Dear David,

«That's exactly what they DID between 1950 and 1967»

What else could they do at the time?
The strong Jordanian army, loyal to its King, kept an iron fist over the West Bank. Syria was weak, so they bided their time until the defeated Jordanian army was weaker and Syria stronger, in 1970.

In any case, the so-called "Palestinians" always aspired to be part of Greater Syria just as they were during the Ottoman rule. This whole crying as if they desire independence was just a show, an anti-Israel propaganda: should they had their way and Israel was destroyed, the following day Israel would be under the rule of the Assad dynasty.

«Let the populations of the reunified entity decide in free elections who should rule them - the Hashemites or the PLO or maybe even you»

If "Palestinians" could have their way, then it would be neither, but rather ASSAD, which would mean Iranian forces along the whole Israeli eastern borders, all the way south to Eilat. Possibly the Russian army too should the fragile Israel-Russia relations falter!

«The Temple was destroyed in 586 BC by Nebuchadnezzar»

Sure, but Judea stopped being independent long before, when it became a vassal state, mainly of the Assyrians, but also of Egypt and others. The prophet Jeremiah warned against rebelling against Assyria, but was not listened to.

More importantly, that Jerusalem temple was for most time a pagan temple. Its designation was changed only during the religious reform of 622BC by King Josiah.

«The beginning of the Second Temple period (586 BC-AD 70) is marked by the return of Jews to Jerusalem»

Under Persian administration, later Greek, then Roman.

«Educate yourself.»

Yes, following your advice I started listening to this talk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWyHy0nxqMc
according to which, the northern kingdom of Israel preceded the southern kingdom of Israel, which was only established in the 9th century BC. Accordingly, around 1000BC the population of Judea was no more than a few 1,000s and could not possibly control northern Israel.

Dear David F.,

«I see no point in repeating our past arguments.»

I respect your choice to not engage any further,
however, as far as I remember, the issues I raised were never discussed before.

1) The difference between 'identity' and 'identification' in general, thus the falsehood of "Palestinian identity" in particular.

2) Whether in your view, people's general preferences to live on their own, not mixing with others they don't want to, ought to be respected (not only for religious reasons, which we may have previously discussed).

3) As an American (I believe you are), how is the desire to maintain the occupation and annexation of Hawaii related to similar expectations of Israel?

Dear Yuyutsu,

I hope you will find someone who wants to interact with you.