P F Tinmore, irosie91,
et al,
Ah, getting to the knitty-gritty!
Mr R I think you are missing a point very important to tinnie---- He characterizes the migration of jews in the 1800s to "palestine" as a violent attack by european jews with an agenda to violently wrest all of "palestine" from the ottomans and arab-muslims living there ---- even including TRANSJORDAN and Gaza and parts of Syria --- etc etc "palestine" was not clearly defined as such during the days of the OTTOMAN EMPIRE ----- I am not sure if it included Gaza -- but at times it seems to have included Trans Jordan and southern Syria. His "attack" by "european jews" takes place in the 1800s which justifies violent resistence by arab muslims
during the later part of the 1800s and the early 1900s. ... ... ...
(COMMENT)
I'm a bit slow, but I'm getting there. I think
(not entirely sure) I know where this is going.
Perhaps I should have been more specific in my question. The topic at hand was your allegation of Palestinian aggression. To determine who is aggressive and who is defensive we need to know who started the conflict. Hence my question.
Did the Palestinians go to Europe and attack the Zionists or was it the Zionists who went to Palestine?
Your list of attacks are all in the middle of the conflict, not the beginning, and are irrelevant to the question at hand.
Immigration was a major part in the conflict. The Zionists went to Palestine with the stated goal of taking over Palestine. Britain affirmed this by having the Balfour declaration in its pocket.
The massive immigration of Jewish settlers was a necessary and very visible part of the implementation of this plan.
Did they expect the Palestinians to sit on their hands while watching their country being taken over?
(COMMENT)
I think I see four (4) distinct issues here:
- Who started the conflict.
- Palestinian aggression.
- Palestinians go to Europe 'vs' Zionists went to Palestine.
- Palestinians watching their country being taken over.
Who started the conflict is partly based on when you think the conflict started.
[My Understanding of History (Thumbnail)]
The Jewish People (or The People of Israel, whichever you prefer) are often historically placed in the Region of Palestine (a later Roman designation) dating back to the time of Joshua, some 3 millenium ago (maybe further, being Catholic, my Hebrew history is rather weak). But as I understand it, King David (of David and Goliath fame, a story taught to all Christian children) unified the Hebrew tribes and reigned over the first Kingdom of Israel (sometimes referred to in later times as Judea). It covered almost all of today's Palestine [less an area known as Philistia (in Hebrew "Peleshet") (known today as Gaza)]. Philistia was ruled by the people known as Philistines. (Oddly enough, I'm told that in Hebrew "Peleshet" means the "land of immigrants or invaders." These are the precursors to the Roman word Palestine. Now who would have guested.) Since that time, the entire landscape of today's Palestine, has been rule by the Babylonian, Persian, Greek Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Empires, Islamic and Christian crusaders, Ottoman Empire, and the British Empire. But never by a people known as Palestinians (except for Gaza, as I said, who would have ever guessed; fact is stranger than fiction).
My point to this little thumbnail is, if you go back in history far enough, you might get some startling results. And I also wanted to demonstrate how absurd it is to arbitrarily pick a starting point for the feud
(Jew 'vs' Muslim or Israeli 'vs' Palestinian, or however you want to frame it) based on a snapshot in time. While we can say that the "original invaders" were historically Palestinian from Gaza, 3 Millenium ago, you can see how far removed that finding is from the reality of today. So it is with your arbitrary selection of time in the Jewish Immigration of (today's) Palestine.
Reality dictates that the reasonableness of the events that have led to the outcomes we see today, started in the European-WWII era; give or take a decade.
Having said that, I will not challenge the suggestion that Zionist planned and intentionally organized the gradual immigration of Jewish Families into the Mandate. There is little question that by the turn into the 20th Century, loans through largely Arab Banks (Anglo-Palestine Bank) were being secured to finance Jewish businesses and agricultural cooperatives in the Mandate. By the early 1930's, due largely to the persecution of Jews in Germany, these efforts were being ratcheted-up, at a pace commensurate to Nazi activity against European Jews. By the time the US entered WWII, Jewish immigration efforts had begun to take-on a large scale image, as the activities of the German Concentration Camps became incrementally known. By the end of WW-II, as the totality of the German cleansing efforts became revealed, the Jewish immigration effort began to operate at a feverishly rapid pace. The world, less the hard core anti-semitic, began to show great sympathy for the surviving Jews. Especially as stories were now openly being told of how countries like America turned away those desperately trying to escape Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Stories like the "Ship of the Damned"
(SS St. Louis) were recounted, and it became obvious that the Jewish People needed a homeland. You may ask: What's your point? Well, while we may attribute much of the idea that a Jewish Homeland was important to the Zionist, in the decade immediately following WW-II
(driven by the Greatest of all Generations), there was an exponential explosion in support for the Jewish People in establishing a safe haven.
Did the post-WW-II Palestinian see a massive influx in the legal and illegal immigration of Jewish Families returning to their ancestral homeland. Absolutely! This was truly the start of the discord and why.
I think the evidence clearly shows that the Palestinians are and have always been on the defensive in this conflict.
(COMMENT)
The evidence clearly shows that the Arab Culture, particularly in regards to the Palestinian, was anti-Semitic, having a grave intolerance to ANY foreign migration, and was totally immersed in themselves, not having any sympathy for the Jewish Plight that had just occurred. The surrounding governments looked at Israel, in a post-WW-II eye, as prime real-estate and
(although they could not develop it on their own), wanted it for themselves and found the Jewish immigrant as unworthy. (Fight-on!)
Again, let me emphasize!
No matter what the cause, no matter what the religious context, no matter what land grant tort you establish, no matter what historical fact you uncover, there is absolutely no justification for the unrestrained violence. How could any people justify killing a very old retired businessman who was in a wheelchair, and dumping his body overboard? No, there is no justification. But it does establish the character and nature of the Palestinian and those in their support.
So rather than address the validity of the factual evidence you rendered, which is (in some measure) sound, I chose to let it stand on the reputation built by those that claim foul.
The Palestinian never govern the land, never developed it to its potential, and never shared it with those culturally associated with it. They were never invaded, they were never attacked. And they never attempted to establish their own sovereignty. In an attempt to overcome by force, those that did, they made their plight worse. And now they want to concoct a conspiracy theory to justify the failed barbaric actions that have worsen their position.
- Who started the conflict.
ANS: The Arabs and Palestinians
- Palestinian aggression.
ANS: Yes, they attempted to take what they could not earn on their own.
- Palestinians go to Europe 'vs' Zionists went to Palestine.
ANS: Yes, Zionists went to Palestine; and the whole world helped them (a bit late) in the end.
- Palestinians watching their country being taken over.
ANS: It was never their country. They have trouble making a lunch, let alone a nation.
Most Respectfully,
R