Is Israel defending itself? Or is Palestine defending itself?

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• oh come on! the palestinians only wants the things they dont have. if and when theyl'l have the gazza strip and the west bank they will want complete control of jerusalem and this will never cease. do not forget that jerusalem is the holiest jewish city while it's only the 3rd holiest city for the islam. besides, when the palestinians leaders will stop using their religion to spread hate (or stop spreading hate period) then we could disccuss this once more

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  by Groo V on January 29th, 2007

• Actually, Gaza wasn't "occupied". Hamas security forces controlled it until the IDF moved back in during this land portion of their offensive against Hamas. Seems everyone forgets that autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza was left to Palestinians. Fatah doesn't seem to be getting shelled in the West bank? Wonder why? Perhaps they're still at the table talking and not shooting?
  Ahh, I see the date on this question. None the less, my comment stands for recent events.

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  by scubabob on January 10th, 2009

• See above

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  by loonyroony on January 10th, 2009

• Occupation: oc·cu·pa·tion (ky-pshn)
  n.
  1.
  a. An activity that serves as one's regular source of livelihood; a vocation.
  b. An activity engaged in especially as a means of passing time; an avocation.
  2.
  a. The act or process of holding or possessing a place.
  b. The state of being held or possessed.
  3.
  a. Invasion, conquest, and control of a nation or territory by foreign armed forces.
  
  You're confusing blockade with occupation.

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  by scubabob on January 11th, 2009

• actually i'm not - you've stated my point in your own comment - CONTROL of a nation or territory by foreign armed forces. Israel control the borders the airspace and what can come in and out - and by extension the economy. That is control. That is occupation.

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  by loonyroony on January 11th, 2009

• Nope. You're also confusing timelines. Part of Gaza can now (today) be considered as occupied. Before this recent fracas it wasn't. No IDF personnel were in Gaza. None. The government in Gaza then and even now, is under Hamas control. No foreign conquest. So...we've just knocked two of the three criteria for the word occupation to be valid, out of the equation. All you have left is control which could conceivably be considered blockade. Sorry...occupation does not fit this scenario now, nor most especially did it before this current fight.

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  by scubabob on January 12th, 2009

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• It is always hard to answer a question, that to most of us, do not make sense. We see war, as death, and some see it as relgious glory, and being a martyr, it is hard for me to understand, why either side, is willing to kill thier own, in car bombings etc. I would never put U.S citizens in jeapardy, for any cause, or belief. It is so sad, to see the dead children, and know they were killed by thier own, not by us, or any one else.

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  by turbowray on February 3rd, 2007

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• Goodbye then.

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  by Halskiisaklink on January 29th, 2007

• I'm not sure.

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  by Halskiisaklink on January 29th, 2007

• Before the British controlled Palestine, the Ottomans did, before them the Mamluks, before them the (God forbid) Crusaders. Going backwards, it pretty much went Arab Caliphate, Byzantines, Romans, Greeks, Israel (and before that it was a bunch of smaller states which the Israelites conquered).

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  by Halskiisaklink on January 29th, 2007

• According to Wikipedia, Al-Fatah (the majority political party in Palestine before Hamas took it's majority), "The movement, which espoused a Palestinian nationalist ideology in which Palestine would be liberated by the actions of Palestinian Arabs, was founded in 1958 or 1959 by members of the Palestinian diaspora - principally professionals working in the Gulf States who had been refugees in Gaza and had gone on to study in Cairo."

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  by Halskiisaklink on January 29th, 2007

• Please explain how 'Nazi Germany' is related to this.

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  by Halskiisaklink on January 29th, 2007

• The Arabs have, as have the Jews, lived in Palestine (or Israel, if you'd prefer) for a very long time. From 1936-9 there occurred the Arab Revolt, in response to increased Jewish immigration allowed by the British mandate. The Arabs were scared of becoming a minority in what they saw as their own land, and they were annoyed at the Britons' attempts to initiate this. The British wanted to curb a growing Arab pro-democracy and independance movement in the region, so they undoubtedly increased Jewish immigration for this purpose, to draw attention away from the Mandate to the Jews. However, the Arabs were somewhat smarter than the British thought, and they directed their anger primarily at the Mandate. [See more below]

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  by Halskiisaklink on January 29th, 2007

• However, the policies had their intended effect, and after numerous immigration reforms in response to the Revolt, tensions between Jews and Arabs increased dramatically. The Jews blamed the Arabs for the British turning their brothers back to Europe after the Holocaust, and for countering their efforts pertaining to Zionism, while the Arabs were bitter about their increasing numbers, about being made a minority, and they blamed the Jews for not getting an independant Arab (Palestinian) state - a democracy at that. The Jews, despite their favour in the eyes of the British mandate, recieved no British help against the Arab attacks on them. Underground defence organisations, such as the Haganah, were formed. [See more below]

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  by Halskiisaklink on January 29th, 2007

• At the worst of possible times, the British pulled out (partly at America's instigation) and left matters to the newly formed UN. The UN wanted to divide the land into two states, with the Jews given 10% more of the land than the Arabs, despite the fact that there were clearly more Arabs than Jews living in the region. This made it clear to Palestinian Arabs that they were being marginalised for the trouble they caused during the mandate, and it seemed unfair that the Jews should get such preference due to the Holocaust, when the Jews had been so violent against Arabs while the Holocaust was occurrin in Europe. Arabs in other countries saw this as the final insult after long years of European colonialism, and stepped in to fight back the newly created Jewish state of Israel. [see more below]

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  by Halskiisaklink on January 29th, 2007

• The UN again stepped in to help out, declaring a one month ceasefire. However, the result of this ceasefire was that Israel gain 26% more territory, marginalising the Arabs even more. That confirmed the UN preference of the Jews over the Arabs in the eyes of the Arabs. Egypt captured the land now known as the Gaza Strip, and Jordan held the West Bank. The remaining Palestinians in Jewish lands were exiled, thinking that they'd return eventually.

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  by Halskiisaklink on January 29th, 2007

• So, derive what you want from above, if anybody should be blamed in a situation like this, it should be Britian and the UN for screwing the matter up completely. And I'm fairly sure America had more to do with it than is mentioned here.

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  by Halskiisaklink on January 29th, 2007

• If you want to just leave it, I'll understand. I got all my information from Wikipedia, impartiality's shining jewel. You can contradict it but your opinion's going to appear a little off-center.

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  by Halskiisaklink on January 31st, 2007

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