Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Slinger
^ I don't disagree regarding the illegal occuption, namely the Israeli Settlements, however, by that logic most of the world should be justified in launching missles at civilians regularly including parts of Canada (Quebec and Natives especially).
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The settlements are a major problem and a lot of people in Israel also agree. The occupation of the WB, Gaza and the Golan Heights were justified for defense IMO. I'm not saying that I agree with everything that has occurred during the occupations (some terrible incidents), but it's complicated.
Hamas is really the worst thing that has happened to Palestinians though. Along with some of the neighbouring countries, they use the Palestinians as pawns.
Israel proper (not including occupied territories) has a large Arab population (just over 20% of the population), and you rarely see the kind of angst from them as you do from Arabs outside of Israel. They have one of the highest standards of living for Arabs in the area. They are also well educated, politically active and some even serve in the IDF. Most also stopped identifying as Palestinian and opt for "Israeli-Arab". I think Israel has shown that they can live with Arabs, but Hamas has no interest in co-existing. Whether you agree with how the modern state of Israel was formed, the fact of the matter is that they do exist now and they can't just roll over.