Aren't Israel, Jordan, Syria and Iraq all constructs post the British, French and Turkish Empires when you get right down to it? Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, too?
Which isn't to deny the history there. Of course there is history there, lots of. But the lines on today's map are from British and French cartographers' dreams, and none of them seem to be holding against the tides of contemporary desires.
The only rightfully solid one, Iran, seems to be in everyone's sight.
Populations growing. Oil and guns. Not enough water. No one is happy.
Bit of a mess, really.
And now Prince Bandar bin Sultan (AKA Bandar Bush) is making busy all over the area. Could that be because he knows that the House of Saud is on a slippery slope.
I do wonder where China will put its money.

The Treaty of Sevres was irrelevant. It was signed by Turkey, Italy, France and Great Britain. The people who lived in the area covered by the treaty were not consulted. The people living in the area were also not consulted when the Balfour Declaration was issued. The colonial powers divided up the world as they saw fit at the close of WW1.

Governments that are not made with the just consent of the governed simply have no legitimacy if one has regard for democracy.

As far as a Jewish and democratic state goes that is an oxymoron.

Governments that discriminate among their citizenry on the basis of ethnicity or religion also have no legitimacy if one has regard for democracy.

"The PLO has undeniably botched its chances," opines the Singer loftily.

But the current PLO, which is a nest of vipers and scorpions and collaborators, is a corrupt creation of the U.S. and Israel, Singer.

You can't seem to grasp this fact just as you don't grasp the fact that occupying a people and stealing their land and building settlements upon it is a war-crime!

The truth of the matter is that it is Israel that has botched its chances of establishing a homeland in the Middle East. Its constant violence and brutality and genocide has rendered it persona non gratia for a 1,000 years plus.

When will YOU get it, Singer?

#halduell

All the countries you mention - Israel, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon - are on today's map because of the decisions taken by the Principal Allied Powers after World War 1 at the San Remo Conference as ratified by the Treaty of Sevres in 1920 and unanimously endorsed by the League of Nations in 1922.

Yet Israel is the only one whose legitimacy and existence is still being challenged in 2013.

Jew-hatred would have nothing to do with those taking this position would it?

#davidf

The Treaty of Sevres is not irrelevant.

I repeat what I posted to #halduell - It is the legal source for creating the states of Jordan,Iraq, Lebanon,Syria,Saudi Arabia and Israel.

These areas had been part of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years until their loss by Turkey in World War 1.

These conquered areas were allocated as to 99.99% for the Arabs for self determination and 0.01% to the Jews for self determination.

Even that arrangement was changed in 1922 when 78% of the 0.01% promised for the Jewish National Home was denied to the Jewish people.

The civil and religious rights of the non-Jewish communities living in Palestine were to be protected under the Mandate for Palestine. No political rights were to be created in their favour. Jews were to be encouraged to return to their ancient and biblical homeland to settle on State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes.

Whilst you might find these arrangements unpalatable or undemocratic - they were accepted by the unanimous vote of every member state of the League of Nations.

This body of established international law cannot be subject to the whims of those dissatisfied with it - like the PLO and Hamas.

Replacing international law with the law of the jungle is a recipe for world disorder.

The law is not always right or just in many peoples' eyes but it is the best system we have for trying to regulate human conduct.

Ignore it at your peril.

The Palestinian Arabs have for the last 90 years - with disastrous results.

Sniff. Sob. Minutes of Handwringing, tear-wiping, etc.

Singer didn't reply to me. Oh, I am undone, thricely, cruelly.

In Singer's reply to others he said : "The law is not always right or just in many peoples' eyes but it is the best system we have for trying to regulate human conduct. Ignore it at your peril."

But the Israelis are the recognized 'world champions' at ignoring International Laws, U.N. Resolutions, etc, (the U.S. comes a close second).

How come Singer is advocating two entirely contradictory viewpoints, one for Jews and one for the rest of us?

He appears to be rather confused!

David Singer wrote:

"The Treaty of Sevres is not irrelevant.

I repeat what I posted to #halduell - It is the legal source for creating the states of Jordan,Iraq, Lebanon,Syria,Saudi Arabia and Israel.

These areas had been part of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years until their loss by Turkey in World War 1.

These conquered areas were allocated as to 99.99% for the Arabs for self determination and 0.01% to the Jews for self determination."

You can repeat what you said ad nauseam and accuse those who challenge what you say as Jew haters ad nauseam. You do precisely that. Democracy and self determination remain incompatible. A democratic state does not discriminate among its citizens on the basis of religion or ethnicity. Self determination is the formation of a country on a basis of religion or ethnicity. All states formed on the basis of self determination are not democratic.