Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris
You are looking for binary answers where none exist. Agree/disagree. Justified/not justified. Sorry, but it isn't that simple, and it is quite naive to expect any meaningful position on an issue to be developed in a few short sentences when the issue has defied the keenest politicians in the world for many decades.
I both understand the Palestinians' demands to right-of-return, and the reasons why Israel will never agree to it.
I understand Israel's need to hold the West Bank as part of a strategy to make its home territory defensible, given the invasions it suffered in 1967 and 1973 and the continuing aspiration of some in the Arab world to "drive Israel into the sea".
I understand the Palestinians demands to have territory under their total and exclusive control, given that that was what was in principle envisaged by the UN prior to the creation of Israel in 1948.
There are pragmatic aims on both sides, and both sides have used highly dubious tactics in pursuit of them. There is no black and white, there is no agree or disagree, and any negotiated settlement to this dispute will have to deal with things as they are. Any attempt to satisfy some perceived moral outrage on one side or the other is doomed to fail.
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It is the failure of the world to clearly articulate (and take action on) what is patently wrong (on both sides) that has contributed to the situation we see today. Some actions (on both sides) are clearly wrong and should be called out as such.
The world's "understanding" doesn't stop the Israeli land grab or the Hamas missiles