Stop With the Nonsense That Palestinians Are a Minority in Israel

[Shaktimaan]

54. Sure, there are plenty of singular examples...

where Israel acted decently towards the Palestinians in the OPT. A great one is how they handled Al Aqsa following the reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli control. They placed it under the control of an Islamic Waqf and forbade Jewish prayer there, (excepting certain, infrequent occasions.)

That said, these are very much exceptions. The rule is that Israel absolutely oppresses the Palestinians living in the OPT, to varying degrees depending on who's in charge of Israel at the time and the current state of the conflict. But I was never arguing that Israel treats Palestinians well or fairly.

I do believe that Israel's occupation of these areas in '67 did result in a dramatic increase in their inhabitants' quality of life, compared to conditions under Egyptian, Jordanian, Syrian and Lebanese control. You're right about Israel's half-hearted offer to grant citizenship to EJ Palestinians. Which is why I was careful to say that they offered the right to apply, as opposed to universal acceptance. Again though, this is contrasted with places like Lebanon which also has a high percentage of Palestinian refugees. Not only are the refugees themselves barred from citizenship, but so are their children and grandchildren, despite having been born in Lebanon.

Again, none of this is meant to excuse Israel's often egregious policies regarding the OPT, but to offer some perspective, as they are the nation that is locked in a bloody conflict with Palestine and has legitimate security concerns, (esp w/ Hamas), versus the Arab states which are supposedly Palestinian allies.