jku
05-21-2003, 10:07 PM
----I think what I disagree with most about the speech is when he bashed Sharon (Israel's Prime Minister) and talked about the "oppresssion of the Palestinians." He made it sound like Sharon was the cruel one, and the Palestinian suicide bombings were almost natural reactions to their unjust treatment. Never mind the fact that the Palestinians blow up innocent people and that Sharon has little choice but to respond to such actions with force. And also, no mention of the fact that Palestinian extremist groups such as Hamas are guided by a philosophy that is violently anti-Semitic at its core. They won't be happy with the removal of certain Jewish "settlements" in Israel; what they really want is to drive all the Jews in Israel into the sea." ----- W-brake
Everything you said is true - but let's be clear here. The issue is a push. Both sides of this conflict have been persecuted and abused to such extremes. Like the old fable of the Hatfields and McCoys, there is a very vague notion of how this whole conflict began.
The Jews finally have a place to call home. The Palestinians are perceived by ARABS as "the scum" of the Arab world, and instead of some nations taking them in, they gleefully watch the Jews continually fall under seige. The issue in Israel also takes the heat off corrupt Mid-East leaders who don't want the focus on themselves.
The Israelis fight this war with modern weapons - I mean there is an obvious mismatch when one side has rocks and the other has TANKS. They push the Palestinians into tiny camps without roads, no economy, no jobs. Imagine young people like ourselves, interested in living life the best we can, bright and ambitious - left in squalor with no hope for a future! Imagine the frustration of someone pistol whipping your father as you watch helpless!?
This is a conflict that has no solution unless the Western world and Mid-East leaders can find one. What Bush is doing now is a payback to Blair for joining the war in Iraq. While a new Palestinian authority is the right step, there will be no peace in that region for a long time.
I wish our administration had a real interest in seeing something good happen there, but they don't. A facade of trying to reach for peace gets the Jewish vote which could tip New York to Bush in 2004 - the military industrial complex cites Israel as one of their biggest customers.
Everything you said is true - but let's be clear here. The issue is a push. Both sides of this conflict have been persecuted and abused to such extremes. Like the old fable of the Hatfields and McCoys, there is a very vague notion of how this whole conflict began.
The Jews finally have a place to call home. The Palestinians are perceived by ARABS as "the scum" of the Arab world, and instead of some nations taking them in, they gleefully watch the Jews continually fall under seige. The issue in Israel also takes the heat off corrupt Mid-East leaders who don't want the focus on themselves.
The Israelis fight this war with modern weapons - I mean there is an obvious mismatch when one side has rocks and the other has TANKS. They push the Palestinians into tiny camps without roads, no economy, no jobs. Imagine young people like ourselves, interested in living life the best we can, bright and ambitious - left in squalor with no hope for a future! Imagine the frustration of someone pistol whipping your father as you watch helpless!?
This is a conflict that has no solution unless the Western world and Mid-East leaders can find one. What Bush is doing now is a payback to Blair for joining the war in Iraq. While a new Palestinian authority is the right step, there will be no peace in that region for a long time.
I wish our administration had a real interest in seeing something good happen there, but they don't. A facade of trying to reach for peace gets the Jewish vote which could tip New York to Bush in 2004 - the military industrial complex cites Israel as one of their biggest customers.