"Nobody had any right to expect the Palestinians to agree to partition, and nobody had any right to withhold the right of self determination from the people who were indigenous to the area (the ones who are now calling themselves the Palestinians), or to displace them from their homes and villages and the land of their origin." - CarolC

Why? They, the "Palestinian" Arabs had conclusively proved to both the British (Peel Commission) and to the UN that there could be no way on earth that Arab and Israeli could live in harmony in one state (Palestine). A two state solution was offered and refused first in 1937 and again in 1947. The boundaries of the two state solution that they are fighting about now are more or less the same as were offered by the UN in 1947. Can anybody answer the fairly obvious question - If it is alright now, why wasn't it alright then? - It would have saved a great deal of suffering on both sides.

Oh yes "the people who were indigenous to the area" - I take it then CarolC that you haven't checked up on who exactly has the "right of return" - You will find that it is far more imaginative and all-encompassing than those who were indigenous to the area.

Now when it comes to you discussing those, "displaced from their homes and villages and the land of their origin" - God I can almost hear the violins - Can you refer me to any post of yours where you have pressed for the "right of return" or compensation to the 820,000 Jews and their descendants expelled from Arab lands. All of a sudden it doesn't seem so urgent a case for CarolC and her likes. As I stated in another thread - Bigotted, Biased and Hypocritical.