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You can't blame the entire populace for the acts of a few.

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Well of course! Sorry for generalizing. I was just doing it to make my post less long-winded. When I say the Israelis I mean the Israeli side in the conflict, so really I'm angry with the Israeli government. I know there's a hell of a lot of people in Israel who don't like the way the Palestinians are being treated. I'm definitely not criticizing Jews as a whole.

Both Isreal and Palestine have made giant political and militarial mistakes. I don't even think some people over there even know what they are fighting about, they just know that "Those Palestinians are horrible." or..."Those Isrealites, they are just awful." They have been fighting for so long that the people don't know what life was like before war. And that needs to change. But neither side is right. Neither side should be excused for what they have done, because they both almost weekly it seems commit horrific acts of terrorism, and I don't believe that anyone should take sides. I don't believe that anyone should give more help to one than the other. There is no right side to take. Because for every innocent victim you help on one side, on the other side of that border line there is another who needs your help just as badly.
"More than an end to all wars, we need an end to the beginning of all wars", Theodore Roosevelt

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I think that both sides in the Israel/Palestine conflict are VERY guilty of terrorism.
Everybody knows the Palestinians are.
The Israelis are too though, they send tanks into the West Bank and shoot Palestinians.

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You can't blame the entire populace for the acts of a few. There are those that are responsible and you can't say that as a whole "the Palestinians" are guilty of terrorism. There are groups and individuals who commit these act or fund these acts.
The State of Israel is guilty of state terrorism. The Jews as a people and individual citizens are not.
This distinction is crucial to make or else the slide into racism and prejudice has already begun.

I think that both sides in the Israel/Palestine conflict are VERY guilty of terrorism.
Everybody knows the Palestinians are.
The Israelis are too though, they send tanks into the West Bank and shoot Palestinians.
The Palestinians are armed with stones, the Israelis with TANKS and HELICOPTERS.
And you're saying that's a fair retaliation?
They bomb houses, ransack offices for absolutely no reason! Palestinians are killed or locked up who have absolutely nothing to do with the PLO.
This is terrorism.
In this 'War on Terror' have the United States government forgotten that they're funding one of the leading offendors? Israel.
And nobody call me ignorant because I learned this at school, for 7 weeks of history lessons. My exam grades were resting on KNOWING this subject well. So I am definitely qualified to give my opinion.
I am not saying that the Palestinians are innocent, far from it! But I'm saying that nobody can call one side terrorists and the other side innocent. Both sides are guilty of terrorism in that war. Because Israel recieve so much United States'funding they can commit it on a much larger scale with tanks and helicopters etc. The Israelis have killed far more Palestinians than Palestinians have killed Israelis. If the Palestinians had enough money for tanks then they would wreak chaos on Israel but as it is I think they're the victims here.
I expect CNN and other news in the United States are actually biased, there's a high proportion of Jews in the States and relatively few Muslims. This leads to a general bias towards the Israeli side because there are a lot of Jews in the press, and a general bias across the news. It's only logical.

CNN, New York Times, Time magazine, Washington Post - I wouldn't hold a grain of salt to those media outlets.

Talk about being biased. Shoooot.

Anyway, to the ignorants who keep thinking Palestine was its own country - shut up.

The worthless, spineless filth that is the PLO, jihadists and the other militant Islamic filth will all have a day of reckoning.

Russia, China, the United Nations, European Union ...They will all wish they hadn't picked with Israel.


Ignorants.

First off, CNN is pro-Arab, don't deny it.

I am Israeli. I have been to Israel more than ten times, speak hebrew fluently, attend a conservative day school, learn from BOTH sides and the point is--- The Jews have NO PLACE else to go. They want the Palestinians to live with them--but obviously that isn't working out.

The UN and the way it works--Israel never has a representative that represents them because there region composed of them and the rest ARAB countries won't let them-- It is biased and in countries such as France anti-Israeli propoganda is all over..

United States supports democracy all over. Israel being as it is--is a democratic nation. In the Israeli knesset--their ARE Islamic people representative to Islami-Israelis. Rabin wanted peace-- don't deny it.

Another point-- Arafat won't even agree to where he was born. At times he says one place, where evidence shows he was wrong--how do you expect us to belive what he says? I speak hebrew, I speak some Arabic--I hear what he says in Arabic, and he says other things in English when he translates. He is head of one huge terrorist party--don't deny it. No he is not the biggest extremest Palestinian but he DOES support terrorist attacks.

