The Palestine Question

will there ever be a peaceful solution? two sides with god on their side. it's hardly a win win situation.

My god could beat up your god

If you're going to quote Edward Said you could at least attribute it to him.

Who the fuck is Edward Said?

Who the fuck is Edward Said?

He was "Mr Palestine" five years in a row; famed for his amazing quads and 45" neck. They called him "The Hebron Hulk".

when i was reading about him i kept getting confused at why the author was capitalising Said, i was wondering for a pretty long time why an adjective was being ascribed arguements. It was pretty funny......really

with regards to the palestinian question i don't know too much really, but from what i can tell, like others feel it to be pretty fucked up, and by no means is the solution to be found with foreigners.

Again this might be my ignorance, but i view it in a similar way to the issue much closer to home, the debate about a unified Ireland. Without wanting to open up anther debate there does seem to be close parallels between the two, deeply intwined with political/religious differences, often conflict through strong activist groups and both inflamed by imperialist/english intervention.

Now of course there are going to be differences, and there may always be possible parallels between any two things.
And while I haven't got a conclusion to particularly take from this, my view on Ireland has a heavy bias and my kowledge of the palestine question is limited to that from the news.
What i can grasp is that, it will take time, and each side can only take satisfaction until a time where conditions are not the basis of decision making

Breakthrough !

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced he will back a Palestinian state.

But on the following conditions:

The state must have no army.
No control of its own air space.
No amusement parks with a Nazi theme.
In bed by 9.30pm.
No ice cream if caught swearing.
A masturbation tax. (likely to be costly in a conservative Muslim society).
Bath, twice a week.

it is a step forward, but its only really because of the influence of Obama (which is no real bad thing), but like said it is too much determined on conditions.

however i have to say that i was too optimistic to think that conditions about ice cream could be set aside

Breakthrough !

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced he will back a Palestinian state.

But on the following conditions:

The state must have no army.
No control of its own air space.
No amusement parks with a Nazi theme.
In bed by 9.30pm.
No ice cream if caught swearing.
A masturbation tax. (likely to be costly in a conservative Muslim society).
Bath, twice a week.

Further proof that Jews are all racists, they're a far bigger bunch of wankers than the Muslims.

Ahhh, I'm a fellow LRB fan. Let's do an LRB ride sometime! (This is my response to pretty much anything, and need not be taken seriously.)

The lrb is one of the best things there is. It's the only thing I subscribe to.

I don't know how much mileage there is in a ride, though; we'd have to ride from the shop, to, um… fuck it, I'm in :D

LRB 'Ride', this Wednesday, for anyone who's interested...

50 Palestinians evicted from long term homes in order to make space for construction of a new hotel.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD99QS94G3

Today/ Last Night, the 'Zionist Entity' opened fire on an aid convoy going to the Gaza Strip.
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/05/31/israel-gaza-aid-death.html
up to 19 dead.

Some interesting books to read:
Joe Sacco's Palestine and Footnotes in Gaza.
Sari Nusseibeh's Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life
Hatim Kanaaneh's A Doctor In Galilee.

Not in the long term. Superstition on a national level will ensure cataclysm.

+1

Today/ Last Night, the 'Zionist Entity' opened fire on an aid convoy going to the Gaza Strip.
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/05/31/israel-gaza-aid-death.html
up to 19 dead.

Some interesting books to read:
Joe Sacco's Palestine and Footnotes in Gaza.
Sari Nusseibeh's Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life
Hatim Kanaaneh's A Doctor In Galilee.

To follow on a literary note, author of the Wallander books, Henning Mankell, had withdrawn from an appearance at the Hay on Wye literary in order to take part in this aid flotilla and was on board while it was being stormed. The flotilla also carried former US ambassador to Iraq and Mauritania Edward Peck along with a number of people who are neither of arabic descent or muslim faith. This rather suggests that the typical Israeli line of propoganda is going to take a substantial kicking if trotted out.

