Foxy,

"Violence is part of the resistance to occupation."

And thus the anti-Israel crowd justify the violence. And in the case of Foxy, not only justify the violence by the Arabs against the Jew but then complain when the Jew reciprocates.

The claim there is an occupation is a-historic rubbish. The Arabs aren't disputing that the territory of Palestinian Mandate remains valid. They just complain about who is running it.

So having fought a civil war and two international wars to try to gain control of the territory of the Mandate, they now hope that they can achieve their victory by other means - primarily via anti-Israel activists in the west.

But its all unravelling for the Arabs in Palestine. They are being abandoned by their fellow Arabs who recognise that the Palestinian cause is both historically invalid and currently unachievable. These states now recognise that constant, unwinnable enmity toward Israel achieves nothing. They also know that their main foe is Iran and their main ally in that fight is Israel.

If the Fatah/Hamas leadership had the welfare of their people as their main concern, they'd take this on board and seek peace. But the leadership does best when there is conflict. (Arafat died a very wealthy man and Abbas is reported also accumulating wealth at the expense of his followers).

The violence will stop when the Fatah/Hamas leadership recognises they can't achieve their aims through violence or when those in Gaza and the West Bank get new leadership

SM,

Paul writes :" the Zionest [more Zion than most?] army take them out and shoot them".

Paul has this a-historic way of viewing the world where he imagines that his fantasies are reality and, while refusing to provide support for his claims, demands that they are true until proven false.

If I were to claim that the moon of the second planet in the Proxima Centauri is made of strawberry yoghurt, its doesn't remain true just because no one can disprove the assertion. But that is, essentially, Paul's shtick.

mhaze,

I would love to agree with your take on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict but then we
would both be wrong.

Professor Ilan Pappe, middle-East journalist,
author, and expert - Antony Leowenstein and
many others have written about the conflict
and what needs to be done.

I appreciate your opinion. However I prefer to
take notice of people who actually know what they
are talking about - not arm-chair critics like
yourself. No offence.

"However I prefer to
take notice of people who actually know what they
are talking about"

Actually you prefer to take notice of people who tell you what you want to her. That's why you so often end up on the wrong side of the issue. Its how you fell for RussiaGate. Its how you fell for the Kavanaugh fantasies.

Personally, I prefer to gather the data and form my own views rather than meekly adhere to what self-proclaimed 'experts' assert. But to each their own

mhaze,

Once again you are wrong. I've been taught to look
at not only both sides of the coin but around the
edges as well. And whether you like it or not -
the historic facts are there for all to see and
their relevance applies to resolving the conflict.
I don't unfortunately see it happening any time soon.

Dear Josephus,

«When Abraham left Mesopotamia, he was looking for a place to practise his faith.»

Yes, that's what he did... if he existed.

«When Moses led the Israelis out of Egypt, they were looking for a place to practise their faith.»

Modern research indicates that only the tribe of Levi was exiled in Egypt and took part in the exodus while the other Israeli/Hebrew tribes remained at home, in Israel, where [Abraham possibly rolling in his grave] they worshiped the idols of Ba'al and Ashera. While the Levites conquered them by force, the Israelis continued to worship idols, including in the Jerusalem temple, until the time of Josiah's reforms, http://www.britannica.com/event/Deuteronomic-Reform

They may have indeed been looking for a place to practice their faith, but what faith was it?

«When Nehimiah was sent from Persia to build the walls of Jerusalem, he was enclosing a place to practise the faith as written in the torah.»

Nehemiah established a reign of terror akin to the Islamic State over the Israeli community that remained in Israel and never went to exile, demanding all men to disown their non-Jewish wives and children. Some of those who loved their families managed to escape and ran south with their families to join the Samaritan community (which is why the Samaritans were so despised by the Pharisees).

Practicing one's faith is virtuous.
Forcing it on others is a different matter altogether.

«The question is to be asked: Does Israel have the right to have a place to be free to practise their religion?»

Yes of course, everyone does.

But do they practice?

A new Jewish immigrant arrived in Israel on a ship with five new fridges.
New immigrants are entitled to bring in all their household possessions duty-free.
So he was asked by the customs officer:
Q. What are these for?
A. Well, being religious, one is for meat and one is for milk.
Q. And the others?
A. I need another meat/milk set for Passover.
Q. What about the fifth then?
A. Well, what if I sometimes like to eat pork?