Attack on Ghaza

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It's not silly to condemn colonial ambitions that threaten indigenous populations. Getting the Belgians out of the Congo, the French out of Indochina and the British out of India were all good things.

There are more more than one kind of colonialism. Belgian Congo, French Indochina, and British India are not comparable to Jewish Israel because of the existence of Belgium, France, and Britain. If the Israelis were to 'get out' of Palestine, where would they go? They'd be in the same position that got them there in the first place, and I certainly can't imagine any good coming of that.

Fragony's comparison of the situation to that of Canada (or for that matter, the US) is more apt though still not equivalent. You'll notice that in our countries, even though the situation for natives has improved, we invaders are still here, and even in charge. Any solution to the Israel/Palestine problem needs to provide a way for both Israelis and Palestinians to continue living in Palestine. Of course there'll need to be a lot more maturity shown by both sides, which I don't imagine will be forthcoming any time soon. Meanwhile, it's a tragic situation that I don't know how to resolve.

I'm torn on how closely we can relate the situation to that of Northern Ireland. I can't think of any more similar situation, and the eventual sanguine outcome there is a nice comparison as it suggests hope for the Palestinian situation. But the differences are pretty significant, too, such as Britain not being surrounded by belligerent, devout Catholic nations far larger and wealthier than it during the Troubles.

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