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To: marshmallow
First, I'll apologize for anything in your previous posts which I misunderstood and which you have since clarified. I'm glad to see that you are willing to debate intelligently and that you aren't merely one of the handful or Arab apologists who appear from time to time.

I'm going to concentrate on the points of disagreement, not the points where we agree. This isn't meant to be argumentative, but rather to let you see where I'm coming from or to give you more to research :)

Where I take issue is with this statement What was done 60 years ago cannot be undone. History should teach you that that is a recipe for future trouble. War after war has started because of perceived injustices carried over from a previous conflict.

Perhaps, but to undo what was done 58 years ago, when, for example, the map of Europe was redrawn after World War II, would force the mass migration of millions of people, most of whom weren't even born when the changes were made. My maternal grandmother was born in Brelitovsk, which was Poland in the early part of the century. It's Belarus today, and all the Poles are gone and so is pretty much the entire Jewish population. Was that an injustice? Certainly. However, trying to reverse that injustice after all this time would cause an even greater injustice.

In the case of Germans expelled from what is now Poland and the Czech Republic, my only comment would be that there is a cost to starting a war, killing people, and then losing. That the Nazis/Germans paid a cost in territory in 1945 and that formerly warring peoples were separated seems to me to be just, resonable, and perhaps the best that could be done in a very bad situation. The same, IMHO, applies to Palestinian Arabs.

Do the Palestinians want to return? I think the answer is "yes" isn't it? Although your post suggests that they don't, are only there to embarass Israel and all left voluntarily. This is a stretch, I believe.

They are left not to embarras Israel, but rather to destroy Israel. That is a huge difference. Yes, many if not most want to return. The result would be the end of Israel as a Jewish state and the death and/or expulsion of over 5 million Jews, many of whom were in turn expelled by Arab countries. This is your idea of correcting injustice? Sorry, I want no part of this sort of justice. The Palestinian refugees must be resettled, but not within Israel. I understand where you are coming from, and in a utopia where everyone got along it could work and would be the most fair and equitable solution. We don't live in utopia.

I'm in no position to argue many of the points you make, though many don't ring true.

If you provide specifics of what "doesn't ring true" I'll be happy to provide you with sources and references. You are, after all, talking about the history of my country, my people.

48 posted on 12/08/2003 12:11:57 PM PST by anotherview ("Ignorance is the choice not to know" -Klaus Schulze)
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To: anotherview
I think one has to distinguish here, between the redrawing of borders on an entire continent and the question of Palestinian refugees. There is an issue of scale which makes the former entirely impractical while the latter may not necessarily be so.

With respect to the formation of Israel and the partition of Palestine, I understood Arab objection to be based on the fact that the Partition Plan granted 55 percent of Palestine to the Jews, who at that time comprised only 30 percent of the population, and who owned a mere 6 percent of the land. Furthermore, wasn't there an issue of government and who would lead it? Didn't the Arabs object to a Jewish government when they (the Arabs) formed a majority?

Set me straight here.

49 posted on 12/08/2003 1:34:17 PM PST by marshmallow
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