Thankyou LW,
I last night was posting a lengthy (yeah surprise, surprise
) account of what is really occurring in Palestine, after finishing it, I was just about to submit and my ipad crashed and I lost everything
. The quotes you have just listed were part of what I was writing. This is my second attempt, I will be saving as I go this time. I apologise it's long, very long, but It had to be to put across what I feel needs to be said and shown in its entirety, you may not agree but please take the time to read and watch the links, we never know enough that maybe something new can be brought to our attention.
I am truly amazed that apparently in this conflict we have to pick a side. Which evil should I choose? Or perhaps there is a good guy and a bad guy? With is of course Israel as the good guy. We have been told in previous posts that it is the Christian thing to do to side with Israel. I think not. There is no good guy in this situation just two evils, one just more mightier than the other, not more evil, just more capable in their hatred to perpetrate death and violence. I do not need anybody's injector to tell me what opinion I should hold based on my Christianity, I am intelligent, impartial, efficiently well read enough to make up my own mind, if I do not hold your view, then apparently I am ignorant, dubious and naive. I think whilst the finger of ignorance is being pointed around by some here that perhaps they should turn their finger a little more inward than outward.
Confusion over this land has been going on for many a year. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire the British took control. To the Arab population who lived there, it was their homeland and had been promised to them by the Allies for help in defeating the Turks by the McMahon Agreement.
The same area of land had also been promised to the Jews in the Balfour Declaration
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy ... ation.aspx
This agreement was made by Lord Rothschild, from the same Rothschild dynasty that owns your news broadcasters, so rest assured that no doubt your getting an unbiased, real picture from the news you watch, after all the zionist family in 1917 first made the agreement with the Brits to settle in Palestine, and now they dictate what you view on your nightly news. But it's the news so it must be true, right???
After this declaration was made many Jews started migrating to palestine.
The main problem after the war for Palestine was perceived beliefs. The Arabs had joined the Allies to fight the Turks during the war and convinced themselves that they were due to be given what they believed was their land once the war was over. Clashing with this was the belief among all Jews that the Balfour Declaration had promised them the same piece of territory.
In August 1929, relations between the Jews and Arabs in Palestine broke down. The focal point of this discontent was Jerusalem. The primary cause of trouble was the increased influx of Jews who had emigrated to Palestine. The number of Jews in the region had doubled in ten years
The city of Jerusalem also had major religious significance for both Arabs and Jews and over 200 deaths occurred in just four days in August (23rd to the 26th).
The violence that occurred in August 1929 did not deter Jews from going to Palestine. In 1931, 4,075 Jews emigrated to the region. In 1935, it was 61,854.
In May 1936, more violence occurred and the British had to restore law and order using the military. Thirty four soldiers were killed in the process. The violence did not stop. In fact, it became worse after November 1937.
For the Arabs there were two enemies – the Jews and the British authorities based in Palestine via their League mandate.
For the Jews there were also two enemies – the Arabs and the British.
Therefore, the British were pushed into the middle of a conflict they had seemingly little control over as the two other sides involved were so driven by their own beliefs. In an effort to end the violence, the British put a quota on the number of Jews who could enter Palestine in any one year. They hoped to appease the Arabs in the region but also keep on side with the Jews by recognising that Jews could enter Palestine – but in restricted numbers. They failed on both counts.
Both the Jews and the Arabs continued to attack the British. The Arabs attacked because they believed that the British had failed to keep their word after 1918 and because they believed that the British were not keeping the quotas agreed to as they did little to stop illegal landings into Palestine made by the Jews.
The Jews attacked the British authorities in Palestine simply because of the quota which they believed was grossly unfair. The British had also imposed restrictions on the amount of land Jews could buy in Palestine.
An uneasy truce occurred during the war when hostilities seemed to cease. This truce, however, was only temporary.
However, neither group got what they were looking for. The British still controlled Palestine. As a result, the Jews used terrorist tactics to push their claim for the area. Groups such as the Stern Gang and Irgun Zvai Leumi attacked the British that culminated in the destruction of the British military headquarters in Palestine – the King David Hotel. Seemingly unable to influence events in Palestine, the British looked for a way out.
In 1947, the newly formed United Nations accepted the idea to partition Palestine into a zone for the Jews (Israel) and a zone for the Arabs (Palestine). With this United Nations proposal, the British withdrew from the region on May 14th 1948.
