Agreed, the idea of settlements forming a ‘defensive line’ or ‘buffer zone’ lost credibility when more settlements started being built far from the pre-‘67 lines. Withdrawing 9000 settlers from Gaza was relatively easy than thinking of withdrawing 350 000 from the West Bank. The idea of a 2 state solution is dying quickly with more illegal settlements springing up. More and more it looks like a single state will be the only viable way both peoples can “co-exist”[ and not very peacefully if present state of animosity continues]. The question that arises is this: can a single state be democratic and equal? Demographics say otherwise.
I suggest you don’t confuse disgust with Israeli policies with condoning terrorism as a response to oppressive policies.Israel’s right to exist shouldn’t be at the expense of the aspirations of another people’s right to exist.
Their “misdeeds” are never justified, else the argument of “one’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter” is perfectly valid and one cannot condemn taking up cudgels in response to oppression. That’s exactly how the Israeli state gained its statehood.
The daily trials & tribulations Palestinians face, and even many Israeli Arabs without equal rights, can quite easily be seen in similar light as a threat of genocide being waged against them. Their “misdeeds”, weighed on your scales of genocidal threat, are they then acceptable?Until both sides in this conflict can empathise with each other’s positions, the conflict will continue.
I confess a fascination with this conflict since I visited Israel in the late ’90s. Until then I was largely indifferent, even siding with the general Israeli point of view. What I saw drew so many parallels with South Africa that I grew up in, I remain interested as an observer.
Agreed, the idea of settlements forming a ‘defensive line’ or ‘buffer zone’ lost credibility when more settlements started being built far from the pre-‘67 lines. Withdrawing 9000 settlers from Gaza was relatively easy than thinking of withdrawing 350 000 from the West Bank. The idea of a 2 state solution is dying quickly with more illegal settlements springing up. More and more it looks like a single state will be the only viable way both peoples can “co-exist”[ and not very peacefully if present state of animosity continues]. The question that arises is this: can a single state be democratic and equal? Demographics say otherwise.
I suggest you don’t confuse disgust with Israeli policies with condoning terrorism as a response to oppressive policies.Israel’s right to exist shouldn’t be at the expense of the aspirations of another people’s right to exist.
Their “misdeeds” are never justified, else the argument of “one’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter” is perfectly valid and one cannot condemn taking up cudgels in response to oppression. That’s exactly how the Israeli state gained its statehood.
The daily trials & tribulations Palestinians face, and even many Israeli Arabs without equal rights, can quite easily be seen in similar light as a threat of genocide being waged against them. Their “misdeeds”, weighed on your scales of genocidal threat, are they then acceptable?Until both sides in this conflict can empathise with each other’s positions, the conflict will continue.
I confess a fascination with this conflict since I visited Israel in the late ’90s. Until then I was largely indifferent, even siding with the general Israeli point of view. What I saw drew so many parallels with South Africa that I grew up in, I remain interested as an observer.