Eyeless in Gaza

[frankthring]

I see that Baroness Warsi, one of David Cameron`s bright young things and
the only Muslim in the Cabinet, has resigned over the Govt`s policy towards
Gaza and its continued support for the Israeli side. I also see that movie
stars Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz have gone public saying Israel needs
to be prosecuted for war crimes, bombing schools and other atrocities....
So what do you think ?

[Porn Baron]

Don't know how Cameron can look himself in the mirror. I expect he's on holiday again in Cornwall? Pretending to like pasties.

How can he ignore the genocidal incitements coming out of the mouths of Israeli politicians and say nothing? This blogger even believes genocide is permissible. Disgusting piece of shit!

[planeterotica]

Cameron is on holiday in Portugal he has left boy George to make a statement about her resignation, we must not upset Israel after all we helped to set it up as a state..

[Arginald Valleywater]

Upset the Jewish lobby at your peril. They have enormous financial influence and can make or break politicians for fun.

[frankthring]

Arginald, Porn Baron and Planeterotica - you might be amused by an anecdote
I came across a while back; in 1946 representatives of the Zionist Movement
came to Parliament to discuss the setting up of the state of Israel. Britain, of
course, was having a hard time administering Palestine. It was costing money
and British lives. The Foreign Secretary was the acerbic Herbert Morrison, a
true no-nonsense type. He kept the jewish delegation waiting for ages in a
freezing Whitehall ante-room with one bar only on the gas fire (this was
postwar austerity Britain after all). Finally Herbert turned up. He listened for
a few minutes to the Zionists and then replied to the effect that "Well, I
suppose we will have to help you. But I want you Jews to know that I don`t
like the idea of this Israel state because you lot always cause so much
bloody trouble !" I have since learned that Morrison favoured a Federal
system of government in Palestine with jews and moslems sharing equally.
The Americans vetoed the idea.

[Sam Slater]

From Wikipedia:

[quote]History of the two-state solution

The first proposal for the creation of Jewish and Arab states in the British Mandate of Palestine was made in the Peel Commission report of 1937, with the Mandate continuing to cover only a small area containing Jerusalem. The recommended partition proposal was rejected by the Arab community of Palestine,[6][7] was accepted by most of the Jewish leadership, and later rejected by the British government as impracticable.[8]
Partition was again proposed by the 1947 UN Partition plan for the division of Palestine. It proposed a three-way division, again with Jerusalem held separately, under international control. The partition plan was accepted by the Jewish leadership. However, the plan was rejected by the leadership of Arab nations and the Palestinian leadership at the time, which opposed any partition of Palestine and any Jewish presence in the area. The 1948 Arab-Israeli War for control of the disputed land broke out soon afterwards which led to the 1949 Armistice Agreements. The war resulted in the fleeing or expulsion of 711,000 Palestinians, which the Palestinians call Nakba, from the territories which became the state of Israel.[/quote]

The Americans and Jews accepted the two-state solution twice in 10 years. The Arabs rejected the idea twice.

[derrick76]

Was that because the land that they wanted to give the Palestinians was 'shyte' land? Just asking.

[Sam Slater]

Interesting how you respond to my correction of Frank's anecdote that doesn't tally with what really happened.

I cannot find much about why the Palestinians refused the two-state solution twice in 10 years, preferring war, apart from them saying no solution which involved a Jewish state was acceptable for them.

[myson]

Someone posted the following link to a talk given by an Israeli somewhere in the USA (I believe?).


I only managed to watch half of it as it's just over an hour long and it was getting late.

Contrary to what you would possibly expect, this speaker was saying that it's actually the Israeli State that are the terrorists in this conflict and have been since since the modern state of Israel was founded in 1948. He gave his reasons for his opinions going back to the Zionist Movement pre 1948 right up to to the time he gave this talk.

Whether all of the "statements and facts" he gave are correct and acurate, I do not know so I will leave you to make up your own mind.

Myson
!oldie!

[David Johnson]

My understanding on this matter, though not particularly comprehensive, is that the Arabs in Palestine which had formerly been part of the Ottoman Empire understandably wanted their own country.

During the 30s and 40s Palestine which was part of a British mandate after the 1st World War saw a large influx of millions of Jews up to 1948 when the British mandate was finished.

The Israelis who regarded themselves as the "Chosen Ones" declared an independent Israeli state. Given many of the Arabs had lived there for generations the creation of a state for the Chosen Ones did not best please them.

After the resulting war in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Arabs were forced out of their homes and fled to neighbouring countries.

That is why the creation of Israel and the validity of the Israeli state has not gone down particularly well with the Palestinian Arabs. And who could blame them?