Reply #28: There are some major gaps in your version of history, julianer

[IndianaGreen]

Before there were even anything called Palestinians, the Egyptians, the Jordanians, and the Syrians embarked on an effort to abort the Jewish state before she took her first breadth of air. As luck would have it, the Jews were determined not to be exterminated again. It was the Arabs that gambled that they could take the whole of the UN partition area, and they lost!

It should have ended in 1948, but it didn't. Israel was not the one that planned war against her Arab neighbors to take Arab Jerusalem, and gobble up the West Bank and Gaza. The same cast of characters promised to "push Israel into the sea." I remember that! I also remember when King Hussein put his troops under joint Arab command, I suppose they even agreed among themselves how they were going to divide the spoils.

Israel struck first! The 1967 war ended almost as soon as it began. It should have ended there, but it didn't. Israel's mistake is that she decided to build settlements on land she knew she would have to return. Israel did return land and removed settlements when she signed peace with Egypt. There was no one keeping the Palestinians off the negotiating table, except their corrupt leadership, still hopeful of total victory.

So here we are! There are people on both sides of this conflict that want peace, and that are willing to settle for a little less of what they wanted. These are the people we should be supporting, instead of continuing to demonize one side while glorifying the other. There are no saints and no demons in here!

As to the role of the international community, it has been lacking in leadership. The United States in particular, because it is our country, has been sitting on the sidelines since President Clinton left office. The current occupant of the White House is too busy listening to the instructions that his god leaves inside his head to bother with such menial task like peacemaking. Those that hope to replace the current White House occupant in 2008, are more interested in pandering to the side that fills their campaign coffers than they are in offering a realistic vision of where they want to lead the country in settling this sad conflict.