AlladinSane said:
Well Israel's army kills civilians also, but it's not considered terrorists. What's the difference? Minority or not they are trated equally. As for owning the land, how do you 'own' a land? Taking it by force? They live there for more than a century... That's enough for me...
Israel's army doesn't
target civilians. Civilians get killed in crossfires between the army and the terrorists, because that's what happens in war. The responsibility for the civilian deaths lies with the aggressor, which in this case is the Palestinians.
The Jews did not take over Palestine by conquest. They immigrated there and purchased land. Due to their success at turning wilderness areas into prosperous communities, they became targets of envy and hatred by their Arab neighbors. The British gained control of Palestine after WW I. During that period, the Arabs attempted to stop Jewish immigration to Palestine. When the British got ready to leave, they tried to make an arrangement that would protect the rights of the Jews. The Arabs refused any solution that protected the rights of the Jews. The UN voted on a resolution, and divided the area into two countries, one Jewish and one Arab. The Arab nations in the area (Lebannon, Syria, Transjordan, Iraq and Egypt) attacked the Jews in an effort to irradicate their fledgling country. The Jews fought back and defeated them. They established a democratic country. (Quick quiz: Name all the Arab democracies.)
The Arabs living in Israel were urged to leave by their leaders. The Israelis invited them to stay. Over 700,000 left and went to other Arab nations where they were put into refugee camps. Those who stayed were given citizenship in Israel. The only Arab country that has ever granted citizenship to the Palestinian refugees living in their borders is Jordan.
There was another war in 1956 when, in response to raids against civilians by Palestinian terrorists operating out of Sinai, Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula. At the same, Egypt was attacked by Anglo-French forces in response to their nationalization of the Suez Canal. UN forces took control of Sinai in order to prevent further attacks against Israel.
By 1967 the center of conflict had moved north to Syria. Terrorists were using the Golan Heights in Syria to shell settlements in Northern Israel. Israel responded with air attacks, and shot down six Syrian planes. Syria appealed to Egypt for assistance, and Egyptian forces moved into Sinai. The Egyptian president ordered the UN forces to be withdrawn, and closed the Straits of Tiran to all shipping to and from Israel. Iraq and Saudi Arabia also moved troops to Israel's border. Israel launched a pre-emptive attack and defeated Egypt in four days, pushing them out of the Sinai Peninsula. Jordan had been advised that if they kept the peace they would not be attacked. They began shelling Israel, and the Israeli military responded by pushing them out of the West Bank area. The Golan Heights were likewise taken in response to shelling from that area.
In 1969, Egypt began to bombard Israeli positions in Sinai. For over a year there was cross-border conflict between the two countries until a cease fire was negotiated.
In 1973 Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in the Yom Kippur war. Israel was taken by surprise, but after being pushed back initially, they were able to invade Syria and Egypt. A UN resolution ended the fighting after 18 days with Israel winning the war.
The Sinai and Gaza Strip were given back to Egypt when Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords in exchange for Egypt's recognition of Israel's right to exist.
The PLO launched attacks against Irael from bases in Jordan until they were expelled in 1970 after clashes between them and the Jordanian army. The PLO then moved into southern Lebannon, and continued to launch attacks from there. Israel invaded the area in 1978 after a PLO air attack. They withdrew their forces in favor of a UN peace-keeping force. The UN forces were unable to stop the terrorist attacks, though, so in 1982 Israel once again invaded. They surrounded the PLO in West Beirut. The US sponsored a plan to allow the PLO to evacuate to other Arab countries.
Since then we've had the Intifada, the return of Arafat to Israel, the Palestine Authority, attempts to negotiate a Palestinian State, etc... always accompanied by terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.
So I guess my question is, where in all this do you see the Israelis doing anything other than trying to protect themselves? The Jews immigrated to Palestine in the first place because they were tired of living in places where people hated them, envied them, used them for scapegoats, and periodically went on killing rampages against them. The place was a wilderness, a backwater on the ass-end of the world. They worked hard and turned their settlements into prosperous towns. They built a free, rich country in a desolate land surrounded by hostile dictatorships.
I don't think that those who criticize them for fighting for their survival are anti-Semitic. After all, the Arabs are Semitic also. It's not that they're anti-Jew either. They are just people who hate success and self-assertiveness.
That's really why the Jews have always been hated anyway. Not so much for their religion, although even that is indicative of the deeper reason: supposedly the Jews chose political freedom (Barrabas) over the Kingdom of Heaven (Jesus). They live in this world rather than the next and strive for success in this life. That's their sin. As long as they were the suffering underdogs of oppression and victims of fascism, the leftists loved them. As soon as they showed themselves capable of succeeding on their own, growing rich and embarrassing their enemies with their military prowess, the left dropped them like a hot potato. Why? Because socialism is a political philosohpy that requires suffering. If there is no suffering, if there is no poverty and misery, then there is no reason for socialism. Once you succeed, the left has no need of you. You can no longer serve as a pretext for what they really desire: to tear down those who succeed in life. When you succeed you become the enemy. That is why the leftists hate Israel now.