled leftists and liberals side with genocidal maniacs? Why? Isn't the oppression of women enough to oppose islam? The oppression of non-muslims in muslim countries? The barbaric justice system? Why do not these apologists for evil see how they are manipulated by forces that given their way, would behead their western supporters in a heartbeat. Just last week, there was a demonstration here in Norway, in our capitol, against the now infamous youtube-clip of a reportedly very bad but blasphemous movie. The conservative and gay mayor of the town - he'd last long under sharia - spoke of tolerance during the demonstration. How naive can one get?