Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh - Aggression Under False Pretenses

Actually in 1993 with the establishment of the PA there was peace for awhile and even something approaching prosperity in the occupied territories. During that time the PA actively arrested militants. Everything wasn't peaceful because there were still some tensions and also terrorism committed by Jewish extremists like the shooting of Muslims in Hebron and the assasination of Rabin. After that though Israeli policy changed to attacking the PA so that the PA couldn't effectively restrain Palestinian militants or want to when the they were were in a state of war with Israel. At the same time under Netanyahu settlement expansion continued.

Everyone talks about suicide bombings and rocket attacks but it takes two to tango forgetting that while there have been Israeli withdrawals there also have also been settlement expansions in the West Bank, various acts of collective punishment of Palestinians as a whole along with terrorism committed by Jewish extremists at Palestinians and even Israelis. As that brief time in 1993 and 1994 show peace is possible if both sides can stand up to their own extremists and refrain from hostile actions.

 

Under that logic the Viet Cong and Viet Minh should've given up in 1967 or the Algerians when they were getting the crap beat of them by France. The nature of any insurgency is that one side is vastly superior yet that hasn't stopped insurgencies from winning. You're looking at it from the standpoint that Israel has everything so the Palestinians should just accept what Israel gives them. The Palestinians look at it as they have nothing to lose so they should make it as painful on the Israelis as possible to get what they want rather that what Israel wants to give. I'm not saying one side is right but there is a medium that the majority of both sides will probably accept which IMO is the 1967 borders and no right of return in exchange for financial and aid compensation.

 

why dont you tell us? actually, nevermind, the israelis are just a bunch of saint who are holding it down until the 2nd coming when they're either saved or killed...i hope i get into heaven

 

75% of all military aid given to Israel by the U.S. must be spent in the U.S.

 

Maybe if Israel would renounce the right to return also?

 

Maybe if Israel would renounce the right to return also? I can't really justify their goal of an ethnically and or religously dominant group. It is so foreign to our American way of thinking about nations.

 

All of those wars were being fought a long way from home, Algeria and France being the closest and still on seperate continents with a sizeable sea between them. Israel is fighting in their own homes. I think that would give them the political will to continue that France and the US lacked.

 

i'm glad to know that the tools they use to terrorize the palestinians come from the us...make me real proud to be american

 

im glad to know that the tools they use to defend themselves from the palestinian terrorists come from the us.. makes me real proud to be an american

 

Well, we sell to pretty much everyone, it's huge business for the U.S. We sell billions of dollars a year in weapons to the Saudis (whom have a larger defense budget than any country in the region btw, including Israel -- a little known fact), we sell to the Jordanians and Egyptians, the Pakistanis and the Indians, and now we are selling to the Iraqis.

This is also a little known fact: the Middle East region as a whole has seen the largest percentage increase in military spending over the past few years, a lot of Arab states along with Iran and Turkey are spending big bucks on their defenses, which makes this outbreak of violence in the holy land that much more concerning.

BTW, Hezbollah are not like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, they're actually well-armed and rather well-trained, although obviously no one is armed to the teeth like the Israelis are.

 

The Palestinians have a pretty strong will too. IMO both sides wills are too strong when it comes to warring with each other.

 

I think what we need is someone like Jimmy Carter who was good at showing both sides that peace was in their interests when he helped negotiate the peace between Egypt and Israel. That was an amazing accomplishment. I wish there was someone as dedicated to that as Carter was, that had his gift.