.PaulL-A little history.
1941-Yitzhak Shamir proposed via a letter to Hitler that the Jewish Stern Gang should co-operate with the Nazis to fight the British to protect Nazi interests in the Middle East Palestine.Interesting idea.

April 1948-"Palestinian society disintegrated under the impact of the Jewish military offensive....Plan D both permitted and justified the forcible expulsion of Arab civilians" -the Israeli historian, Avi Shlaim. 369 Palestinian towns and villages destroyed before Israel's declaration of independence-same Israeli author. Offical Israeli records, quoted by Israeli historian Benny Morris, indicate massacres of Arab civilians by Israeli forces in a named number of towns and villages. At Ramle, Ytzak Rabin orders expulsion of entire Arab population without attention to age. Etc Etc Etc.

May 1948-Establishment of State of Israel. Seems a wee bit of ethnic cleansing went on in the run-up to the formation of the State of Israel and the SUBSEQUENT attack by the Arab States.

The right of Palestinians to return to their homes has been affirmed by the UN Resolution 194, and has been re-affirmed by the international community 135 times. Israel is in breach of 246 Security Council resolutions concerning its behaviour. Okay. You consider the UN is a waste of space run by nasty people. It was also the UN which affirmed the right of the Jews to live in a State called Israel (and UN Resolution 46 required the Jews and Arabs to refrain from any political activity which would prejudice the rights, claims or position of the other community).

Atrocity can be matched against atrocity; extremist against extremist; blame against blame. It will lead nowhere. I will end by quoting a very famous humanitarian Jew. Do unto thy neighbour as you would have your neighbour do unto you. Love thine enemy. Both are appallingly hard things to do. He got crucified for his trouble. But that is the only advice that can lead to harmony in the Israel-Palestine region, a place where people on both sides are literally prisoners of the last 70 years of their history and all the fears derived therefrom.

King Henry VIII

Hitler. Read: Record of the Conversation between the Fuhrer and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem on November 28, 1941, in the Presence of Reich Foreign Minister and Minister Grobba in Berlin, “Document on German Foreign Policy , 1918-1945”, Series D, Vol. XIII (London, 1964)

Regarding Jews, land ownership and land system in Palestine, and claims of Palestinian dispossession, read:
The Palestinian Royal Commission Report ( the Peel Report, London, 1937)
The Hope Simpson Report: John Hope Simpson, “Palestine: Report on Immigration, Land Settlement and Development (London, 1930)
Report on Agricultural Developement and Land Settlement in Palestine by Lewis French (December 1931) and supplementary report, 1932.
Land Ownership in Palestine 1880-1948 (Jerusalem: Academic Committee on the Middle East, 1976)
and not the least, King Abdallah, “My Memoirs Completed” (London, 1978) pp.88-89

Have you actually read UN Resolution 194, or had it explained to you?
Read the comments made by Lord Caradon, the British Ambassador, who drafted and approved the resolution, and again his comments on June 4, 1967, yet further explained by the British Foreign Secretary in an address to the House of Commons on October 29, 9, 1969. Again repeated and explained by the U.S. Ambassador Arthur Goldberg (Speech to AIPAC Policy Conference, May 8, 1973.

Because of the disaster of the 1948 war, in which, incidentally, Britain joined with Arab States (but sensing the wind, withdrew early), a report was conducted as to the inexplicable outcome. The Iraqi War Commission Report found that only 4% of Palestinian males of arms-bearing age participated. What do you deduce from that?

As to the right of Israel to defend its country, and the policies applied, I suggest you
read objective works on International Law; even Jus Bellum.

cont ...

Paul is correct about the CURRENT composition of the UN. The Arab States are amongst the wealthiest countries in the world, and amongst those with the greatest influence in the UN, and are also among those countries with the highest illiteracy rate and appalling human rights abuses built into their administrative system.

Many Iranian dissidents and intellectuals have been calling for the expulsion of Iran from the UN until such time as its human rights abuses are changed. These Iranian dissidents and intellectuals also defend Israel’s right to exist.

Personally, I believe that there should be no Jewish settlements beyond the Green Line; I hold this belief very strongly. Yet the Green Line is not a internationally recognised border, but an armistice line with Jordan.

A recent philosophy study indicates that people are “less-thinking”, their ideas are based upon others’ opinions. Their ideas are not based on evidence. The consequence being that people are not only being manipulated, but also are losing all ethical discretion.

I am taking Steven’s advice an not responding further.

HenryVIII,

Nice words but nonetheless mere futility. You must realise most human do not believe in "Love thine enemy". Their lack-of-love is also their human rights and must be taken into consideration also.

To me, the overriding factor is the preservation of freedom and democracy for today, tomorrow and into the future.

NO Cessation of Hostility is WORTHY if we lose our freedom and democracy in gaining peace.

In other words, if people who are enjoying freedom and democracy have to constantly fight to enjoy the privilege, then it is not a bad thing to keep fighting.

Think about it.

A little more history for you

Three Jewish battalions were grouped into the independent "Jewish Infantry Brigade Group" which fought for the British Army during WWII. There were no voluntary jewish units in the german army.

al-Husayni, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem fled Palestine in 1937 and took refuge in Nazi Germany during World War II and helped recruit Muslims for the Waffen-SS. In 1941 al-Husayni met Adolf Hitler in Berlin and asked him to oppose, as part of the Arab struggle for independence, the establishment of a Jewish state .

Avi Shlaim is part of a group called the “new historians”, many of whom are members of the communist party like Ilan Pappe. Their views are widely discredited and are considered historical revisionism akin to holocaust denial.

Benny Morris desribed 2000's intifada as a "political-terroristic assault on Israel's existence (and also as an offshoot of fundamentalist Islam's ongoing assault on the West, in which Israel, unfortunately, figures as a front-line outpost)". He is very critical of Avi Shlaim who, according to him, "moved steadily to the left--or is it, really, to the right? After all, he shares his anti-Israeli analysis with European neo-fascists and the Islamic jihadists, who openly advocate Israel's destruction in the name of medieval religious values." When a Haaretz interviewer called the 1948 Palestinian exodus "ethnic cleansing," Morris responded that "there are circumstances in history that justify ethnic cleansing. I know that this term is completely negative in the discourse of the 21st century, but when the choice is between ethnic cleansing and genocide—the annihilation of your people—I prefer ethnic cleansing."

When the Palestinians finally tire of the death loving, radical Islamists and realize that Israel is not going to give in to violence, there might be room for negotiation. But how can Israel realistically negotiate with a group whose stated aim is the expulsion of all Jews from Israel. These are the same people who teach their children that on the day of judgement, rocks and trees will call to the faithful to come and kill the jews hiding behind them.