G: OK, I will play. Tell the Forum just when it existed. What year was it founded? The name itself did not come into play until the middle of the 200s CE/AD and was given by the occupying Roman Empiire. It is the Latin for "Land of the Phillistines."
Phillistines, in case you have forgotten since our last exchange were a Proto-Greek People from the Mycaenean Greek Culture on Crete. In other words, they were not indigenous EITHER although they DID predate Jews in THAT area.
Jews were a much larger people who by attrition and assimilation caused the Phillistines' extinction. No DNA exists so any "Palestinian" claiming to be a Phillistine or Canaanite is either being purposely deceptive or extreemly ignorant.
The only nation to exist there AFTER the Jewish Nation ...has been the Jewish Nation of Israel! No Arab State EVER stood there, EVER. Arabs are native to only one place: al Hejaz in what is now Saudi Arabia. THEY ARE the COLONISERS.
When the first Arab stepped into history Jews had been rules of Gaza for almost half a millnia. Think about it, the first Arab ever in history, from al Hejaz mind you, and we had nearly half a millenia in Gaza alone. When we conquered Gaza we had been in what is now the so called "West Bank" and Israel for 1500 years. Think of it. Almost 2000 years before the first Arab on the planet breated a word into the annals of history. Ergo, your argument is ridiculous to those who are well versed in history.
"Selective history.": OK, then simply provide the facts that show this. Can you?
"If Rachamim is so keen on a secular view, why have religion involved at all?": How is religion involved? Freedom of Worship is enshrined in the Israeli Basic Law and if you really, really want to get into it Muslims are offered more right than Jews in the Jewish Homeland. So what IS your point?
"Equal rights for all, 1 State.": Riiiight. Let me ask, what country are you a citizen of? UK? America? Let us assume since most are from the UK here, you are British. Should England allow anyone who wishes to , to gain citizenship? Shall the UK allow ALL its citizens to have a say in its flag? Countries have national characters. For example, to suggest Frenchmen have no right to a France is retarded. Israel in turn is a Jewish State. Jews are not a religion, they are a People. Judaisim is a religion and Rabbis do not rule the country. It was founded by many Jews who were atheists so your point is non-sensical.
Its secularism is enshrined. It offers equal civil and human rights to ALL its citizens. In fact, Arabs and a few other minorities actually have more rights than Jewish Israelis so as to even out the demographical disparities that could lead to a gap. You obviously have not studied the country and this is something anyone should do before offering condemnations.
Read its Basic Law. Read statistics. Read about 12 Arab MKs for 20% of the population which is 60% representation for the entire demographic , higher than most Western democracies and in fact it could even surpass its demographical share by simply the vote. Israel is a Liberal Democracy.
On the other hand, in some of the 26 Arab Nations in the Arab League (actually 25 plus the PA) a Jew can not even step 1 centimeter over their border. Jews are not even allowed to transit their airports so you really need to researchbefore coming up with these libelous accusations.
"Compromise is the only way forward.": HELLO! Jews have been at the table, AGREEING since 1929. Arabs have refused to talk to us at all until 1977 and that was only one nation. "Palestinians" refused to talk to us at all until Oslo and all they did there was lie. Even now they do the same thing. The PA is almost destroyed by HAMAS, we save it, we arm it, create a police force for it, create an army for it, arm it, America trains it, and now it is back with HAMAS and this is just the way it is. People who do not bother to surf past propaganda will never know anything of the dynamic.
"depends if you want peace or not.": ONE PHRASE: GAZA 2005.
