Israel has provoked many civilizations over these thousands of years long before YOU discovered it.

We are witnessing another generation of peoples who’s aim it is to wipe the memory of Israel and it’s people from the face of the earth. Many tried before, some thought they succeeded but lo and behold, there is Israel still there, it’s very existence a challenge to the world. Despite the efforts to change the name of the land, eject the people of the land, hunt them down in the lands they fled to, Israel is still there, always. No man and no man’s god will destroy them.

It’s true that both Arabs and Jews have a right to a homeland. But while Jews accepted the 1947 Partition Plan -which would’ve created a homeland for each- the Arabs rejected it, as they considered all of Palestine Arab land. (On the other hand, they had no problem supporting the British partition of India to create Muslim Pakistan…) What made the coastal plains of Palestine so particularly “Arab”? They may have been land OWNERS, but they did not have land SOVEREINGTY. There were already 600,000 Jews living there by 1947, many land owners as well. And it was clear long before WWII that the Jews and Arabs would be ungovernable under a single state. Whether the Israelis would have kept to the UN plan and it’s poorly defensible borders is debatable. It’s a moot point, however, given the state of civil war Palestine was in after the partition plan was announced in 1947. Taking advantage of the war, and in the name of “security,” the Jews expelled thousands of Arabs and destroyed their villages. But then again, this is a people who were being threatened by Arabs that they would be obliterated, and “pushed into the sea,” a people who had heard similar threats come true before, by the Nazis, the Russians, and countless others who over the centuries have slaughtered Jews.

Though tragic, the Palestinian refugee crisis was hardly unique. The period between 1946-1952 saw many such injustices, involving millions of refugees. The difference is that other refugees were absorbed, while the Palestinians were left to fester in camps. For example, the losing Germans saw Poland and the Soviets annex one quarter of their country. 12 million ethnic Germans – Polish, Czech, Hungarian citizens- living in centuries-old eastern European communities were expelled by the Allies and shipped to Germany. 3 million died en route. Other upheavals of that period included how 14 million Hindus/Muslims were forced to flee after the partition of Pakistan/India (500,00 died in the process), the 800,000 Jews forced to flee centuries-old communities across the Arab world, and the thousands who fled or were killed by the Chinese after the 1950 invasion of Tibet. All these tragic acts saw land takings, expulsions, and the creation of millions of refugees, most of which were never repatriated, nor compensated for their losses. They were, however, absorbed by their kin in neighboring countries. Contrast this to the 711,000 Palestinians refugees (and their descendants), who have been left to rot in Arab refugee camps, in many cases with no citizenship (despite being born on Arab soil), limited mobility and limited access to employment and healthcare. The Nakba was provoked by the creation of Israel, but it has been perpetuated by the very Arab governments who hypocritically claim to fight for the refugees’ rights.

Israel’s objectives may at times be suspect. But the Palestinians’ objectives have always been clear: the destruction of Israel. There is no Palestinian partner for true peace negotiations. If they believe all of Palestine is theirs, what is there left to negotiate about?

In truth, if the Palestinians laid down their weapons, there would be a chance for peace. If Israel laid down its weapons, there would be no chance for Israel. Because in the end, Israel goes to war, but would rather live in peace. The Palestinians would simply rather Israel just die.

Finally, I do agree that the only definitve stop to the conflict will come when one of the two peoples has been completely annihilated. As of now, Israel has the weapons but not the will. Radicals like Hamas have the will but not the weapons. One day this equation will change. If peace is not achieved before that day when Hamas acquires the weapons for complete annihilation (with the help of Iran?), or Israel develops the will for complete annihilation, there will be so much blood spilled, we may look back at days like today with fondness.

and can’t see Israel. Wait let me get a magnifying glass.

Oh yea, there they are! Oops just a little bit more and they could be pushed right into the sea! The memory of Israel and the Jewish People just a small spit of land from being wiped from the face of the earth. Hmm…seems as if the heart of Arabia is wherever they say it is.

So on the subject of settlements: Arabs used to live in what’s now Israel. Some still do, and most Jews who live(d) in Arab countries have been driven out, winding up in Israel or perhaps the States. Yes, Jews have always lived in what’s now Israel. So have Arabs. Yes, the state of Palestine is a modern construct, and the name Palestinian is a relatively new invention. The same can be said, pretty much exactly, for the words Israel and Israeli. The country existed independently for a very short time several thousand years ago; does anyone want to revive all the nations and countries that existed for a similar length of time, within the last three millenia? Sure, Jews survived as a race; so did Arabs. Sure, Jews have a right to a homeland; so do Arabs.

The chief difficulty comes out of the fact that the Jewish community decided to relocate themselves, and their nation, into the heart of the Arab world, and no one thought to ask the Arabs. They had been conquered (more or less) by the Europeans, during the First World War. How would you feel, if someone else gave away your home and didn’t ask you for permission? Yes, some of the Jews bought homes from their owners; unfortunately, the owners were usually absentee landlords who lived in Istanbul or Ankara. The actual people living in the houses were never consulted. The Jews, fleeing the Holocaust in Europe, thought they had found the sanctuary they needed. The Arab world (at least the more sane members of it) understand that the Jews are victims; what puzzles them is that they’re asked to compensate the Jews for what Europeans did to them.

