| Topic Name: |
No Bigotry please |
| Message Name: |
That is just your opinion |
| Date Posted: |
12/18/2001 |
| In Reply To: |
Up until 1948, you could very easily argue that Muslims and Arabs historically treated Jews much better, than Europeans and Christians. Currently there is indeed great anti-semitism among arabs and muslims but this is probably more political in nature than religious. E.g. George Habash leader of the PFLP is Christian, as is the current spokeswoman for the Palestinian Authority.
One of the great dislikes for Israel is not simply because it is Jewish but that it is a symbol of Western domination. Incidentally, I haven't noticed many Irish Catholics very pleased about the immigration of Scotch Protestants into Northern Ireland, nor Ceylonese happy regarding the immigration of Tamils into Sri Lanka. It is a bit much to ask that Palestians be happy with not only large immigration of new peoples nor their being denied political power within the area.
Last year, Radio CNN or NPR broadcast a 1946 meeting at Town Hall in New York regarding the creation of Israel. The Zionist representative was much better spoken than the Arab spokesman but what he said was very interesting. The Zionist spokesman categorically refused the idea of a democratic nation because jews would be in the minority. Furthermore, he stated that if Israel were not created the Jews would never stop fighting until a Jewish homeland was established. I believe he said something about blood would always flow. It seems that the Palestinians who asked for a democratic nation took his words to heart.
I'm not saying that Israel has no right to exist, but the situation is more complex than many here are willing to admit. Incidentally, there were Palestinian Kingdoms/Nations prior to the Ottomans. But these nations were no more recognizable as modern states than Biblical Israel was. |
| Message: |
"One of the great dislikes for Israel is not simply because it is Jewish but that it is a symbol of Western domination."
Israel is not a symbol a anyone's domination. It is a democracy in a region dominated by monarchs and that is why America supports it. We do have influence over Israel but we don't dominate it. And whatever the relationship, that is not the reason Arabs dislike it. They disliked it from day one, and did so until when America began to support it like it does today--1970s.
"It is a bit much to ask that Palestians be happy with not only large immigration of new peoples nor their being denied political power within the area."
The new peoples are legally immigrating to a sovereign country and comlying with immigration law. This argument assumes that the Palestians own the land to begin with, which they do not. They lost that claim to the right when they lost their invasion attempts in 1948.
"Furthermore, he stated that if Israel were not created the Jews would never stop fighting until a Jewish homeland was established."
First of all, I have never heard of this. I would like to hear it for myself, so please email it to me at OKJustEmailMe@aol.com, or post it here, but people are getting fed up with this thread. Second, even if those words were spoken, they pre-dated the UN Plan of 1947 where both sides were to have the land. The Arabs initially agree but then recanted when they decided they wouldn't go for it and lost their gamble. That statement, if true, was made in the context of a negotiation for the land when both sides had claims to the land.
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