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**Hugh** · 06-01-2009, 15:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

Unless he imposes conditions on Israel to remove their blockade of Gaza as part of a new ceasefire deal then I do not see anything he says making a difference.

---------- Post added at 11:07 ---------- Previous post was at 10:57 ----------

All very well discussing falied peace talks in recent years and blaming it all on the Palestinians/Hamas/PLO but let's not forget how the Israeli's originally took over Arab land.

http://countrystudies.us/israel/23.htm

Good find, as it seems very even-handed.

page 15 of the same website points out -
"The other major transformation in Palestinian Arab society during the Mandate concerned the issue of land ownership. During the years of Ottoman rule, the question of private property rights was never fully articulated. The tenuous nature of private property rights enabled the Zionist movement to acquire large tracts of land that had been Arab owned. The sale of land to Jewish settlers, which occurred even during the most intense phases of the Palestinian Revolt, reflected the lack of national cohesion and institutional structure that might have enabled the Palestinian Arabs to withstand the lure of quick profits. Instead, when increased Jewish land purchases caused property prices to spiral, both the Arab landowning class and absentee landlords, many of whom resided outside Palestine, were quick to sell for unprecedented profits. In the 1930s, when Palestine was beset by a severe economic depression, large numbers of Arab peasants, unable to pay either their Arab landlords or taxes to the government, sold their land. The British did not intervene in the land purchases mainly because they needed the influx of Jewish capital to pay for Jewish social services and to maintain the Jewish economy."

Page 17 is also quite interesting (imho).