Subject: RE: BS: Palestinian Negotiation From: number 6 - PM Date: 29 Jan 06 - 06:58 PM
Don T. .... The following statement is from Mahmoud al-Zahar
"But asked about Hamas' call for Israel's destruction, Zahar would not say whether that remains the goal. "We are not speaking about the future, we are speaking now," he said."
He never denied the call for Israel's destruction.
Definition of destroy from Merriam-Webster: 2 a : to put out of existence : KILL b : NEUTRALIZE : ANNIHILATE, VANQUISH
Don't be disingenuous Six. His comment is about the State of Israel, not about killing its people.
Two thousand years ago Israel was a country called Palestine, where Jews and Arabs lived out their lives in peace and unity. IMHO, if the Jews had moved back into Palestine in 1948 as citizens of that country, there would have been little or no resistence from the Muslims, and we might have seen a return to the original shared existence. Both would have brought their own unique qualities to the situation and Palestine would possibly have progressed to considerable prominence on the World stage. Dispossession of the inhabitants of any country must inevitably lead to conflict (how many young Americans died in the "Indian" wars?).
Unless both sides are prepared to compromise, this situation is beyond resolution.
If the only solution is two separate states, then interference with the affairs of one with the affairs of the other MUST stop. Neither side can pretend a high moral stance here, and the rest of us need to stop perceiving either as essentially right. They are not!