Much has been bantered about how Israel "stole" the land from the Palestinians, and they should return it. Is this really true? Who controlled Palestine prior to the Jewish State being mandated by the United Nations in 1948? Who controlled most of that land before Britain? How many times have lands in the "Middle East" been fought over and conquered by fighting "Arab" tribes and other nationalities like the Medo-Persians, the Turks, the Babylonians, and before that? When did Abraham and Joshua "conquer" the land from the Philistines, the Moabites, the Jebusites, and other tribes? What did Israel look like in the time of King David? Who occupied "Palestine" in 1948? Who objected to the State of Israel's formation? Who has continued to reject the State of Israel's right to exist? What was Jordan at the time of the 1948 UN Armistice? The truth is that both “Jewish Palestinians” and “Arab Palestinians” occupied “Israel” in 1948. It is not the “Palestinians” land so to speak unless you include both Jews and Arabs. The continuing aggitation and conflicts, since the formation of Israel, have been from surrounding Arab states. I have friends that live and work in Jerusalem, and the Jews and original "Arab Palestinians" actually live very peacefully with one another, and Israel made those folks Jewish citizens with all the rights and privileges of any Israeli citizen (more than most Arab states give their own populations - especially women).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090119145306AA...
I think when most people talk about returning "stolen" territory, they're referring to the 1967 borders, not the 1948. The building of settlements in occupied regions is against international law, which bars any country from using force to alter their borders.
So, if it from the UN it MUST be true. What about the five surrounding Arab nations NOT honoring their part and shooting bombs into Israel pre-1967? While Israel may have initiated raids, they were in response to Arab hostilities. So, they conquered the land back for self-preservation since parts of Israel were around 9 miles wide. The Golan Heights were used a rocket and bomb launching lands. So, you can quote the UN (with about as much credibility as Bernie Madoff in many cases) all you want, but Syria allowed terrorists to run raids, and that started the whole thing. How short our memories!
There's a difference between occupying and conquering. Occupying to defend oneself is legal. Conquering to take over land is not. What Israel is doing by building settlements is conquering, and that is antithetical to a civilized world. We didn't build settlements in Japan after WWII. We built military installations for security reasons, which are legal by treaty with Japan and Germany. The problem is that people like you read people like me who say that Israel is breaking a serious law as, "Israel is and always has been the aggressor." I'm aware of the Six Day war and the intifadas. I'm aware that the Arab world is hostile to Israel, and would be even if Israel pulled out of Palestine. None of this gives Israel the right to annex territory or to act an an apartheid state. Israel is a signatory to the UN convention. This isn't "from the UN". It's called international law. It's not a new concept, as treaties have been in force since governments started using diplomacy.
It isn't true that they are an "apartheid"state at all - as shown above "Palestine" was comprised of both Jews and Arabs (hardly apartheid), and the original Arabs have been given full citizenship in Israel and have full rights (unlike many "apartheid" Arab nations that don't recognize rights for women to ge t educated, drive, talk to men other thantheir husband, etc). I think you have misused the term "apartheid" in this case.
What is the difference between "conquered" lands (as most countries in that region were or are, and stolen). So really, Muhammed stole the land from the decendents of Abraham (jews or Hebrews) in the first place . Of course Abraham was from Ur of the Chaldese which was the southern part of modern day Iran. So whose land is it really? It is Abraham's and king Davids land which was stolen by the Muhammedan's.
If the snake (in this case the surrounding five Arab entities who also defied the UN armistice) continues to strike at you, move it a safe distance away where it cannot easily continue to strike at you. This is indeed the case. I don't agree with all settlements, but some yes. For personal security (and the right to exist which is denied by almost all Muslim countries in keeping with the Qur'an's teaching (which it does and Salman Rushdie was targeted for exposing to the world the remaining verses which call for Muslims to conquer the world and bring everyone under the Muslim rule). If you want a good book to read, try "Unveiling Islam" by the Caner brothers. It is a true, but yet compassionate, look at the Islamic religion written from the perspective of those who actually practiced it.
They say, " Never discuss Religion and Politics"! However, that is for people who don't want to discuss 98% of what touches our lives. Indeed. prior generations DID discuss both Religion and Politics, and it resulted in "America". That is a good result to both discussions, and I am grateful for the land we llive in (even with it's faults and benefits)!