Jew-Arab Relations

This is the best explanation of Jew-Arab history I've heard to date.

I'll start with a rebuttal and follow with an explanation. You've echoed the mass media pro-Israeli view that focuses on Israel in isolation and paints the Zionist as perpetual victims who only want to live in peace. Here's another perspective: England and France took the Middle East from the Ottoman Empire [aka Turkey] at the end of WWI. Recognizing that the area had oil reserves but not knowing how vast they did what smart imperial powers do- they divided up the land without respect to ethnic or tribal history, backing up their decisions with force. The Arabs in the area were annoyed enough at what at happened, since Lawrence of Arabia and other Allied leaders had promised the region independence in exchange for support [see the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence] but when Jewis settlers began cutting off access to the Mediterranian and Egypt the Arabs saw the Jewish settlements as a "dagger" in the middle of Islamc lands- an attitude supported by the geographic shape that Israel eventually took. The British were nervous at the pace of Zionist expansionism- Jewish settlements were springing up all over the Palestine region and in a mirror of America's experience with Indians, the settlers were buying land from people who didn't understand the concept of land ownership and didn't realize they were being dispossessed of land which caused more friction. After World War II the Zionists expected immediate independence. The British tried to put the brakes on Israeli statehood partially because they had never promised it [the Balfour Declaration of 1917 only referred to a "national home"] and partially because they feared that pan-Arab anger could drive the islamic states into the hands of the Soviet Union. The Zionists turned to terrorism. Groups like the Stern Gang and Irgun [led by the likes of future Israeli Prime Ministers David Ben Gurion and Menachem Begin] began attacking British interests much like the Palestinians do now, culminating the bombing of the King David hotel in 1946. This was the turning point and the British began to disengage sensing they would be caught between the Arabs and Israelis. The Israelis did fight a defensive struggle against the Arab states in 1947 but their role as vicitm gets cloudy after that- starting with the 1956 Suez War. Egypt nationalized the joint Anglo-French Suez Canal in 1956, so England, France and Israel elected to seize it for themselves. The resulting attack was a military success. Had it continued the Canal would certainly have ended up in Allied hands. The attack was a diplomatic disaster and President Eisenhower threatened to sell the United States reserves of the British pound which would have precipitated a collapse of the British currency. The Arabs now saw Israel as an aggressor. This threat was also seen in previous Zionists statements that called for a "greater Israel" stretching from the Euphrates [in Iraq] to the Nile. Determined to wipe out Israel once and for all the Muslim states led by Egypt and Syria prepared for an attack in 1967. The Israelis preempted and destroyed the muslim states' air forces on the ground then swept out taking the West Bank of the Jordan River, the Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula. Now Israel was an imperial power, governing over lands that they won through conquest- the inevitable struggle for freedom by the occupied against the occupier began. Lacking any formal military the Palestinians resorted to terrorisim in an ironic twist to the events of the late 1940's. The UN refused to recognized the Israel's legal right to the Occupied Territories. The expanded Israel was now clearly a threat to the leading muslim powers. Egypt's Suez Canal was flanked by Israeli forces. The Syrian Golan heights- an invasion route into Syria proper- were held by Israel. Jerusalem, the third holy city of Islam and under Islamic control for at least a millenium was now under Jewish control. Syria and Egypt planned for war again, this time on three fronts- the West Bank, the Sinai and the Golan. After fighting a War of Attrition to test Israeli defenses along the Suez, the Egyptians and Syrians struck in 1973. Whether Israel would have been destroyed had the war run its course is a matter of conjecture since it is believed that the Israelis held nuclear weapons by this time. In any event the Egyptians and Syrians were only able to reconquer the Sinai and Golan before being driven back and when the Israeli Army took the offensive, they were driving to Damascus and Cairo- the capitals of the attacking states. The Soviets were preparing to send an airborn division to Egypt to assist in the defense. This was a war that was quickly getting out of hand and the Americans who had supplied the Israelis with advanced weaponry during the opening phases of the war [most notably TOW anti tank missiles] were now working towards a peace to avoid the ugliness of Israeli troops battling the Soviets in Egypt. Anti terrorist actions continued after the 1973 War and into the present. Israeli's anti-terrorist policy can be sumed up as the following: 1) Build settlements in the West Bank [remember, this is an occupied territory and not part of Israel] to tip the demographic balance in the Jews' favor. This will also act as a provocatio for the muslims in the West Bank being dispossessed of their homes, causing terrorist incidents that will build sympathy for the Israelis and provide a pretext for violent action against Palestinians. 2) Enusre that Lebanon is not a threat to Israel. This was the reason for the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Lebanon was either unable or unwilling to rein in the PLO which was rocketing Israel from its land. The Isrealis invaded Lebanon in 82 and almost destroyed the PLO. Of more interest to muslims was the massacre in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in which Lebanese Christians slaughtered between 300 and 3500 unarmed Palestinians while the Israeli army did nothing to stop them despite being aware of the massacre as it took place and being in a position to stop the Christian militia. 3) Engage in a pattern of targeted assasinations to strip the terrorists of their leaders. The Israelis do this by two means: snipers and helicopter or drone-launched air to surface missile. Both methods have led to civilian casualties that make the situation worse rather than better. So there's plenty of blame to go around on both sides. The difference in the public relations war is that the muslims don't have access to the mass media to the extent that Jews do.

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