Palestine is surrounded by arab nations. Yet, they stay in the refugee camps..Why, because the other arab nations don't want them. Stop being ignoramt, I know the other side, I know everything, I know more than 95% of you on this topic. My mom is from Israel, my grandma is from Iraq, believe me. In Israel the economy is better than it ever was, people were poor, life wasn't all that great. In the Islamic religion, they believe Judaism is elementry. They believe in it..but have more. They believe in the Jewish bible--which SPECIFICALLY mentions Jerusalem HUNDREDS OF TIMES. do not doubt. Do not take one side. Israel has no place else to go. Israel has suffered so much--but yet THE JEWISH PEOPLE ARE HERE AND STILL STRONG.. Why? good question. One could say they are suffereing G-d must not be with them, but they have suffered so much and still they are here, alive, they are the first monotheistic religion. Don't doubt this, don't say it isn't true, that itself is plain ignorance.

The Jewish people have tried to create peace. All they ever wanted was peace. Back when Eygpt didn't recognize the Jews as a state and the Jews conquered their land--the Israelis said we will give you all of it back, just sign a peace treaty. Eygpt said no, it took years until they were at the terms they are now. Israel has always wanted peace..but what are they going to do? Sit back while they are constantly being victims of terrorist attack? 9.11 was a horrible day.. that fear goes in Israelis mind everyday..It is so common to them, they are immune to it, they learn how to live with it. Their is no other land that is a 'Jewish state' that the Jews can just go to. They are surrounded by Arab states. When 9.11 occured the United States said, we are going to get the people who did this to America, so it won't happen again. That is all Israel is trying to do protect it's people-- If terrorist bombs stopped, if the Palestians could agree with the Israelis--then there will be peace but they dont. Watch Ji-had for kids--Arab children are being brainwashed with propaganda to hate the Jews in many countries, these are the leaders of their countries tomorrow. How do you expect in years to make peace with Israel if all their life they are told to hate them? Peace in Israel, I wish had a simple answer, I wish I could say it isn't so farfetched, but look everyday on both sides more and more people are dying, unless terrorism stops and Israel has no reason to go on Palestinian ground--will peace EVER be established.

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No, he's right.

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Thanks very much, I'm a girl, though.
Not important, but it nagged at me a little.

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"The UN decide to divide Palestine between the Jews and the Arabs."
Excuse me? Do you know nothing about the history of the devlopment of Israel?

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Ahem. Marine16. I learned this in school!
Yes, what I posted down there is the history of Israel/Palestine as taught to me by my teacher, and three different history books on the topic.
So you can carry on hooting your own fabricated history of the conflict as much as you like, but I'm the one who just spent the last 6 weeks learning about it.
Grr, you troll.

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Funny, at least the Jews have a claim to the land. Muslims hav no official religous documentation claiming the land theirs. If Palestinians truely wanted peace, they could have it.

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You really don't know what the hell you are going on about! Palestinians DO have official documentation claiming the land is theirs! I saw it on a history documentary that we were shown in class. A Palestinian refugee, right there, waving his legal document around that said that his farm, which Israelis now lived on and farmed, still officially belonged to him. It may not be 'religious' documentation but it's one hell of a lot more reliable. Because religion is not! Think about it, every holy book contradicts the other in some way: "My religion says the land is mine." "My religion says it isn't." It's rubbish, the lot of it!
Anyway, as Yasser Arafat pointed out: "This conflict isn't about religion or culture, it's about the plight of a people without a home." Or something to that effect anyway, his wording might have been slightly different.
That's the Palestinians, *******. They WEREN'T given a state by Israel. They don't HAVE a state, they don't have anything. They're refugees, they have been for the last 60 years.

Grr, you troll.

To anybody who hates reading long posts: Sorry my post down the page was so long, but the entire history of the Palestine/Israel conflict is kinda complicated… I made it as simple as I could. Marine16 I suggest you read it through thoroughly before you make any more wildly imaginative statements, because you don't know **** about this.

I like your spelling and grammatical awareness of the english language, very impressive.

hello everyone

For God sake , what do u know about about Islam. u know nothing, in fact u know jack sh** about anything. ( marine: jerusalem wasnt mentioned in the kuran.......balah blah).
if it is not mentioned in the Kuran as u say (while Al Aqsa mosque is mentioned and whats around is blessed and holy), it is mentioned hundreds of times in the Hadeeth( Mohammed (PBUH) sayings).
(marine: Muslims have no official religous documentation claiming the land theirs.)
how do u know, well there is, and i will research the hadeeth and try to find them.

by the way all-knowing marine stop ur "official international documentation, religous proof and the quote" crap, cos u got none.(or u dont know any).

Funny, at least the Jews have a claim to the land. Muslims hav no official religous documentation claiming the land theirs. If Palestinians truely wanted peace, they could have it.

No, he's right. First it was Jews, during the bible time. Then Arabs, then Jews again. We all lived here, we all want this tiny place, and there's too many of us.

And please, the bible was written thousands of years ago, and it also says murdering and judging is a sin. Nice how people just take what they want out of the bible.

"The UN decide to divide Palestine between the Jews and the Arabs."

