I was just imagining how different the Holy Land region would be today if instead of attacking returning Jews that fellow Semite Arabs welcomed them? The Palestine region has no history of self governance and was part of the Ottoman Empire for centuries. Their economy at the time was subsistence agriculture and woefully low tech. It remains such today.
If they had partnered with the Jews and founded a non-secular Israel with equal rights for all faiths, imagine how advanced the Arabs in the region would be today. Rather than being ghettoized and walled off to prevent violence, they could have been a vital part of a dynamic 21st century Israel-Palestine. Instead, they are one of the poorest "nations" in the world. Israel in contrast ranks among the highest and are leaders in science and technology.
Zionism and Islamism are radical poisons at the heart of this chaos and need to be addressed. There is no reason that secular Jews and secular Muslims cannot get along. They have more similarities than differences. But, both of which have become radicalized escalating into a battle of biblical proportions: Jehovah vs. Allah. In this battle of biblical titans there are no winners and only humans will lose. Until Israel becomes a secular state welcoming both Arab and Jewish citizens then the conflict will continue. Any argument over "one state", "two state", or even "three state" is irrelevant until the gods are put to rest. How does one do that in the Holy Land you might ask. That is above my pay grade, but it is the question that needs to be asked.
It is ironic that most of the European founders of Israel were in fact atheists. For them the Jewish identity was more ethnic than religious. That is why they could imagine Israel as a secular state, that would shelter Jews whether religious or not. I do hope that all religious people will soon realize that G*d doesn't need us to fight her/his battles.
Yep, and it might have worked except the Arab League (primarily orthodox Wahhabi Saudi Arabia) called for genocide of Jews instead causing the religious fervor so prevalent today. The "Palestinians" are sacrificed as martyrs whose suffering serves to make Israel look bad in the eyes of world. A lot of money is spent by the Arab League and Iran to keep the fires of jihad burning in Israel and sadly the West gets sucked into this quagmire by the rhetoric and undercurrents of the "Second Coming." Religion is the problem not the solution.
I don't think that peace is ever possible in Israel. It will always remain a militarised society. Tomas Puyeo had an incredible blog series on current conflict. Israeli regime of 1990s was most amenable to peace but current nationalist and religious faction believe that time is on their side in terms of demographics, wealth and power asymmetry.
And it is in Israeli's national interest to form a greater Israel geographically.. maybe forceful reallocation of Palestinians to North Africa and Arab states by paying those govt. like the UK govt. is paying Rwanda to accept her refugees is the way to go. Although scale is massive and Saudis, Jordans and Egyptians have made it clear that they won't be accepting any refugees.
True, but it is the only long term solution that I can think of.. How can they both co-exist when they both think that they are fighting for their survival, they think that they are on their death ground (Sarah Paine has mentioned this concept). Both are a different nation residing in same land and that is recipe of disaster.
I was just imagining how different the Holy Land region would be today if instead of attacking returning Jews that fellow Semite Arabs welcomed them? The Palestine region has no history of self governance and was part of the Ottoman Empire for centuries. Their economy at the time was subsistence agriculture and woefully low tech. It remains such today.
If they had partnered with the Jews and founded a non-secular Israel with equal rights for all faiths, imagine how advanced the Arabs in the region would be today. Rather than being ghettoized and walled off to prevent violence, they could have been a vital part of a dynamic 21st century Israel-Palestine. Instead, they are one of the poorest "nations" in the world. Israel in contrast ranks among the highest and are leaders in science and technology.
Zionism and Islamism are radical poisons at the heart of this chaos and need to be addressed. There is no reason that secular Jews and secular Muslims cannot get along. They have more similarities than differences. But, both of which have become radicalized escalating into a battle of biblical proportions: Jehovah vs. Allah. In this battle of biblical titans there are no winners and only humans will lose. Until Israel becomes a secular state welcoming both Arab and Jewish citizens then the conflict will continue. Any argument over "one state", "two state", or even "three state" is irrelevant until the gods are put to rest. How does one do that in the Holy Land you might ask. That is above my pay grade, but it is the question that needs to be asked.
It is ironic that most of the European founders of Israel were in fact atheists. For them the Jewish identity was more ethnic than religious. That is why they could imagine Israel as a secular state, that would shelter Jews whether religious or not. I do hope that all religious people will soon realize that G*d doesn't need us to fight her/his battles.
Yep, and it might have worked except the Arab League (primarily orthodox Wahhabi Saudi Arabia) called for genocide of Jews instead causing the religious fervor so prevalent today. The "Palestinians" are sacrificed as martyrs whose suffering serves to make Israel look bad in the eyes of world. A lot of money is spent by the Arab League and Iran to keep the fires of jihad burning in Israel and sadly the West gets sucked into this quagmire by the rhetoric and undercurrents of the "Second Coming." Religion is the problem not the solution.
I don't think that peace is ever possible in Israel. It will always remain a militarised society. Tomas Puyeo had an incredible blog series on current conflict. Israeli regime of 1990s was most amenable to peace but current nationalist and religious faction believe that time is on their side in terms of demographics, wealth and power asymmetry.
And it is in Israeli's national interest to form a greater Israel geographically.. maybe forceful reallocation of Palestinians to North Africa and Arab states by paying those govt. like the UK govt. is paying Rwanda to accept her refugees is the way to go. Although scale is massive and Saudis, Jordans and Egyptians have made it clear that they won't be accepting any refugees.
That could happen, but I think Israel would be throwing away US support. That is just too blatantly ruthless.
Up till now, they have kept their oppression of Palestinians very quiet--scaring them out of their homes a village at a time.
True, but it is the only long term solution that I can think of.. How can they both co-exist when they both think that they are fighting for their survival, they think that they are on their death ground (Sarah Paine has mentioned this concept). Both are a different nation residing in same land and that is recipe of disaster.
Agreed. Didn't realize you were reading my stuff!