Why is there so much trouble between

[poolger]

Israel and Palestine. I dont really know much about the whole situation apart from a dispute about land. What else is there that makes the two not get on with one another?

[Theland]

It is a complex problem but worthy of study, as it impacts so much on world affairs, and our own domestic and foreign policy here in the U.K.
Yes, there is a land dispute, but the question has to be asked, "Which land?" We are told by our media that the disputed land is Gaza and the West Bank, but a closer look at political Islam, reveals an ambition to obtain all of the land of Israel. "From the river (Jordan) to the sea."
Look at Israels history from the late 19th century, through to independence in 1948.
There are many web sites to choose from.
As a neutral observer, your conclusions following your research would be revealing.

[kwicky]

Why do the Israelis need nuclear weapons to cover this threat which they have held long before the Iran crisis? Who do they fear?

[Theland]

The day after independence in 1948, Israel was attacked by FIVE armies! They have plenty to fear. They always have.
If Israel was attacked, and unable to defend itself, then with its dying breath it would launch operation, "Daniel". The Arabs know this, and to some extent it keeps them at bay.

[jno]

briefly, Jews had long wished to return to the land they occupied some 2000 years ago, which (according to the Bible) God promised them they could have. After the horrors of the second world war, it was widely felt they had better do so as they might not be safe anywhere else. So they were given by international agreement - but obvilously not the agreement of everyone - the land now called Israel. Unfortunately, there were Palestinians already living there. They feel their land has been stolen from them.

Should they be dispossessed because the holy book of another religion says so? Should the Jews have been given part of Germany, since that was the country that caused the problem? Anyway, many Palestinians are ready to die to get their land back, and many Israelis are prepared to kill for it.

[kwicky]

If the answer is a 2 state solution why do the Israelis hold 90% of the land?

[anotheoldgit]

How did the Jews cope for the thousands of years before 1948? No religion should have its own country, if you are an English Jew you live in England, if you are a French Jew you live in France etc, etc.
Where would it end if every religion on earth was to carve a little country out of someone else's land to call their very own?
Why is it that Jews & Muslims, seem to have trouble differencing between their Religion and their Race?

[Le Chat]

Maybe it's because their religion is who they are, not just a set of rules and beliefs for good living. They are defined by it, maybe in the same way that many gay men live through their 'gayness' and treat it is who they are, not just one single aspect of their life.

[LazyGun]

It is a very complex issues, poolger, and not merely one about the dispute over land. Its roots centre on the rampant antisemitism to Jews in europe, particularly russia throughout the 18 th century, leading to the formation of the modern day Zionist movement, formed in the 1890s, which had a goal of a state of israel outside of europe. The influence of the two world wars, and in particular Britains mandate from the League of Nations to administer Palestine and Transjordan ( The British spoils from carving up the old Ottoman Empire, of which Palestine had been a part) are central to the story, as is the holocaust.
In more recent times, the dispute has become one of borders, national self determination for the Palestinians, the control of the regional water supply by the Israelis, reparation to the palestinians of land taken by israel, the ignoring of UN mandates by Israel, the continued rise of arab militancy and attacks on Israel, the disproportionate response by Israel to these attacks, and so it goes on.

The palestinians became particularly militant when they felt they were being swamped with immigrants.... does that have any resonance with posters on this board?

Some , by no means exhaustive,links that you may find interesting if you really want to understand the roots of the problem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declarati on_of_1917
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936-1939_Arab_re volt_in_Palestine
14:58 Sat 23rd Dec 2006

[poolger]

Thanks for all the answers and links, at least now I have a better insight into the situation.

[KARL]

Some say part of the explanation as to why the two sides have not been able to negotiate their way out of this is that they are too similar, rather like the two sides in Northern Ireland. It has also been suggested that the Israelis became dependent on milking the post-holocaust sympathy through a kind of moral blackmail of certain western nations which skewed the realities. I know both Israelis and Palestinians who say this should be soluble by use of simple common sense and have no fundamental difference along ethno-religious lines. Others harbour a seething prejudice toward the other side. Not easy, a hero is needed and none is in sight.

[jno]

not just a hero... both sides seem to be badly led and split between moderates and hardliners. One honest, efficient, non-bloodthirsty politician on each side might be all it would take... but in fact the set-up might never permit this to happen.