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Does the world today realize that the name "Palestine" (until sometime after WWII) referred to both the Palestinian Territories of today (West Bank and Gaza) AND what now is known as Israel? My belief is that because Jews under early Zionism moved into "Palestine" and this bothered the Arabs (many of whom did and still do live in the land now known as Israel) from the beginning, both Israelis and Palestinians today are unwilling to agree on sharing land. Palestinians and all other Arabs never accepted the Jewish immigration to the region in the first place, and declared war as soon as Israel declared independence (from the British), and in turn, Israel claimed an extra chunk of historically Arab land in 1967, and ever since has been building settlements in Palestinian territory.
I really am astounded that Jews and Arabs never agreed on what belonged to whom, and let's not forget that Jews and Arabs are related, but I must ask: if not for the Koran making anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish) statements, and if not for the European powers (especially the UK and France) colonizing the Middle East, and if not for Western oil companies (such as BP) interfering in Middle East politics (such as what happened to install the Shah in Iran), would the Jewish immigration to "Palestine" have been accepted by Arabs, or maybe even encouraged? I do think Arab Christians (except perhaps those who may have anti-Semitic feelings) ought to be given a special say in both Israeli and Palestinian politics, as this group could be a major voice for peace, and bridge between Judaism and Islam.
But let me also ask: why have neither Jews nor Arabs ever agreed to not kill the opposite side's civilians? I know sometimes that happens by accident in every war, as does friendly fire, but hasn't international human rights law made the military killing of civilians a crime ever since Japan was bombed in WWII?
Also, why do most Arab countries (and other Muslim countries such as Iran) refuse to have diplomacy with Israel, and even refuse to refer to it by the name "Israel"? The USA was once at war with Germany and Japan but never refused to use those countries' names...
First, you need to go back before WW1 and look at the region in the 1300's when it was under the Ottomans. Nearly all of it waste lands, miles of desert in all directions and swamps. There were towns of Muslims, Jews and Christians in which they all lived together w/o much of an issue. In the early 1800's Europeans (not Jewish) floated into the region and started a takeover of Jobs that Jews held by spreading European hate to cause friction. It culminated with Jewish Massacres in the early 1800's. By the late 1800's the Ottomans allowed Jews to own land outright as they were being pushed out of other sectors. The Jews migrated from Western Europe to the region, before the word Zionism was barley a thought in Eastern Europe, and brought with them their farming skills and built working farms in less than 20 years. But as the farms grew, the need for labor grew. There were not enough Jew immigrated to the region, so Arabs immigrated instead and worked for the Jews as they paid much better than Arab countries. As European colonization floated more problems arose for the Jews outside the Ottoman Empire. And when Oil was found that event opened the region for exploitation and the rumor mill went out of control. So upwards of WW1 there were Jews in the region, but actual real Zionists didn't show up until after WW1. So now with a synopsis of the truth in hand, maybe you want to fix your basis for the query you laid out and reword your OP.
Does the world today realize that the name "Palestine" (until sometime after WWII) referred to both the Palestinian Territories of today (West Bank and Gaza) AND what now is known as Israel? My belief is that because Jews under early Zionism moved into "Palestine" and this bothered the Arabs (many of whom did and still do live in the land now known as Israel) from the beginning, both Israelis and Palestinians today are unwilling to agree on sharing land. Palestinians and all other Arabs never accepted the Jewish immigration to the region in the first place, and declared war as soon as Israel declared independence (from the British), and in turn, Israel claimed an extra chunk of historically Arab land in 1967, and ever since has been building settlements in Palestinian territory.
I really am astounded that Jews and Arabs never agreed on what belonged to whom, and let's not forget that Jews and Arabs are related, but I must ask: if not for the Koran making anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish) statements, and if not for the European powers (especially the UK and France) colonizing the Middle East, and if not for Western oil companies (such as BP) interfering in Middle East politics (such as what happened to install the Shah in Iran), would the Jewish immigration to "Palestine" have been accepted by Arabs, or maybe even encouraged? I do think Arab Christians (except perhaps those who may have anti-Semitic feelings) ought to be given a special say in both Israeli and Palestinian politics, as this group could be a major voice for peace, and bridge between Judaism and Islam.
But let me also ask: why have neither Jews nor Arabs ever agreed to not kill the opposite side's civilians? I know sometimes that happens by accident in every war, as does friendly fire, but hasn't international human rights law made the military killing of civilians a crime ever since Japan was bombed in WWII?
Also, why do most Arab countries (and other Muslim countries such as Iran) refuse to have diplomacy with Israel, and even refuse to refer to it by the name "Israel"? The USA was once at war with Germany and Japan but never refused to use those countries' names...
Okay, the area now known as Israel plus the West Bank and Gaza and few patches of Jordan has had serious fluxes in population over the past several hundred years. When Zionism first got its start it the late 1800s the area that became Israel was much more sparsely populated. Yes, there were a few towns of villages with Arabs (both Muslims and Christian), Jews, and Armenians, but much of the land was uninhabited. The Ottoman Empire allowed Jews to settle those lands precisely because it was not populated. Pretty much the same reason why the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and Argentina encouraged settlement by immigrants in their frontier areas.
The Jews started moving in and buying land mostly along the coast and started settling. The reason why so many Jews started moving in was because Zionism was most popular in Poland and Russia many Jews fleeing pogroms settled in Palestine.
As the land became more developed; plenty of Arabs started to move into parts of Palestine as well. Mostly from modern day Syria and Lebanon which further inflated the population of the area.
Israel was originally supposed to be modern day Israel, West Bank, Gaza, and Jordan, but the Brits ended up giving up more land to the Arabs (which actually made sense since they were the overwhelming majority in those areas).
