Thursday, April 16, 2009

Israel/Palestine/Arab dispute is over land

Israel/Palestine/Arab dispute is over land. At the time of the Balfour declaration--Mandate Palestine (i.e. British run area of the defeated Ottoman empire administrated by Britain) was 90% Arab, 10% Jewish. Miraculously, the mandate called for the land to be "shared." That never happened--land is now 80% Israeli/Jewish and 20% Palestinian/Arab. The Arabs were/and continue to be pushed out of their ever shrinking part of the Mandate. Stronger forces push out weaker forces--an old story (told many times over in the Bible). This should be end of story--but it's not--Israel lives in a sea of Arabs who want to see a decent outcome. The US sends money and arms to the Israelis--disturbing the Arabs even more. The big question is: Can Obama (already comprised by his support of AIPAC and having a dual Israeli citizen as his chief-of-staff) square the circle and reach a deal?

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