Excuse me? Do you know nothing about the history of the devlopment of Israel? The Arabs decided to create their own state. When Israel was created it allowed Palestinians to live in peace with Jews. But the Palestinians wanted their own state, so Israel gave it to them. The only reasons Arabs and Jews do not live side by side in Israel is because the Arabs refuse to. And it is a humurous thing to critize Israel for not giving the Palestinians freedom. When Israel gave Palestine their land, Israel gave the palestinians more freedom than they had seen in over 100 years.

I've been learning about this in school history lessons, so I should know what I'm talking about now… I've not really been following this topic so far so (with 20 ish pages!) I'm bound to be repeating what other people have said.
Anyway, this is my summary of the whole thing, might help anybody to understand who isn't sure of the situation:

At the start of last century, there were Arabs living in Palestine, they farmed, they were pretty happy with what they had.

During the first world war, the British recruited the Arabs to help them fight Turkey (I think it was Turkey anyway), the Arabs fought and won, on the condition that when they did win they'd be given independance.
They weren't. When Britain won the war they happily divided Palestine up between themselves and France, under a mandate.
Arabs weren't happy.

Then there was the Balfour declaration… The Jews had been making their case for some time about wanting a homeland etc etc, they wanted to settle in Palestine and make it their own. The British said they supported this endeavor, what they were really doing was trying to get the support of American Jews, it was all for their own political benefit.

So the British have promised two different people the country. Really they just want it for themselves.

Anyway, moving on a bit to the 1930s. This was when the Jews were being persecuted by Hitler. Suddenly Palestine's full of these foreigners, their culture is completely different to the Arabs, they're taking jobs, homes, the cities are getting crowded.
The Arabs, who are fed up of being cheated and ruled by the British, now have these strange foreigners popping up all over the place. They feel like they're being robbed, their country doesn't feel like theirs any more.
The Arabs really aren't happy.
Plenty of fights between Arabs and Jews.

Then the fighting gets really bad and Britain basically gives up on the whole situation, it's using up valuable military resources just keeping peace in Paletine. British hand over the problem to the UN.

The UN decide to divide Palestine between the Jews and the Arabs.

They decide to give Jews a bit more land than the Arabs, what's more, the Jews have better land, it's most of the good farming country.
But the Arabs have been living in Palestine for hundreds of years. And now these foreigners, who were kicked out by the Romans 2000 years before, have suddenly got more of it than they have!
Arabs REALLY mad.

Anyway, what follows is a war. The handy little partition doesn't go down so well, it turns into an all out battle for land.

And the Jews win, they're funded by the United States for one thing, they also murder every single person (men, women, children, these aren't military people) in the village of Dier Yassin. This isn't done for no reason, well, that's not what most historians reckon anyway. The general thought on it is that it's a deliberate scare tactic, to frighten the inhabitants of other small villages so much that they run. And that's what happens, thousands of Arabs flee Palestine.

So the Jews win, well, 95% of the land. They have US funding, they have the best weapons and military force in the Middle East… they have it all, basically.

Palestinian Arabs have been living as refugees ever since. Even though they still have Gaza Strip and the West Bank (two little pockets of land) pretty much to themselves, it's still controlled by Israel. They're a people without a country.

Yeah, the Arabs are still understandably angry about it.

I wouldn't mind the situation quite so much as I do if it wasn't for the way the Israelis are bullying the Palestinians. It usually goes something like this:

Extremist angry despairing Palestinian suicide bomber kills 4 israelis.

Israel bombs the West Bank (where the bomber was from) killing at least 50 innocent civilians.

PLO retailiates with two more suicide bombers.

Israel sends bombs, tanks, helicopters, everything they've got (provided by the wonderful United States, who will always be Israel's friend) to irradicate the '’terrorists' in Palestine. Kill many more civilians, shoot people in the street, ransack offices, destroy buildings, make Palestinians lives hell.
And it’s just the Palestinians who are ‘terrorists’ here?

Which means another Arab generation grows up full of hatred for them. Which means another generation will grow up dreaming of the glory of blowing themselves up for their country. Which means more suicide bombers. Which means Israel makes more attacks on Palestine.
So it goes on…

Something like that anyway, I wasn’t referring directly to my notes from class, so there may be a couple of errors, but I think I got most of that right.

I’m siding with the Palestinians, personally. I mean, suicide bombing is bad, but the scale of retaliation is ridiculous, it isn't even aimed directly at the people that instigate the violence, it's all too often aimed at ordinary Palestinian people. It's terrorism, something that both sides in this war are guilty of, and something which Israel does on a much larger scale than the Palestinians.

The USA still pours tons of money into Israel too, which is a depressing thing.

It's a great big mess, and when you come down to it it all originated with us in the West.

"Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestinian National Authority
The President's Office

"In the name of merciful Allah, position statement by the Liaison Committee to mark the first year of the Aksa Intifada.

