"The Jews were there first." "is you my friend, who takes the Palestinian position in this debate"
I have still not stopped laughing at this.....
"I take the Palestinian position". Your talking to someone who is non-jewish but lived on kibbutz on the Lebanon border in 1992-94 who sat with Katysha missles raining in my direction as gifts of Hezbollah and you think I take the Palestinian position. Really, you stitch me up.
"British in northern Ireland occupy the traditional Irish homeland. Two different peoples, different religions, fighting for generations over the same piece of land. How can you not see the similarity?"
Because 'Two different peoples' is a lie. We are all celtic. Most 'English' who went to Ireland were celts who had been over-lorded by Normans and did their bidding (and had probably originaiated from Ireland in the first palce anyway.) Two different religions is sadly the real divider.
You then pose a genuinely intersting question about whether had the Nazi's conquored Britain nin WW2, would I fight against them generations on.
If they were still Nazi's then the answer is yes. But we are not talking about Nazi's in Ireland. Since at least the 1960s (ie. for the last Half a Century ago) Northern Ireland has been a democratic modern state where all men (and women) have the vote, where the rule of law is paramount, where the separation of powers is in evidence, where there is a free press and the right to free expression, where there was a (overly) generous welfare state that did not discriminate giving free healthcare, education and housing to all without predjudice. And yet some Marxists romantics who were still upset about a potatoe famine over a century and half before still thought it was fair game to murder people randomly to right a historical wrong. And for some reason I will never fathom some stupid Americans decided to pay for their bullets, and good free democratic Englishmen and Irishmen have died in their hundreds as a result.
If there could be even one good thing that came from 9/11 - and given the scale of that tradgedy you would hope there would be something small to clutch at - it was that most decent Americans woke up to what expressing political difference through terrorist means really means to the population on the recieving end. If I was to look you in the eye and say how awful the cruscades were for those poor Muslims in the middle ages and that this historical fact went any way to justifying knocking the twin towers out would you give me the time of day? No! Of course you wouldn't. You don't punish the child for the sins of the father. There is so much injustice in history you can do nothing but judge man on the here and now lest we would be caught in nothing but constant warfare. You may dream of a united Ireland - I am sure it will come - but please never ever be an apologist for the republic barbarism of the last 40 years. It demeans you.
Irish position – We were here first, the land is ours.
Israeli position – We were here first, the land is ours.
British position – We were here last, the land is ours.
Palestinian position - We were here last, the land is ours.
I’m glad I’m able to give you a chuckle, but I still don’t see how you cannot see the similarity of the situation.