Well, in fairness, the whole world expected Palestine to 'take in' Jewish refugees from Europe and Russia etc., back in 1948. Maybe Germany should take back a few hundred thousand for a start? I reckon they should be given a big chunk of Bavaria - it's one of the most scenic and fertile parts of Germany. They should have to give up land if anyone should, true? France and all the other European countries that shoved them out should take back a few as well. For what it's worth, the UN council that decided to create a homeland for Jewish refugees down on top of where Palestinians were already living never bothered to consult the Palestinians about the decision. The British even promised them a homeland of their own in return for their support against the Ottoman empire in WW1, then reneged on that promise as soon as the war was over. (As an aside - the British had a habit of that. After encouraging the Irish to fight for the rights of small nations, democracy etc., they then decided the Irish weren't to have any of it. That's been a lot of the problem all along, the WAY (sorry, no italics on this browser, it'd represent what I want to say better than capitals) it was done, all a bit high-handed)


You're on the ball about Jordan though. Lots of complaining about the Jews and Israel, but they did damn all for the Palestinians. Which brings me to a point. Somebody back along this post suggested the West Bank was a bit small for all those that wanted to live there. Perhaps Jordan should cede some territory to a West Bank Palestinian state - since there are so many Palestinian refugees cramped along its borders anyway, it'd relieve Jordan of a problem that it seems to want rid of anyway. Another UN decision like the one in 1948 should do the trick.

You see, many Palestinian refugees still hold not only title deeds but even keys to houses and property that has since been colonised by Israel. If I understand correctly, most of these colonists are not Jews that fled the West Bank area in 1948, but new arrivals from USA, Russia and elsewhere. Perhaps they could stay where they were found not to have seized property belonging to Palestinians, but would they be happy to live in a Palestinian state (if the West Bank was so-declared)?

The lot of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon has been even worse in some respects than those of Jordan. Less integrated into Lebanses life due to differing sects of Islam and a large christian population, they also suffered two big massacres by Israeli-backed Phalangist militias at Shabra and Shatila.

I'm not sure about your figures of Arabs wanting 75% of the remaining 25% of the Jewish homeland - are you talking about the West Bank? I don't think that was ever part of the original Jewish homeland delineated back in '48 by the UN.

BTW, there are other Jewish communities living in the Middle East outside of Israel, one notable one being the one in Iran, which also has a Jewish member of the Iranian parliament.