So, with all of the bleeding hearts going ON and ON and ON about how Israel are such monsters and Palestinians are innocent and blah blah blah, I figured I'd give a more comprehensive account for why, if anything, I've become more pro Israel than anything.
My own viewpoint comes from a historical understanding of the conflict over time, and I feel like in this context it's pretty reasonable. And sure, Israel's bombing campaigns are a bit overkill and they are killing a lot of innocent people, and I think they should exercise more restraint to minimize civilian casualties, but in the grand scheme of things, here's how I see the conflict.
The 1948 UN mandate and the Arab Israeli War
So, as we know, the people who created this issue were the British. They controlled the land before. The Palestinians lived there, some Jews migrated there, it caused ethnic tensions, the British ended up controlling Jewish immigration as a result. The whole time, they were talking out of both times of their mouth, and promised the land both to Jews and Palestinians, while keeping it for themselves.
But after WWII, the British wanted to divest themselves of their colonies as they required too much work to maintain, and handed the issue off to the newly formed UN.
And the UN basically decided to split the land 50-50 roughly between the factions. The Jews would get half, the Palestinians would get half, and everyone would be happy.
Well, not quite. The Jews seemed to happy accept the deal, but the Palestinians didn't. You could argue the Palestinians had an argument that because they had more people they deserve more land, but that didn't seem to be their argument. They wanted ALL of it. Period. And war broke out.
Now, here's the thing about war. When diplomacy breaks down, war is the final arbiter of who gets what. Force is what makes the world go round. And when peaceful arbitration and agreements break down, force is applied.
Palestine figured if they fought a war and won, they would control all of the land, and they would expel all of the Jews.
But...then the Israelis won. And they took even MORE land. And their claims were legitimized.
Basically, the original deal was roughly 50-50, the Palestinians said no, they decided to litigate this via warfare instead of diplomacy, they lost, and then the land was more 70-30 or something in favor of Israel.
The outcome of the war was devastating to Palestine, as losing a war often is. A lot of people died, a lot of people were expelled from the region, and Jews started immigrating in to the new Israeli state.
Basically, Palestine gambled and lost. And the results for them were devastating. But then they tried again...
The Six Day War
Ultimately, this issue got litigated by warfare again. A bunch of Arab nations decided to jump Israel and Israel....won. Again. Overwhelmingly. This time they took ALL of the land, and even won over territories in Egypt and Lebanon.
And at this point, I think the Palestinian claim to the land ceased to exist. You F around and find out like this. You end up fighting a war in order to take their land, and then they end up taking your land, and you lost.
Ya know, historically, this has happened again and again. And normally what happens is the population is genocided, enslaved, or otherwise scattered to the winds and absorbed into the winning side. But we don't do things that way these days. We're more humane, and basically Palestinians ended up living under Israeli rule instead.
Terrorism, diplomacy, and the modern cycle of violence
In subsequent decades, the palestinians shifted more to terrorism, and asymmetrical warfare, having lost their entire state. And ultimately Israel was brought back to the negotiation table. They ceded some land back to Egypt in order to make peace with them. They tried to work out deals with the Palestinians. Peace deals, that sort of thing. Who doesn't want peace?
Well, the Palestinians, apparently. Now, I'm going to say, Israel ain't perfect either. They didnt always abide by the terms of agreements either. They gave some land back for Palestine but then they would build settlements there, that ain't right and it's a violation of international law. BUT....I'm going to say it, the Palestinians as a collective don't really seem to want peace.
They keep being run by these extremists organizations that ultimately still have the goal of the Palestinians controlling ALL of the land, and they just won't freaking stop. Even almost a century later. It's been 75 years since Israel's founding. The Palestinians lost two major wars, as well as other wars not mentioned here. Israel has won every conflict time and time again. And the Palestinians have long since lost their right to ANYTHING from a pure negotiation standpoint. Like seriously, how many times do they have to lose and get their butts kicked before they realize that their ambitions of a Palestinian state that they alone control isn't gonna happen? AT BEST you're going to have a two state solution with Israel's consent, mediated by the UN and the international community.
But...it doesn't seem like anything is good enough for Palestine. And they keep electing extremists who want it all. And then they commit acts of terror, and then Israel responds with overwhelming force. And it's like "how many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man?" Like really, Palestine, you LOST. You lost again and again. Any land you guys have at this point is just Israel trying to be nice under the pressure of the international community. Seriously, it's a participation trophy. More charity than anything. Trying to be humane. Trying to be the bigger man. Trying to live up to western ideals of human rights and blah blah blah.