On the subject of propoganda, the Israeli defence forces released some heavily edited footage of the raid which was shown on BBC News this morning. The footage was all of about 25 seconds long and was being used to evidence the use of force against the raid party. This was used to support the position that they only started shooting when were attacked in what they believe was a legal raid. I'm not sure why they were surprised at this, afterall, it would seem that they were only attacked because they were pointing guns at people and have a long track record of shooting first and asking questions later. People staring at the wrong end of a gun don't usually feel as if they are being afforded an opportunity to seek legal advice on the legitimacy of a raiding force and whether it has the full backing of international law. History also suggests that if the Israeli's are releasing footage then there is probably going to be some other footage of thiers that would offer a far greater context to the event.

On the subject of the legitimacy of the raid, plenty of arguments are being bandied around both pro and con. However, it may be far more definitive to consider the legitimacy of conditions imposed on Gaza that suggest that there is a need for an aid convoy in the first place.

One state Jewalistine, think of the advertising campaign for "Jewalistine the diamond on the middle-easy"

The most interesting part of this whole debate for me is looking at the religious group Neturei Karta..

But generally I am in support of the Palestinians.

The middle placard there makes a very good point.

Zionism is the problem, or more accurately, nationalism is the problem. Zionism twists the heritage of the Jewish people into an excuse to exert dominion over other people.

Another brand of nationalism led to the holocaust - I've always found it rather sad that a small minority of jewish people just don't seem to get the message.

Zionism gives Judaism a bad name.

As an aside, and beyond any religious context, I am absolutely disgusted with the conduct of the Jewish state in recent years (especially).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCtYecGbQz8

forgot about Chomsky not being allowed in.
Thank you for reminding me.

Good to see Clegg on BBC News this morning talking about how the blockade was unsustainable and implicating Cameron in the same sentiment. Another shipment out of Malta is now on it's way so it will be very interesting to see how this one plays out. If they kill any more people in international waters, I can see the US withdrawing a significant element of it's sponsorship.

Good to see Clegg on BBC News this morning talking about how the blockade was unsustainable and implicating Cameron in the same sentiment. Another shipment out of Malta is now on it's way so it will be very interesting to see how this one plays out. If they kill any more people in international waters, I can see the US withdrawing a significant element of it's sponsorship.

I see the last statement as unlikely, however Turkey have suggested that they will send a vessel for protection, which is a pretty severe challenge...
could be very interesting.

Who knows what is really happening. But one thing is certain - sympathy seems to be eroding towards Israel. Little doubt that the comments from our governments are only a face on what must be pretty frenzied activity in the background. It seems that there is an almost irreconcilable amount of hate between the two nations/faiths/beliefs. I happened to hear the "Eve of Destruction" by Barry Macguire on the radio today, Pretty appalling taste to play it, I thought. (and showing my age). But if you do listen to the lyrics - nothing has moved on, absolutely nothing has moved on from the middle '60's in this part of the World. Sorry just my 2 pennyworth. I just wish people would get on. Please don't jump down my throat, an observation.

The middle placard there makes a very good point.

Good point, but feck 'em Crimean Chasidim. They are not real Jews..

I see the last statement as unlikely,...

The current expectation of foreign aid to Israel from the US is arond $2.8b. The tenor of the US involvement in the UN statement suggests that they may want to be a bit more certain that portions of that designated for anti-terror" purposes aren't involved in what may now constitute illegal detention of American's expressing their freedom of speech in international waters, particularly as those detained, even briefly, include a man of significant political influence in the US.

You won't like this but here goes

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/international/israel-just-making-it-easier-for-guardian-readers-to-look-good-201006012778/

Wrong, that's brilliant.

I dunno man, the idea of describing an unprovoked military massacre as Israel being 'a bit jumpy' sticks in my craw.

Though generally I'm all up for Guardian baiting.