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Bill Maher explains the fundemamental problem in the mideast (Original Post) jg10003 Dec 2023 OP
Would this same argument have applied to Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland? How about the French Resistance Gaugamela Dec 2023 #1
Israel is not a foreign country invading its' neighbor. jg10003 Dec 2023 #4
Before WWII there was only a very small minority of Jews in Palestine. Gaugamela Dec 2023 #5
I disagree with Israels west bank policy, but jg10003 Dec 2023 #6
Bill Maher is dead to me LymphocyteLover Dec 2023 #2
Maher is an idiot. Eko Dec 2023 #3

Gaugamela

(2,658 posts)
1. Would this same argument have applied to Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland? How about the French Resistance
Fri Dec 15, 2023, 04:56 PM
Dec 2023

in Vichy France? Or the African National Congress in South Africa during apartheid? Maher sounds like Andrew Jackson complaining about the Indians.

If the US were somehow invaded by a foreign power, would Americans accept a solution where we give up part of our territory? “We just want everything west of the Rockies. But if you don’t stop attacking us we’re going to have to mow the grass again and take everything.”

And anyway, most of the Palestinians would happily accept a peace deal. Unfortunately, Hamas is as violent and extremist as the Likud.

Bill Maher speaks for privilege. He complained for two or three years about how long it took to get the necessary permits and inspections to install his solar power system at his Beverly Hills estate. Oh the trials and tribulations of the one percent!

jg10003

(1,027 posts)
4. Israel is not a foreign country invading its' neighbor.
Fri Dec 15, 2023, 10:43 PM
Dec 2023

Jews and Arabs lived together in the holy land for centuries under different empires. In 1948 the last foreign empire left and the Jews and Arabs were each given their own country. The Jews agreed. The Arabs said "we will never accept a Jewish country in our midst". The Arabs have been trying to destroy Israel ever since.

Gaugamela

(2,658 posts)
5. Before WWII there was only a very small minority of Jews in Palestine.
Sat Dec 16, 2023, 08:07 PM
Dec 2023
The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration#:~:text=The%20Balfour%20Declaration%20was%20a,a%20small%20minority%20Jewish%20population.


After WWII there was a huge wave of Jewish immigrants from Europe. Who can blame them? Then, after the US recognized Israel, the Nakba happened in 1948.

The Nakba (Arabic: النكبة, romanized: an-Nakbah, lit.?'the catastrophe') was the violent displacement and dispossession of Palestinians, along with the destruction of their society, culture, identity, political rights, and national aspirations. The term is used to describe the events of 1948, as well as the ongoing persecution and displacement of Palestinians throughout the region, including the occupation of the Palestinian territories (the West Bank and the Gaza Strip).

The beginning of the Nakba took place during and shortly after the 1948 Palestine war, during which 78% of Mandatory Palestine was declared as Israel. These beginnings include the expulsion and flight of more than 700,000 Palestinians (about half of prewar Mandatory Palestine's Arab population), the related depopulation and destruction of over 500 Palestinian villages by Zionist militias and, later, by the Israeli army along with the subsequent geographical erasure represented by Hebraization of Palestinian place names. The Nakba covers the denial of the Palestinian right of return, the creation of permanent Palestinian refugees, and the "shattering of Palestinian society"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba


Jewish settlers in the West Bank have been taking over land and homes illegally ever since. Israelis are allowed to own guns, but Palestinians aren't, and often Jewish settlers will simply walk into a Palestinian home and kick the family out. Israeli police and courts ignore the complaints of Palestinians.

jg10003

(1,027 posts)
6. I disagree with Israels west bank policy, but
Sun Dec 17, 2023, 01:11 AM
Dec 2023

Jews have been in Israel continuously for 4,000 years. Any attempt to deny them their right to their own homeland is antisemitism.
Israel has made many mistakes, and the West Bank settlements is probably the worst mistake. But all the problems have one basic and fundamental cause; the refusal of the Arab countrys to accept the existence of an independent Jewish nation. As long as that attitude remains unchanged then peace is not possible.

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