Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Slinger
^ I don't think most Palestinians take issue with the existence of a state of Israel (but I could be wrong). But what is clear is the governments of Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq and others (from time to time) have worked to destroy Israel from the day it was founded in 1948 to today. These states have sponsored, protected and even trained terrorist organizations whose main purpose is to destroy Israel. These nations have wanted to destroy Israel because the existence of a liberal democracy where Arabs can live and learn the ideals of freedom is a threat to the long term existence of their dictatorships. These states, through the use of their sponsored terror organizations, constantly and consistently work to destabilize Israel, make Israel the enemy in the eyes of their people (and thereby avoiding the spotlight themselves) and, of course, creating a humanitarian crisis by way of the Palestinian people so that Israel is condemned internationally. All of these steps are meant to make Israel weaker and the Arab dictatorships stronger.
The Palestinians are pawns in this game. Israel, while not exactly a pawn, is usually left with few choices but to react with violence. That said, Israel has made some serious errors which has unnecessarily escalated violence, primarily by way of the settlements into recognized Palestinian land. It's hard to imagine a real peace until more than two or three countries in the region actually want peace. It will take a real and long lasting 'Arab Spring' to make that a reality I think.
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It's a little more complex than that IMO.
You have to keep in mind that Egypt also enforces the blockade on the Gaza Strip. Jordan (who has full relations with Israel) equally is opposed to any kind of fundamentalist militias.
Historically, it was nationalist groups who were the most violent. Now it seems to have reversed, where the nationalist groups (Ex. the PLO) are relatively peaceful and the fundamentalist groups are out of control. The Sunni fundamentalist groups (ex. Hamas) get their funding primarily from Saudi Arabia. The #####e fundamentalist groups (ex. Hezbollah) get their funding primarily from Iran.
It makes sense for Iran and Saudi Arabia to do this as both are the respective religious authorities of their religions. So, for example, if you have a government based on Sunni principles, they will ultimately have to refer to the authorities in Saudi Arabia. So the governments in Iran and Saudi Arabia have been actively funding violent movements in what, for a very long time, were relatively peaceful religions.
Israel also makes the perfect scape goat for these systems. Israel is in control of the Dome of the Rock, Israel is occupying the Palestinians, and Israel has defeated several Arab armies. The thing about a fundamentalist population is that you always need to directing them against someone.
I also don't think it's so easy to write off Hamas' goal of total destruction of Israel as not being held by Palestinians. Hamas was, after all, won a majority of the seats in the Palestinian legislature by democratic election. Hamas has never been shy about its goal and how it plans to achieve that goal. There is a large segment of the Palestinian population who supports Hamas, both for their political and religious goals.