how soon can you get on a plane to speak to all the parties in
> Israel/Palestine and the Middle East?
>
> A really wonderful dissection of the issues. My vote for Post of the
> Millennium (to date).
I agree, well said (as usual) Marvin.
It was a wonderful post. Let me something from the perspective a jew who grew up in the 50s. Take this for what it is worth. Although the English were not nearly as anti-semitic as the rest of Europe there were huge components of the English Government who were actively anti-Israel and more quietly anti-semitic (the Arabists in the foreign office - the romance of Lawrence of Arabia). The US state department was also in general anti -Israel (the Arab Desk was famous in the 50s). The reasons for these anti-Israeli sentiments were complex. Partly due to the importance of oil, partly due to the colonial histories but also in part due to good old fashioned anti-semitism.
We now see Israel as a powerful state capable of destroying its enemies but this state of affairs is a relatively recent phenomena (probably beginning in ernest only in the late 70s and early 80s. When Israel was granted independence in 48 (mostly out of guilt of western leaders for allowing so many people to be killed) the country was not a tenable entity and the Israeli's were given little if any governmental support from the west. They were immediately attacked and won their own independence despite overwhelming numerical odds. The 56 war was precipitated by the Suez crisis between Egypt and England. The Israeli's were attacked not the other way around. The same is true of the subsequent wars over the next two decades (The Yom Kippur War - Israel was attacked on the holiest of days for the Jewish people). Israel took the Golan heights because Syrian guns were constantly firing down on the Israelis for years. It was only after this string of victories that the perc! ! eption of the world changed. The Israeli's became the stronger more aggressive party. We in the west tend to forget this recent history because we have not lived through it but the Israelis do not. They all have friends and relatives killed in this conflict. They all remember when they stood alone and felt that to last even another year would be a miracle. This does not excuse some of their actions but it does explain them. The Israelis are distrustful of European Governments and not overly confident in the US for good reason.
