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"The population and wealth of Palestine has not increased during the last forty years..."

The same could be said (in terms of the population and likely wealth as well) of West Virginia...maybe we should void all property ownership in this state and re-establish it as a religious state for Moonies, Wiccans, Sun cultists...

Proof that WV population has shrunk 1959-1999 justifying the voiding of all property rights and further justifying/mandating we hand it over to a religion to be named later.

The same could be said (in terms of the population and likely wealth as well) of West Virginia...maybe we should void all property ownership in this state and re-establish it as a religious state for Moonies, Wiccans, Sun cultists... Proof that WV population has shrunk 1959-1999 justifying the voiding of all property rights and further justifying/mandating we hand it over to a religion to be named later. 12 posted on 1/18/02 9:04 PM Pacific by spanky_mcfarland

This is not a question of property Rights. I acknowledge the property Rights of Palestinian Arabs, and disapprove of their abrogation by Jewish Palestinians.

This is a question of national sovereignty. Israel, Jewish Palestine, enjoys rightful Sovereignty claim to the West Bank. If Arab Palestinians feel that the important thing is their property rights, then they need to acknowledge that the West Bank is within the rightful sovereign borders of Israel, cease their armed revolt, and demand that Israel protect their Rights. IF, on the other hand, they feel that it is more important to live in a racially-arab "Palestinian Arab State"... there already is one, and they can move there.

Jordan = Arab Palestine

Problem is, in West Virginia there is such a thing as individual property rights. The same cannot be said for the land before Israel came along. Many middle eastern countries' problems began with a lack of individual property rights- they clung to an almost medievil system where nobility and relious leaders held the land, and everyone else was at their mercy. Like medievil Europe, the result was bad news: perpetual poverty. The property rights, such as they were, were so insecure that the people gave up trying to hold their land and instead sold it at the first opportunity, and put their savings into property they could keep an eye on while renting land as needed from the powerful, at the terms of the powerful. So people put their money into goats- literally. Goats and sheep could be kept inside at night, safe from thieves, and not always easy for the tax collectors to count. They could be moved from place to place with ease, and set to graze in out-of-the-way places. The people gritted their teeth when their rented fields were estimated, knowing that crops were not going to bring them much for their efforts, and neither would any large livestock that could be seen and taxed or stolen; but held their small livestock safely out of view or reach, because these sheep and goats were their remaining hope.

The problem is- sheep and goats are quite damaging to the environment. They graze down plants to the root and will eat almost any vegetation without hesitation. They soon destroy all natural green cover and the soil has a harder time retaining moisture each progressive year. Before long, the land is too dry to support regular agriculture even though the soil is fertile enough and the rainfall should be sufficient. The land erodes, and people find it harder and harder to support themselves because they have turned their own land into desert. That is the story of much of the middle east.

The Israelis- and those others who joined them, made the land bloom again by restoring order. People became secure in the land and didn't need to depend on sheep and goats exclusively. They put forth great effort to restore the cover that had been destoyed by overgrazing. (And it worked.)

There is a huge plot of land in Lybia, I believe, which had been desert as long as anyone could remember, part of that vast and fearsome North African desert. It was BARE, with a bit of scrub and ittle if any grass. About twenty years ago a sheik bought it and fenced it in. He didn't seed it or irrigate it or anything. He just prevented people's wandering herds of goats and sheep from having access. The aerial view of that region is remarkable: it is all still barren desert with a bit if scrub here and there, EXCEPT for this huge hexagonal fenced-off area which is a vibrant green year-round now from all the plants that have grown up. Perhaps if there were a better system of property rights, others could join that sheik and make the whole region green again, as it was long ago.