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Rab on 17 January 2008
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starcraft said:
superchunk said:
 

@starcraft -- Yes, at this point we should just agree to disagree. Though I still don't understand how a people who have international laws backing them should not be compensated for their lands and homes that were stolen. :(


I sympathise with the Palestinian's plight, I really do. And in a fair world they would be entitled to compensation from somewhere. It is just that any attrocities that current Israeli jews might have committed tend to be the kind that simply come with war, and are normally in response to, or immediately followed by a retaliation from the Palestinians. The major oppressions you are talking about were committed mainly by third party nations or Jews (and Israeli Arabs) that have died, and were mainly committed against Palestinians that have died.

So my point is not that the Palestinians are not suffering, but that it is unfair to blame their suffering on Israel, and especially on currently living Israeli's by compelling them to pay compensation. Most currently living Israeli's (Jew and Arab) were born in their country and from their perspective cannot be expected to know anything beyond the fact that many Palestinians would be quite happy for them to permanantly disappear, and many (though a smaller number) actively pursue this goal through war.

If Israel were to offer substantial assistence to help form a Palestinian state and eradicate poverty (they already do, but I mean something drastic) in an entirely voluntary environment as a neighbour helping another neighbour, I would be completely behind that. I just think that any payment that was obviously made as some sort of 'compensation' would force currently living Israeli's to admit wrong doing for something that was set in motion long before they were born or old enough to prevent it. Just like the Palestinians, they have known only war.

The Palestinians live an extremely unfair life, but two wrongs do not make a right, and it is just as unfair to blame the people's current plight on modern Israel.



I doubt you would be talking this way if you or your family were in the same boat as the Palestians

It's obvious you have no real emotional connection to their plight, and only use cold reasoning to make your judgements (this of course would change in blink if you yourself were a refugee with little hope, then such cool reasoning would be replaced with the very real feeling of despair and all that goes with it)