In the months before Israel was declared, the Israelis had driven 300,000 non-Jews off their land. In the months before Israel was declared, the Israelis had seized land beyond the proposed Jewish State. Now it's then that Israel was attacked by its neighbors, in May 1948. Israel had already taken an region well beyond the area of the original Jewish State that was proposed by the UN.
In 1967 Israel attacked and took over the remaining part of Palestine, within 6 days Israel had won a decisive land war, taking over the Gaza Strip and Senai peninsula form Egypt, the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan and the goland heights from Syria. The palestinian people had already lost so much of their land now what little they had was now occupied by Israel.
What is like to live under occupation? Have your every move restricted, someone telling where you can and cannot go and what times you can do so, have water and food supplies restricted so that the majority of people are living in poverty, have your civil liberties and basic human violated? Not too nice at all I would imagine, it would make me angry, fed up, frustrated and looking for a way out, for a better future.
Pre Hamas the palestinian people were already living under occupation, Hamas isn't the reason for the brutality and security measures of Israel, it's the result of a people living in sub-human condition. I do not support Hamas, they are extremist and violent and dangerous, but I understand why the Palestinian people in their desperation made such a poor choice in the 2006 election. Look at the statistics in 2000-2006 leading up to the election, palestinians were dying at the hands of the Israelis, yes there were rockets being fired from Palestine, not only from Hamas, there are quite a few smaller extremist groups operating within this society, but they were in effect throwing stones compared to the Israeli bombs against an occupation that was subjecting them to intimidation and no quality of life. Back someone up against a wall and they will make poor choices.
This is not about Muslim vs Jews and the west, this is not about religion it's about land, it always has been. The Israeli want it and the Palestinians are trying to protect the very little they have left. Do some Palestinians want Israel gone, absolutely, as much as the Israelis want the palestinians gone, they just don't have as much rocket power to make it happen.
There is a mutual hatred of each other, with those in the middle on both sides legitimately wanting peace. Both sides have been brainwashed by their governments, we all the time hear that the Palestinians are the haters and the Israelis just want peace, really?? Did your news tell you that?
2014
2012
http://storyful.com/stories/23608
2011 click on the first picture
http://www.en.justjlm.org/487
How about a story of a bus crash that killed 9 palestinian children just the result of an accident, but the israeli response on FB says it all, the original FB page had the racist remarks removed, but not before some of it was captured and screen saved
http://abirkopty.wordpress.com/2012/02/ ... -children/
But the Israelis are the peace makers right, they are even so kind as to warn the palestinian people before they bomb, we have heard of 'roof tapping' to warn them, it's just the evil Hamas who keeps them their as shields, tells them not to leave. I thought about this for a little while, saw there was legitimate claim that Hamas was indeed saying this, but still couldn't see how so many children were still dying as a result. Some palestinian people may stay, but most mothers would do anything, I don't care what religion or nationality you are, to save your children , most would never happily sit their and let their children get blown to bits. There had to be something more to this story, I couldn't quite get my head around it, then after some digging, and it took digging, you will not see this on your nightly news or in your newspapers, I found out why.
You wanna know what their warning is, 57 seconds, a mortar bomb is dropped then after 57 seconds the real bomb, that's ages right? to get children, a whole family, the elderly, out in enough time, some have stairs, they might in their haste want to grab some photos, fall in fright, lose focus in the chaos, they have plenty of time to get to safety all 57 seconds of it!!!
http://www.sickchirpse.com/israel-57-second-warning/
One one to get a real view is to look at all sides, left, right and inbetween. Look at the accounts of palestinian Christians who are living under occupation just like the palestinian Muslims. This story is heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. My heart and prayers go out to this family, holding onto peace under such circumstances;
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27883685
There is no Godly side to choose, Israel are not the good guys, neither are Hamas. There is no sign of God to be found in any of this, just warmongering on both sides. I will not pick a side, I choose no side but I pray for the palestinian people and that God may restore some sense of righteousness to Hamas and the Israeli government, so that the suffering may end.
The people of this world need the truth, it is our responsibility as those Christians who are truly children of God to provide what the world lacks. Our task is to salt the earth. We salt it with the riches of the kingdom of God. We are called to be merciful, compassionate, holy, righteous, truthful, honest, faithful, and just. That's the side I choose.