The Palestine Papers

[Beirut]

Argh. For the second time today the board ate a reply of mine by logging out in between me starting a response and posting it.

Been there - done that. Very frustrating. It's happened so often on several boards that I copy the text of my post before posting if it's longer than a single sentence.

No, only that fighting a military force is not terrorism.

Fair enough.

That's like saying you support a football team but not the playing of football. Almost everything the Palestinian 'leadership' does is terrorism.

I don't think I have spoken of the Palestinian leadership. I speak of the people.

Also, the actions that you describe as terrorism, I believe, are temporary in that as circumstances change, so will the nature of those actions. Nelson Mandela was a dangerous terrorist and spent 26 years in prison. Look at him now, Ghandi reborn.

No, only that you will always give excuses for it, as exemplified in your next quote:

I will say it again: I never once said I supported terrorism or the targeting of civilians.

So unless you are looking to have this conversation degrade into an entire series of false accusations, perhaps you might want to reconsider your choice of words.

You also say both sides could end it, but seem to think Israel is evil while Palestinians deserve your support. The Palestinians are the ones who actively target civilians, though.

As Israel has killed far, far more civilans than the Palestinans ever have, I would be inclined to say, then, that the IDF is either directly targeting civilians or are simply so incompetant in the use of their weapons that they are hitting everything and everyone except who they are shooting at. Take your pick.

And what would happen if Israel pulled out of the West Bank and Gaza and opened the borders? Do you think Hamas would suddenly become peaceful and forget their goal of destroying Israel? Do you think the Palestinians would not send suicide bombers to attack Israeli civilians, as they did before?

Isreal taking the jackboot off the neck of the Palestinians and allowing them actual freedom is a complete game changer. If the Palestinians were free, really free, and continued to attack the Israelis, I would be the first person to say Isreal should drop a great big bomb on Gaza.

Nor do I think a Palestinian state covering the entire area of Israel and Palestine would be good for the homosexuals who might be killed for their sexuality under the Palestinian regime.

Yeah... put on hot pants and a pink t-shirt and go for a walk through an orthodox neighbourhood in Israel. See how many rocks bounce on your head on that one.

And what would happen if Palestinians held flowers while Israelis attacked? That was what the civil rights movement in the US did, and it worked for them. In fact, anything would work better for the Palestinians because even with all their attempted terrorism they fail miserably at achieving their goals.

I guess the palestinians have more George Washington than Ghandi in their blood.

Besides, even if the Palestinians didn't throw a single rock for a whole year, they would still have the Isreali jackboot on their necks. The Isrealis don't subjugate the Palestinians because they have to, they subjugate them because they want to.

Since basically all the Palestinian 'resistance' is terrorist acts, why not support a cessation of their violent resistance? Israel would be forced to at least slowly loosen their grip if the Palestinians were peaceful. And progress towards peace might actually be made.

I support an increase in their violent resistence. I just want that violence targeted with more discretion. I don't think people who enslave others, who murder others, and who torture others should be met with flowers.

As I said, the Isrealis don't subjugate the Palestinians because they have to, they subjugate them because they want to.

The Palestinians have a choice; to be ruled by their hatred or to make a better life for their children.

Yeah, that might sound great on Oprah, but in real life where the Israelis will murder youf if you try to bring food and medicine to suffering people, those flowery words come off a bit... weak.