"The only problem is guys you have not read or understood the end of the book!"

I understood it.

'They were no longer little girls, they were little women.'

They'd grown up, yeah?

Does Australia have a right to exist? why?
Since when does anyone needs permission to exist?

Until 1948, the Jews in now-Israel called themselves "Palestinians": did anyone object, claiming that they falsely misused their proprietary name? NO - because there was no such identifiable nation at the time. "Palestinian" simply meant someone who lived in that area under British mandate.

The idea of a "Palestinian" nation as separate from other Arabs was invented around 1970 as a propaganda tactic and even then it took a while to catch and teach the Arabs of the occupied territories (and later some of the Israeli Arabs) that they were "Palestinian".

Should Israel one day be wiped off the map, as many Arabs hope, those "Palestinians", their mission accomplished, will also cease to exist and merge into the greater Arab ocean.

In a recent survey, an overwhelming majority of Arab Israelis, while identified with their Arab brothers, stated that they are AFRAID of having their towns and villages become, under territorial exchange, part of Palestine. They unequivocally prefer to continue living in Israel and not under Palestinian rule.

NEVERTHELESS, these are people, and if they now, for whatever reason - however silly or devious, truly want to define themselves as a nation and have their own independent country, they need no excuse. They now exist.

The state of Israel, its government and the majority of its people do not want Palestine and its people to be annihilated and cease to exist - the same cannot be said about the Palestinians towards Israel.

Fellow_Human, I liked your remark:
"Its difficult to ask Palestinians to recognise Israel's existence if Israelis can't agree this existence is withing which borders."

Indeed mission-impossible to get all Israelis to agree on borders - it will NEVER happen (same for Palestinians, oh well), but what stops Palestinians from accepting Israel in its 1949-1967 borders that were already agreed upon with all the Arab nations of the time?

I'm SO sick of hearing about the "plight of the Palestinians". It's time we focussed on the butchery, rape and dispossession that Arabs are perpetrating on Africans in Darfur and Southern Sudan. My, my, haven't the "victimised" Arabs turned into cruel, persecuting monsters themselves? Truth hurts, doesn't it?

RIGHT TO EXIST depends one one or both of 2 things.

1/ POWER.
2/ DIVINE MANDATE.

Actually.. the heading should not so much be about 'right' to exist, because that can only ever apply to ONE thing..and that is divine mandate.
Please prove me wrong here anyone.. I totally welcome it. I'm not neccessarily speaking about the Israel/Palestine situation, but this concept certainly applies to it probably more than any other.

AUSTALIA exists for one and only one reason- POWER.

-We came.
-We saw.
-We liked.
-We took. (though in some cases, we actually traded/bought parts)

So, clearly Australia is founded on the concept of brute force and superior technology but certainly not any particular high moral ground.
Some may wish to speak of manifest destiny etc.. but this is simply an observation, not a justification.

ISRAEL is different. It was established specifically by divine mandate in the beginning. This may be disputed by secular Jews and atheists and most honest Arabs agree 'at first' it was given to the Jews.

DIVINE_MANDATE_CURRENT_NOW?

A difficult theological question. If we believe the promises made to Abraham
Gen 13:14-17 "To you and your descendants I will give this land forever"
...its 4ever.

Israel was also promised that if they sinned, and strayed, God would EXILE them and take away the promised land. This occurred on 2 occasions.
1) The exile and dispersion of the Northern Kingdom "Israel" (10 tribes)from which there was no return.

2) The exile of Judah to Babylon, and their subsequent restoration under Cyrus the Great. (See Nehemiah and Ezra for details)

Daniel also prophesies about this exile but ADDs a most important prediction.. about the coming of the Messiah. for the Historically and prophetically inclined, I recommend a study of Daniel 9:24-26

Daniels says that 483 years from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem,

-Finish transgression.
-Put an end to Sin.
-Atone for Wickedness,
-Seal up vision and Prophecy
-Anoint the most holy.

It so happens that from the decree of Artaxerxes in 444 BC to the entry of Christ Jesus into Jerusalem in AD 33 444+33=477
Using the Jewish calender rather than ours, the result becomes 483 yrs.
This was the coming of Christ.

FOR CHRISTIANS.. we believe the Church is the new spiritual 'Israel'.
Thus, the need for the land, is in fact negated because Israel has fulfilled its purpose in the coming of the Messiah. Many Christian traditions believe God has a role for the Jewish nation today, which involves the land and the return of Christ.

FOR JEWS. as long as they reject Christ Jesus as the Messiah, they have the basis to believe the Abrahamic promises still apply i.e. "divine mandate".
Aside from this, there is only one remaining means of maintaining (but not justifying) their existence. power.
While they do have a very strong historical argument for continuous posession, others will pick different points in history as their reference. Hence the current dispute and violence.

BOAZ, don't give us all this religious BS. The Zionists are a bunch of terrorists who spawned terrorist organisations such as Irgun before the Arabs even thought of terrorism.

Recent archeology has disproved most of the biblical stories used as justification for the return of the Jews to Palestine.