Quote:
Originally Posted by Bleeding Red
A common misconception.
Many areas/lands have been referred to by different names throughout history. Names have changed depending on who was in charge at the time or who was writing the historical record (usually the wars' winners). The Middle East is no different - anyone been to Assyria or Mesopotamia recently?
What we know as the State of Israel has been:
- Cannaan (The Bible)
- The Kingdom of the Hebrews (Babylonian steles & tax records)
- Israel (the Apocrypha)
- Palestine (a name bestowed by the Roman Empire)
- The Ottoman Empire
- British Mandate Palestine (after the British & French split the Ottoman Empire)
- Trans-Jordan (before the British gave the bulk to the Hashimamites)
- The State of Israel
Jews did not just point to a map and arbitrarily pick a spot and say "we'll go there." Israel & Jerusalem has been a focal point of Judaism for 3000 centuries. Israel is the Jewish Homeland.
Now the question is can we all share it?
or as WCW Nitro puts it I like to look at past actions as a barometer for future actions.
After the '67 war Israel built settlements in the Sinai Peninsula. Part of the peace deal with Egypt was the removal of those settlements. Israel removed the settlements.
Israel abandoned the Gaza settlements.
Both times the Israeli PM was considered a hawk.
This is why the settlement issue is a red hearing.
Israel has proven that they are willing to remove settlements and relocate citizens for peace.
In the meantime the Palestinians have not fulfilled one term of the Oslo agreements:
- they have not clamped down on terrorists or attacks on Israel
- they have not stopped inciting Jew-hatred in their broadcasts or schools
- They have not recognized the State of Israel (recognizing Israel as the Jewish State would be a later demand from Natanyahu to go to the negotiating table)
And now they want to be bribed to come to the table.
Kerry did not have to convince Israel to come to the table. He had to convince Israel to give in to Palestinian demands in order to get the Palestinians to the table.
Ask me again which side is interested in negotiations and peace.
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Sure, I understand that Jews have a connection to Jerusalem and what they now call Israel. That is, after all, where their religion started from. But, and this is very important, countries don't belong to religions. Judaism, for the most part, is just a religion that can be converted into and out of.
It's also disingenuous to clump all "Palestinians" together in one group when you're making claims such as "they have not clamped down on terrorists or attacks on Israel". Fatah, has done an excellent job in keeping their end of the bargain in the West Bank. Hamas, a rogue element in Palestinian society, has not. Israel is negotiating with Fatah, not Hamas. It's not fair to point to the problems with Hamas and say "well you guys don't want peace."