And that's why Gaza is also a so called open air prison. Israel ceded that land to Palestinians to live in, but because the Palestinians keep bombing them, they built walls around it. And because the two state solution is never gonna actually work, because states need some level of self sufficiency or cooperation with neighbors to logistically meet their needs, and Gaza is NOT self sufficient, and Gaza is at constant war with its neighbor because they keep picking a fight with them, well....I'm not sure why people expect the situation to be any different.
Yeah. You just attacked a state that's MUCH BIGGER THAN YOU AND THAT YOURE DEPENDENT ON FOR YOUR NEEDS. And they decide to stop giving you food, water, and electricity. WHAT DID YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN?! And now they're bombing Palestine too. Because the people responsible for the attacks hide among civilians and even WITH great care in trying to be surgical and precise, given the sheer population density, civilian casualties are gonna happen.
And again, I keep asking, what's Israel supposed to do, not attack Hamas? Just let them keep killing civilians?
I really dont know what they expect Israel to do. Sure they could use more restraint in their attacks on Gaza, but when I hear about open air prisons and them cutting off aid and them bombing Gaza, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?! Hamas just committed heinous terrorist acts in Israel. Hamas. You know, the people who formally act as the Palestinians' government. Who have genocidal aims and want the land all to themselves. This is being treated as an act of war on Israel, and Israel is responding accordingly. That's the reality of things.
And that's how we got here, and that's why I just can't sympathize that much with the Palestinians. Im not saying that this is right to them. A lot of them are innocent and suffering too, sure. But that's war. Maybe their government shouldnt stop one if they didn't want this to happen.
Back in 1948, the two sides were on roughly equal footing. And they couldve made peace then. Palestine chose violence. And violence they got.
Same thing in 1967 again. They chose violence, and violence they got. And in the process they basically became the equivalent of a conquered people. They picked a fight, they lost. And then they didn't get anything.
But because the west is humane, and we're not like the people of the past, we keep trying to do these deals with them to meet them half way and accommodate them...and they just keep committing acts of terror in response.
You keep F-ing around, and you're gonna keep finding out. What can I say? And that's how I feel on this.
What I expect from Palestine
Stop attacking Israel. Stop committing acts of terror. Stop having organizations like Hamas represent you. Give up your genocidal ambitions of controlling all of the land and killing/expelling all of the Jews.
Seriously, both sides here, not just you, Palestine, but Israel too, are gonna have to learn to share and get along. Youre not gonna get everything you want. As long as you have enough land for yourself and your families, is that not good enough? Cant you peacefully coexist with others? Seriously.
We've been trying two state solutions for years. if this is gonna work, you're still gonna have to cooperate with Israel. Because your land is not contigious piece with clearly defined borders where youre self sufficient. It's a jigsaw. And both sides are gonna have to learn to cooperate here.
And if you can't, well, at this point, you can either leave to a friendly arab nation that will take you (and most wont because they dont want to cede anything to israel either), or you're gonna have to learn to live under Israeli rule. After all, you could've had your own state, you can't seem to make it work, so this is the alternative.
And I admit, that's gonna suck. Israel is an ethnostate, they are practicing apartheid. But, I've also heard people say they offered palestinian citizenship in the past too...and they just werent interested. Because again, they want it all, on their own terms. Something that's never gonna happen at this rate.
All I know is this, youre more likely to achieve goals peacefully and diplomatically than through terrorism. The international community is somewhat sympathetic here. And honestly, you got a lot of concessions because of them. And if the Israelis are mistreating you under a one state solution, well, I'm sure that the moralizers will scream about it and eventually pressure will be put on Israel to improve conditions.
Honestly though, the terrorism has to stop. It's not a good look. The wanting all of the land and being willing to kill for it isn't either. I just feel like Hamas and the like are just so out of touch with where the reality of the situation is, that no one should take them seriously, and given how brutally violent they are, well, again, my sympathy for their side is literally in the negatives.
Normally I stay out of issues like this. I prefer to deal with stuff locally. But this is the big issue of the day, and people won't stop talking about it constantly, so that's my honest thoughts. I know a lot of people are gonna disagree with me about it, but they can stay mad.
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