Arab Treatment of Palestinians
Arab Journalist to Palestinians: The War With Israel is Over
Were the Palestinians Expelled?
Hamas Now Represents the Palestinian People
Why Palestinians Still Live in Refugee Camps
With Palestine, Against the Palestinians
Hamas Minister: Is Violence a Palestinian Disease?
Why There is No Palestinian State Today
Palestinians to PA: Stop Kassam Attacks
Abbas to Iraq: Stop Killing Palestinians
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Name: Anonymous
Location: Orange County, California
Comment:
Good work. I have one comment though. You keep referring to "Israel's occupation of Palestine". Don't forget that there was no Palestine before the 6-day war or even before Israel's independence. I am not even sure if there ever was a country called "Palestine" (you need to double check -- I may not be right). Before Israel, the Palestinians were under the control of Egypt and Jordan and did not have an independent country -- so how can Israel be occupying Palestine? Occupying parts of Jordan and Egypt would be more accurate. Also check the map of the MiddleEast in early 1900s. You will find out that many countries such as: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, ... did not exist back then and were all part of the Ottoman Empire. So many of these Arab countries are not that much older than Israel -- it is not like that all these counties existed for centuries and suddenly Israel appeared out of nowhere! Keep up the good work!
Response:
you are technically correct. however in 1947 the U.N. resolution called for a creation of a Jewish state and an Arab state (called Palestine) the Jews accepted, the Arabs rejected it. so while this land may not belong to the Palestinians, since they rejected the resolution, it still does not lawfully belong to Israel. while there has never been a country called Palestine, u should remember that Israel, the occupied territories, and Jordan are all considered part of historic Palestine. and yes, it is true Egypt and Jordan occupied Palestinian lands too. why only Israel has been condemned for occupation, one can only wonder. it should be remembered that Arabs (as well as Jews) have lived on that land for centuries. the Arabs had their own society and their own leader (the grand mufti of Jerusalem).
Name: Kam
Location: California
Comment:
That is a very cool article! It is neutral and points to the facts. Your web site has improved a lot. Keep up the good work. Here is a bit of my thoughts: I think the inclination of Israeli and Palestinian people to allow religion in their politics is another major factor that feeds the conflict. In this case, Palestinians and Israelis should equally be blamed. By declaring Israel a Jewish state, Israelis have removed any possibility that Palestinians can ever live under their rule as citizens. And we all know too well that Palestinian Islamic extremists gave birth to suicide bombers. The only way out of this conflict is a pragmatic government ruling a country with a neutral name that equally respects the beliefs of all people (including atheists!). Religion must have no role in the politics of any country in the world! Taking it even further, we must teach the people of the world to have a brain of their own and not follow blind faith of any kind - especially the ones based purely on fictional and sometimes comical books. Human beings have come a long way and should know better!
Response:
very thoughtful response. are you an atheist too? i agree with you somewhat (being an atheist myself). but you have some mistakes in your details. Israel is a jewish state in the way that any jewish person (if their mother is jewish) is allowed to emigrate there. However once there, they have complete freedom of relgion. The government of Israel does not impose any jewish law on the people (unlike Iran which imposes islamic law on its citizens). They sell pork in israel despite the fact that 95% of its citizens are either jewish or muslim and are not allowed to eat pork. i heard that 33% of jewish israelis dont even belong to a synogoge! I dont have any problem with religion as a group of people. my problem with relion is the god part. you seem to also forget that there are 1.3 million arab/muslims living in israel with complete freedom of religion to practice islam as little or as much as they want. In fact i even hear that there is less religion in government in israel then in the U.S.! i've never been to israel myself, but i've read a lot about it. but you are definitly right about the pointlessness of both the jewish and islamic extremists fighting over religion.