In a message dated 6/13/03 1:39:41 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> If that is a fair assessment, then I have another question. Were any
> (or most) of the refugees able/permitted to return to their homes a
> year or so later, when their fear and uncertainty had subsided? If they
> were not permitted, who stopped them? If they were permitted, then why
> didn't they soon return when they saw that their homes in Israel seemed
> moderately safe and attractive compared to the refugee camps?
>
They have not been permitted to return, and the Arabs have never wanted them
to return. The Arabs have intentionally kept them in the camps (which they
have deliberately kept in as appalling condition as they can) in order to have a
reason not to recognize Israel ("We can't recognize Israel until the refugee
problem is solved" - ignoring the fact that they themselves are responsible for
the refugee problem in the first place) and so they have a ready-made excuse
for their own political stagnation - whenever their domestic populations get
pissed at all the repression and corruption, they can say, "Everyone boo
Israel!" and hope that their people will be distracted from their own abysmal
internal situations.
The Palestinians have got to be the worst governed and worst led people in
the world. They have been betrayed by their own leaders and their so-called
"Arab brothers" almost without cessation for the last half century. I can't think
of anything that has ever been done in their name that has not turned out to
be a total disaster for them. The tragedy is, they have so much in common with
Israelis - and so little in common with the rest of the Arabs. In fact, a lot
of Arabs hate Palestinians, they fear and mistrust them. (Remember what
happened in Kuwait in 1991.)
Tom Beck
www.prydonians.org
www.mercerjewishsingles.org
"I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I never dreamed I'd see the
last." - Dr Jerry Pournelle
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