> > It's kind of late to worry about that now. > > I have trouble reconciling that statement with someone who has an > interest in understanding history. > > > Come one, how many subjugated peoples in the entirety of world� � � � > > history got to vote on who ruled them? They had never "voted" to be�� > > part of the Ottoman Empire, either, so what right did the Ottoman� �� > > Turks ever have to rule them?� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� > > That sounds like a Gautam-style argument! >
I don't understand. It's actually a recognition of history. Things we wouldn't do now were done in the past. But we can't go back and undo every single act of injustice that ever took place anywhere. All we can do is understand them. The facts are, the Arabs did not vote for the partition in 1947, but they did not vote for the splintering of the Ottoman Empire into Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, etc., either They did not vote for anything, ever. They are still not allowed to vote for anything important. They could have had a Palestinian state in 1947. They refused. Jordan controlled the West Bank from 1948 to 1967, and Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip from 1948 to 1967. Why didn't they proclaim a Palestinian state in those territories during that period? They could have and nobody could have stopped them. So even if the creation of Israel was a monstrous injustice, which I do not for a second think, was the only possible solution to that to be to hold out, if necessary forever, waiting for the perfect solution (perfect in Arab extremists' minds, note) rather than take some admittedly less than perfect interim step? Israel was willing to take whatever the UN gave them in 1947; the Arabs held out for everything. How come the Arabs never get any blame for this? I repeat my point, that the Palestinians have been utterly betrayed at every moment in their sorry history by those who claim to speak for them. If only they would realize this and make true peace. They could have a state tomorrow if they would really do this. 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 _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