Each side sees the other as villain, and themselves as victims. No one feels that they are unjustified in their actions; people are willing to bend rules to defend themselves. So Sabra and Shatilla, Munich and various terror attacks too numerous to name individually. Each side is willing to justify what they’ve done, because look what they did to us yesterday. Sort of the Hatfields and the McCoys, but with automatic weapons and a *lot* more history.

Are the settlements an issue that needs to be addressed? Yes, of course. Do Israelis or Arabs have sole rights to the land? Well, by the light of each side, both sides have sole rights, and the other is an interloper. The one thing I do know is this: someone should make a final decision. Either expel all the Arabs from the West bank, or all the Jews, and then try to get past the anger and frustration that the Chinese water torture of the last 40+ years has caused. Frankly, if Israel had expelled all of the Arabs across the Jordan in 1967, they’d have been condemned internationally…but they’d probably have survived, and wouldn’t have half the problems they do now. If they’d left the territory alone, and not settled it at all, there would be problems, but not the ones they have now. In this instance, compromises don’t work…anyone who thinks differently hasn’t paid attention.

Paving the Rocky Road to Armageddon

Hiroshima, Mon Amour was a tame film compared to Armageddon, Mon Amour which hasn’t been filmed as yet and probably never will be.

Armageddon, a truly stupid 1998 film featuring Bruce Willis, unfortunately was filmed and featured an asteroid hurtling our way which Bruce re-directs with a nuke. One trouble is that Armageddon the movie sucked as a film, despite Willis. Another is that it had no relevance to Armageddon.

It seems someone is always fretting that the end is near, that the Messiah will make His Second Coming to confront and destroy evil incarnate, the Anti-Christ

The precise time is uncertain for that Final Battle but the location has been pinpointed: The Battle of Armageddon is set for Megiddo, a little lump of a place, a hill situated near an Israeli kibbutz, a tiny spot on the globe that just happens to have monumental biblical and modern relevance as foretold in the Book of Revelations.

Revelations didn’t schedule a date. The paving of the rocky road to the Apocalypse may be in process, however. Practically speaking, any future generations could refer to it as World War III.

Many believe the Armageddon is imminent, a belief that tends to gain more credence and adherents at epochal moments in history, such as the years 1000 A.D. and 2000 A.D., and during stressful times such as ours.

Just as the First World War was precipitated by a single event in Sarajevo, the fear today is that the actions of one or both of the planet’s chief lunatics will lead to Armageddon.

Those two crazies in our midst, the pot-bellied North Korean fruitcake, Kim Jong-il, and the ascetic-looking Iranian nutcase, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are the most unlikely characters on the world stage to be able to change history except for one distinction: Both are on the verge of nuclear and nuclear-delivery capabilities.

As always, the ever-watchful and ever-impotent United Nations is on the case, wringing its collective, angst-ridden hands and issuing resolution after resolution warning North Korea and Iran not to continue on their respective nuclear courses.

U.N. resolutions are customarily followed by studied inaction during which the delegates settle back and retreat into their comfortable cocoons.

Resolutions are the U.N.’s method of making itself appear useful and its modus operandi for absolving itself of responsibility in the face of potential world dangers should they erupt into full-scale, catastrophic disasters.

Well, we tried, the United Nations can always say even when those attempts have the practical utility of teats on bulls or wings stapled on pigs.

The blustering, self-indulgent despot, Kim Jong-il, represents no Earth-altering geo-political threat, which is not to minimize his insanity and inanity.

He could unilaterally bring about massive devastation in a relatively concentrated area of the planet and the probable retaliation would effectively return his nation to the Bronze Age. That status wouldn’t change much in the daily lives of most North Korean survivors.

On the other hand, Ahmadinejad has the capacity to wreak unspeakable horrors, including beginning that battle in Megiddo, something the maniacal tyrant devoutly wishes.

For a transcript of a lengthy panel discussion featuring various Islamic scholars . . .

(Read the rest at http://genelalor.com)

It’s also ironic how liberals, who alledge the past Administration’s Middle East peace plan failed because it favored one side over the other, don’t realize that the current Administration’s policies will fail for exactly the same reason.

In any case, pressuring Israel on the settlement issue won’t bring peace. To the Palestinians, the “occupied territories” aren’t Gaza/West Bank, but ALL of Palestine. The ultimate goal is not “A” Palestinian state, but THE state of Palestine. This is why the Hamas charter specifically states that all negotiations are a waste of time. When the goal is removing all Jews from Palestine, what is there to negotiate?

Thats a flat out lie, actually. At last count, there were 33 000 christians in the West Bank, and 3000 in Gaza. In Gaza, they have suffered persecution, but in the west bank they have the backing of Abbas.

Power politics will decide this issue. Obama is attempting to screw Israel without losing domestic Jewish support in the next election. Israel needs to hunker down and dig in its heels. Sad to say, it won’t be long before this preening Arabist President will be engulfed by policy failures, domestic and foreign.