Misconceptions about Israel

[ViolentPanda]

This writer, Ya'alon, is of the opinion that the west has certain misconceptions about Israel and Palestine.

Actually Johnny, he's of the opinion that "There are four main misconceptions that diplomats bring with them to Israel", not "the west" in general.

 

[Spion]

There are four main misconceptions that diplomats bring with them to Israel. Primary among them is the idea that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a prerequisite for stability in the Mideast. The truth is that the region is riven by clashes that have nothing to do with Israel. For instance, the Jewish state plays no role in the conflict between Shiites and Sunnis, between Persians and Arabs or between Arab nationalists and Arab Islamists.

So what? It is irrelevant to whether Palestinians should be recompensed for the massive injustice perpetrated against them during the ethnic cleansing of 1948

The second misconception is that Israeli territorial concessions are the key to progress. The reality is that an ascendant jihadist Islam believes that it is leading the battle against Israel and the rest of the West. Given this dynamic, Israeli territorial or other concessions simply fill the jihadists' sails, reinforcing their belief that Israel and the West are weak and can be militarily defeated.

A baseless assertion, and an excuse for not righting the wrongs committed against Palestinians who have had their land and homes stolen from them since 1948

Emissaries also still believe that "the Occupation" blocks agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. In the West, the term usually means the territories Israel conquered in the Six-Day War in 1967. If the problem between Israelis and Palestinians were just the 1967 territories, and the solution were dividing those lands up between the two sides (as proposed, most recently, in 2000 by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak), the conflict would have ended long ago

Instead, the heart of the problem is that many Palestinians -- Fatah and Hamas, in particular -- and even some Israeli Arabs use "Occupation" to refer to all Israel. They do not recognize the Jewish people's right to an independent state, a right affirmed again and again in the international arena.

Dead right, the real issue is the ethnic cleansing of 700,000 to 8000,000 Palestinians in 1947-48 and the ongoing demands for a right of return to the land/houses stolen from them as well as compensation for the banks, businesses and factories looted by the Israelis. Fortunately some Israelis are starting to recognise this - it's only a start but it's something http://www.nakbainhebrew.org/index.php?lang=english

Finally, the well-intentioned visiting diplomats believe that the Palestinians want -- and have the ability -- to establish a state that will live in peace alongside Israel. But they are not being clear-eyed. The late Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, established a thugocracy that never improved the basic living conditions of his people. Indeed, Palestinian unemployment and poverty are worse today than they were before Arafat and his cronies assumed power in 1994.

Yeah, that's right, if you have nothing more than small arms and are trying to govern a ghetto surrounded by a hostile, racist state that has done nothing but seek your destruction as a people for 60-odd years you are a thug. If you send in tanks and drop bombs and missiles on those people you must be a liberal democracy.

 

[Random]

The Palestinians hate us and our liberal western values and always will. The Israelis like us and are like us.

Exhibit A, ladies and gentlemen.

 

[rhys gethin]

The Palestinians hate us and our liberal western values and always will. The Israelis like us and are like us. Probably why so many lefty wadicals hate them. Funny how extreme right and left end up on the same side on so many issues.

I thought you'd died in a bunker in Berlin. Do it NOW!

 

[ViolentPanda]

The Palestinians hate us and our liberal western values and always will. The Israelis like us and are like us. Probably why so many lefty wadicals hate them. Funny how extreme right and left end up on the same side on so many issues.

You don't get any brighter, do you?

Still buying your views wholesale from "twats 'r' us".

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Actually Johnny, he's of the opinion that "There are four main misconceptions that diplomats bring with them to Israel", not "the west" in general.

I think we can extrapolate that if the diplomats have those misconceptions, then so do their constituents.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

So what? It is irrelevant to whether Palestinians should be recompensed for the massive injustice perpetrated against them during the ethnic cleansing of 1948:

The author suggests compensation.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

A baseless assertion, and an excuse for not righting the wrongs committed against Palestinians who have had their land and homes stolen from them since 1948 :

The author recommends that they be compensated.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Yeah, that's right, if you have nothing more than small arms and are trying to govern a ghetto surrounded by a hostile, racist state that has done nothing but seek your destruction as a people for 60-odd years you are a thug. If you send in tanks and drop bombs and missiles on those people you must be a liberal democracy.

What he's talking about, is all the money that Arafat et al, stole.

 

[behemoth]

Exhibit A, ladies and gentlemen.

Trying to close down the debate by refusing to accept their could possibly be more than one accepted point of view?

 

[behemoth]

I thought you'd died in a bunker in Berlin. Do it NOW!

Trying to close down the debate by refusing to accept their could possibly be more than one accepted point of view?

 

[behemoth]

You don't get any brighter, do you?

Still buying your views wholesale from "twats 'r' us".

Trying to close down the debate by refusing to accept their could possibly be more than one accepted point of view?

 

[ViolentPanda]

Trying to close down the debate by refusing to accept their could possibly be more than one accepted point of view?

No, remarking on the use of stereotypes in your "original" comment (which wasn't original in any real sense, relying as it did on a load of tabloidesque labelling)..

I don't want to close down debate, but I have a right to comment on the shortcomings of your contribution, and I exercised it.