RE: [VWoT] OT: Lest We Forget

[Drew <drew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 2004-11-15 at 11:40, Todd Snyder wrote:
> Ok Drew, you seem pretty knowledgable about .. Well .. Everything.

Yeah, right.  That's why I'm stuck in this dead-end job working for
peanuts, breaking my back night and day for the man.

> I need someone to explain to me the Israel/Palestine thing .. I don't
> understand it.  Whos right/whos wrong?  Why are they so angry?  Why is
> whats his face dying so important?  

Oh my stars.  What in the name of all that is good did you have to open
THAT can of worms for?

Basically we can sum this up in two words:

"religious conflict"

Arabs and Jews have been fighting over real estate in the middle east
since the days of golden calves.  It stands to reason that in the cradle
of civilization, people are going to find an excuse to fight, no matter
what.

The Jewish state had been subjugated since Roman times (or earlier -
Alexander the Great conquered them around 330 BC)  Emperor Hadrian
destroyed Jerusalem and scattered the Jewish people, banishing them or
selling them into slavery, sometime around 130 AD I think.  Sounds like
a replay of the Babylonian invasion (remember Sunday School?) only this
one lasted a lot longer.

Arab Muslims conquered a goodly percentage of the Byzantine Empire (what
remained of the Eastern Roman Empire, including Palestine and
Jerusalem.  The area was under Arab rule through the end of the first
world war, with the collapse of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire.  Note that
on several occasions western Christians fought to reclaim Jerusalem
throughout the Middle Ages. 

At the end of WWI Britain ruled in Palestine, and publicly committed to
establishing a national home for the Jewish people.  Throughout the 20s
and 30s Jews emigrated to Palestine, much to the alarm of the Arab
population who lived there.  Can you blame them?  Imagine after 2000
years you get people moving into your neighbourhood and laying claim to
it again.

The conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine continued to fester
through the end of the war.  In 1947 Britain tried to pass the mess off
to the newly-formed United Nations.  A resolution to split Palestine
into two separate states passed, but was not implemented.

In 1948 Britain withdrew from the area, and the state of Israel was
declared by Jews in Palestine.  Jewish forces repulsed armies from
neighbouring Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.  At the end of the
conflict, the state of Israel occupied most of the previous Palestine. 
Egypt maintained the Gaza strip, and Jordan ended up with the West Bank.

During the 6 days war in 1967 Israel captured the Gaza from Egypt and
expelled Jordan from the West Bank, and captured Syrian territory on its
northern border.

In 1973, Egypt and Syria attempted to reclaim lost territory in the "Yom
Kippur" war.  The most direct offshoot of this war was the Saudi-led oil
embargo against western nations supporting Israel.

Since the '60s the Arab world has been fighting to restore the
Palestinian state through peaceful and non peaceful means within
Israel.  The PLO (or Palestinian Liberation Organization) was formed by
Arab nations in the Middle East.  Yasser Arafat, who had been
successfully leading terrorist attacks against Israel for a number of
years, became the chairman of the PLO in 1969.  

Since then it's been a battle of give and take - peace and war as the
Arabs struggle with the bulk of the western world.

What are the issues?  Oil supply obviously is one - western nations
strive for stability in the middle-east to secure a vast supply of cheap
oil.

Guilt no doubt plays a large role in the creation and support of the
Jewish or Zionist state.  Although the Holocaust of WWII is the largest
single example, Jews have been victim of persecution throughout the
world since their expulsion from Judea 2 thousand years ago.  Zionists
in positions of power in western nations (either financial or political)
no pushed for support of Israel in the years following WWII.

Since the 70's western governments have been pushing for co-existence of
Israel and Palestine.  In 78 Jimmy Carter hosted Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat and Israeli PM Menachem Begin - the Camp David Peace accord
being the result.  Egypt recognized the existence of Israel, and the two
nations signed a bilateral peace agreement.  However, this incurred the
wrath of the other Arab nations in the middle-east, and Sadat was
assassinated in '81 by Islamic extremists.

> I'm getting tired of not understanding and not knowing whos side I'm on.

In a conflict as old as this, it is not easy to choose sides - both
sides are right, and both sides are wrong.  Israel and Palestine both
claim Jerusalem is a Holy City - both are right.

> For instance, why was Iraq lobbing missles at them during the gulf war?

In the first Gulf War, Yaser Arafat made the unfortunate decision to
support Sadam and Iraq - depriving him of financial support from other
Arab nations in the region who did not share this viewpoint.  In
general, however, an enemy of Islam is an enemy of Islam, and Israel is
a prime target.  They couldn't lob missiles at Washington, so Tel Aviv
was a close second.

> Why does the US care who wins?  

See comments above.  Note that in general the United Nations and the
West are in support of the co-existence of an Arab Palestinian state and
a Zionist Israeli state.  Most Arab nations are against the idea, and
many Zionists and Palestinians are as well, for obvious reasons.

Drew (and a dusty old world history textbook for names and dates!)
-- 
 
84 Wolfsburg Ed. Scirocco GTD     http://scirocco.cs.uoguelph.ca/gtd
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