Israel-Palestine Conflict: The Full Explanation.

[JWeinCom]

So... a few things... to fill in some errrrrrrr... gaps....

1. Britain initially promised the land to the Jews for a Jewish state (at least partially) in the Balfour declaration. Then, as support from Arab states became essential for WWII, they changed their plans.

2. The 1947 war was not fought only between Israel and Palestine (or Palestinians), but between Israel, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt. The initial phase of the conflict was a civil war with Israel going to great lengths to capture as much land as possible while pushing out Arabs in Palestine, but as soon as Britain pulled out of the mandate, the five other nations declared war on Israel.

3. I could be wrong but I don't know of any attack on Jordanian villages provoking the 1967 war. Israel actually had (relatively) calm relations with Jordan compared to other states and warned them not to become involved. Jordan was under pressure from both Egypt and the Palestinians in their borders to attack.

Also, you leave out the circumstances of the war. Egypt and Syria had been issuing very strong threats to Israel as well as amassing troops. Basically, Syria and Egypt were arguing over who hated Israel more to gain serious Arab cred. The closing of the strait of Tiran was the tipping point. After that Israel basically destroyed Egypt's army within a day. Definitely attacking first.

Some quotes from Nasser (leader of Egypt at the time).

""This is our chance Arabs, to deal Israel a mortal blow of annihilation, to blot out its entire presence in our holy land"

"Our aim is the full restoration of the rights of the Palestinian people. In other words, we aim at the destruction of the State of Israel. The immediate aim: perfection of Arab military might. The national aim: the eradication of Israel." – President Nasser of Egypt, November 18, 1965

And from Syria...

Syria's forces are "ready not only to repulse the aggression, but to initiate the act of liberation itself, and to explode the Zionist presence in the Arab homeland. The Syrian army, with its finger on the trigger, is united.... I as a military man, believe that the time has come to enter into a battle of annihilation." – Syrian Defense Minister Hafez Assad, May 20, 1967

Iraq...

"The existence of Israel is an error which must be rectified. This is our opportunity to wipe out the ignominy which has been with us since 1948. Our goal is clear – to wipe Israel off the map. We shall, God willing, meet in Tel Aviv and Haifa." – President Abdel Rahman Aref of Iraq, May 31, 1967

And even little ol' Yemen

"We want war. War is the only way to settle the problem of Israel. The Arabs are ready." – Yemeni Foreign Minister Salam

http://www.sixdaywar.org/content/threats.asp

Or course the Arab countries were more talk than anything as their militaries were vastly outgunned by Israel. Israel definitely fired first in the war, but it wasn't just an out of the blue surprise attack. War was definitely going down one way or the other.

4. The organization that took over Palestine after the 1967 war was, without a doubt, a terrorist organization. You can argue whether their tactics were justified, but they were undoubtedly terrorist acts that led to a civil war between the PLO and Jordan. The PLO was pushed out with the majority of it relocating in Lebanon which sadly fucked up that country beyond recognition as the PLO clashed with factions within Palestine, and as Israel began to attack Lebanon as a result of PLO attacks emanating from the area.

5. The blockade on Gaza is not a solely Israeli venture, but is also supported by Egypt. Those guys can't get no love no where.

6. 2005... come on this was a big one, how can you miss it? Israel withdraws from Gaza forcibly removing Israeli citizens who tried to resist. Everything Israeli, aside from temples and some greenhouses which were a whole nother story, were demolished.

7. So... no mention of the rockets being fired and suicide bombings that were pretty commonplace in the 90s? I mean, I'm not saying Israel's occupation of Gaza/West Bank was justified or carried out justly, but you can't pretend that the Palestinians were just throwing rocks.

This is probably coming off as very pro Israeli, which is mostly because the OP was very pro Palestinian. There are quite a few fair points there, but it is undeniably slanted.