"Woe to our Palestinian nation, the masses who cling [to our land], stand strongly and patiently, whose roots are in the land of their fathers and grandfathers. You, who realized by means of your determined position and hold [on the land] from the time Allah desired it, for more than half a century, while you are fighting the occupation that steals our land and homeland.

"It has been decreed upon you and the generations that follow, until the resurrection, to protect this homeland. You are guarding this pledge [that depends] on your necks and the necks of your grandchildren, because you are the protectors and guardians [of the homeland], and live on it, and are its original and legal owners, and its inheritors until the day you will be resurrected.

"We mark with you and by means of you, the first anniversary of the breaking out of the spark of the intifada... the blessed Aksa Intifada, which our nation is carrying out in the liberated territories and the occupied territories, in the Diaspora, which emphasizes the intensity of its struggle imbedded in its soul to explode the spark of built-up rage in the face of the robbers of the century, the manufacturers of world terrorism, the killers of children, women, and the elderly, the stealers of land and livelihood, the destroyers and burners of land, seeds, and stones.

"Indeed, the nation, including all its parts and groups, broke out in the intifada in every place it is found. The ties of connection are interwoven between the residents of Jerusalem and the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the residents of the occupied cities of old. [Israeli Arabs], who have forever been the natural continuation and wall and fortification of our Palestinian nation and its just problem.

"The [Palestinian] nation, indeed, broke out its intifada in order to pave with its pure and clean blood the sidewalks, alleyways, and roads of the holiest of holies, the capital of the independent Palestinian state.

"The stone and the man, the bird and the tree, broke out the intifada in the alleyways of Jerusalem and its holy places and the hills and valleys of the West Bank, and the Gaza coast and its refugee camps, and the plains and hills and summits of Palestine, in cities and villages of Palestine, occupied since 1948.... Yes, we will still write in blood the map of the one homeland and one nation.

"Indeed, we are still to draw the lines and demarcations of the nobleness of the national struggle against the nations of darkness, racism, requisition, deportation, and intentional banishment, [steps] taken against the Palestinian man, as the international community [disappeared, and with] imagined justice.

"Today, we do not have any expectations from the leaders of the [Arab] nation who are overcome by sleep and fettered by silence, and in which cowardliness has increased. We look and follow with nationalistic eyes, dreaming about our families and great nation in villages and cities that stand strong since the year 1948. For they are partners of the goal and the fate, partners of the one national dream.

"Al-Aksa Intifada and independence have realized the national unity among all the Palestinian people that stands strong, despite the roadblocks of the occupation, despite all acts of massacre which have been carried out by the Zionist gangs since the nakba [disaster] of 1948.

"To commemorate this... memory, we emphasize together and equally the will of this one nation, the life of ennobled freedom. Despite the nations of oppression and the darkness of racism which is being carried out against us by the worst soldiers of occupation history has ever known, in order to express in fury the historic oppression which has fallen upon us since the beginning of our historic times by means of the intifada of stones, the intifada of built-up rage...

"Today, no voice is louder than the voice of the intifada. It will continue to be the intifada of the one nation, erupting with one flowing blood.... It will continue to be the intifada of ongoing fury... the intifada of ongoing independence... the intifada of generations that will continue until the realization of our sublime national dream.

"Indeed, we are the owners of the land and the legal truth, the owners of the independent homeland and the independent state.

"Therefore, with you and by means of you, and by means of our noble Arab and Islamic nation, and by means of freedom-seeking people in the world, we will establish our independent Palestinian nation and its holy capital of Jerusalem... with you and by means of you we will liberate our holy al-Aksa Mosque so that the free Palestinian flag will wave in the skies of Jerusalem, the cradle of heavenly religions, the land of the messengers, the land of the gathering of creation on the day of judgement.

"Glory and eternity to our innocent victims, speedy recovery to our brave wounded, freedom to our brave prisoners, disgrace and shame to the agents [collaborators] and those who sinned, this is a revolt until victory.

"Liaison Committee of the President's Office, Sunday, 30 September 2001"

If the Arab nations view Palestine as their 'arab brothers' why do they not offer them land in another Arab country? If the arab's are such a peacefull bread then why don' realize that all they have to do is give Palestine different land for their to be peace?

The Jews have what is theirs. The Palestinians want what is not theirs. It is obvious who is right.

Jerusalem is mentioned in the Jewish Bible over 700 times. Jerusalem is mentioned in the Quran not even once.

Dija it seems that not even you, a member of an Arab nation are not even clear of what the Quran says. Perhaps that is why your people are so war hungry you can not understand your own teachings.

So your religion ignores the order of your gods? Wow. Some religion where the messengers of God ignore what he tells them and the messengers tell the people something else.

By the way qoute the Quran, do not put your own interpetations in what you call 'qouting the quran'.