Quote:
Originally Posted by Chill Cosby
Which suggests that rocket firing is how this whole conflict started. And whether you side with the Israeli version of the last few decades or the Palestinian, neither would claim that rocket attacks started the conflict.
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your point, so correct me if so, but Palestinians didn't just randomly claim occupation and start firing rockets. Nor did Israel just sweep in and take land without reason.
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The thing is, at this point, does it matter how it all started? Each side will pick a point in time and say, 'you started it!', while the other will point to another instance in history.
The arguments back and forth in these pages exemplify the true difficulty in resolving this crisis. Instead of arguing who is worse or who started it, why don't we discuss the FUTURE and see if we could potentially come up with reasonable solutions. A game of sorts.
In my opinion, these are the only ways peace will be achieved:
1) Hamas puts down its weapons and adopts a strategy of peace. Full disclosure of arsenal and changes its charter to recognizing Israel's right to exist.
2) Alternatively, the PA in the West Bank disassociates itself entirely from the Gaza Strip.
3) If Hamas does as 1) states, Israel (on good faith), stops the blockade on Gaza in the hope that the Palestinians do all they can to rebuild the Strip. Foreign investment can possibly ensue (even Israeli).
4) The settlement issue in the West Bank would need to be resolved. In my opinion, Israel should pull out of all newly constructed settlements.
In a rush so don't have time to think of other major issues (Jerusalem's borders, etc). A two-state solution is possible, but it will require both sides to make concessions and even more faith in one another. This includes the ability of each side to police their own extremists who don't want to commit to peace (which in my opinion is one of the central keys for a peace plan eventually being sorted out).