When Israel became independent; several Arab nations declared war on Israel for both ethnic and religious reasons. The Arab governments encouraged Arabs to leave their homes so they wouldn't risk being killed by the Arab armies and that eventually all of Palestine would be theirs. Many Arabs stayed and either remained neutral or actually backed the new Jewish state.
The Arabs that left became the Palestinians and the Arabs that stayed became Israeli Arabs.
Does the world today realize that the name "Palestine" (until sometime after WWII) referred to both the Palestinian Territories of today (West Bank and Gaza) AND what now is known as Israel? My belief is that because Jews under early Zionism moved into "Palestine" and this bothered the Arabs (many of whom did and still do live in the land now known as Israel) from the beginning, both Israelis and Palestinians today are unwilling to agree on sharing land. Palestinians and all other Arabs never accepted the Jewish immigration to the region in the first place, and declared war as soon as Israel declared independence (from the British), and in turn, Israel claimed an extra chunk of historically Arab land in 1967, and ever since has been building settlements in Palestinian territory.
I really am astounded that Jews and Arabs never agreed on what belonged to whom, and let's not forget that Jews and Arabs are related, but I must ask: if not for the Koran making anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish) statements, and if not for the European powers (especially the UK and France) colonizing the Middle East, and if not for Western oil companies (such as BP) interfering in Middle East politics (such as what happened to install the Shah in Iran), would the Jewish immigration to "Palestine" have been accepted by Arabs, or maybe even encouraged? I do think Arab Christians (except perhaps those who may have anti-Semitic feelings) ought to be given a special say in both Israeli and Palestinian politics, as this group could be a major voice for peace, and bridge between Judaism and Islam.
But let me also ask: why have neither Jews nor Arabs ever agreed to not kill the opposite side's civilians? I know sometimes that happens by accident in every war, as does friendly fire, but hasn't international human rights law made the military killing of civilians a crime ever since Japan was bombed in WWII?
Also, why do most Arab countries (and other Muslim countries such as Iran) refuse to have diplomacy with Israel, and even refuse to refer to it by the name "Israel"? The USA was once at war with Germany and Japan but never refused to use those countries' names...
YOU are not being honest here, and THAT is what fuels the problem. Until you can accept the nature of the problem, you cannot have peace. The Arabs who call THEMSELVES Palestinians they're just Jordanians or Egyptians) CHOSE Hamas as their elected representatives. There can be no peace until they abandon VIOLENCE.
The Jews, as a nation, DO NOT do what you have accused them of.
There has been some fine responses so I do need to say anything repetitive. I will add a few points:
When it comes to conflict, one cannot sit down and press the easy button and poof all civilian casualties are exempt. Gaza city is an extremely dense metropolitan city, and the strategic Hamas uses to strike Israel includes the use of civilians. Israel on the other hand, has offered repeated peace treaties and state proposals which were always rejected (Besides Oslo's but different story). If the Palestinian side rejected its pipe dream of destroying Israel, there would be no long civilian casualties as Israel is not interested in a perpetual war.
Per your second question, the Islamic religion/culture cannot except the presence of a Jewish state in a region that Islam declares its own. An Islamic believer professes that they have the final religion, so if anything does not fit their disposition, they reject it. Israel is comprised of a tainted west culture full of infidels, not Islamic law. Israel disrupts the Arab unity in the region. For the reasons, Arab countries as well as Iran cannot accept Israel as a Jewish state.
Muslims in the area have committed mass slaughter of Jews well before the foundation of the state of Israel. What doesn't often get reported is the population of muslim citizens of the state of Israel who live peacefully alongside their jewish neighbors. I sometimes wonder how much terrorist attacks and division would exist in the area if there hadn't been so much influence from muslim nations in the area? Take away the hardline Islamist, the terrorist, the weapons provided to terrorist, eliminate the PA, and the PA citizens willingly becoming citizens of Israel and you have a tourism boom to the area. More people willing to visit for the historical sites, religious pilgrimages, miles of beaches, and developing of beach side resorts. The stability would also open the door to more archeological digs in the area which also means more money coming into the country. This would financially benefit the muslims who today fight so hard to eliminate Israel. The other group the nation of Israel would have to deal with is the orthodox jews who also hold a hardline view that others should observe God's law the way they do.
I wonder how many people here have actually been to Israel and Palestine, say with a church group ? I went in the late 90s.
Israel is a modern functioning western style democracy. First things that jump at you are the exotic and historic / religious things, but pretty soon you start to notice just how Western and developed the country is. Tel Aviv looks like it belongs somewhere on the Adriatic coast. And their culture seemed extremely egalitarian, perhaps even more so than in the US.
Nazareth was a city with predominantly Israeli-Arab population. It looked poorer at first, because of trash in the streets and many buildings that were not well kept. But the cars were much more expensive than in Jewish cities, that's where I fist saw a Mercedes in Israel. I'd say they had fairly high life quality.
Bethlehem was in the West Bank, much poorer than Nazareth but still kids looked well fed, there were cars and cell phones and stereos. Kind of "trailer park" appearance, comparing to Jewish or Israeli Arab parts.
Then we crossed into Jordan. The difference was simply staggering. It looked outright impoverished, and the land was a desert. Israel - at least the central part - was surprisingly green, I knew that they were cultivating it for the last 60 years, but I just expected a more "Biblical" look. Between Haifa and Tel Aviv, the whole country was green, lush, and yellow with some plant that flowered all over the place and gave me one of the worst allergies of my life (this was in April).
I guess the point I am trying to make, it's two completely different cultures and ways of life. I can understand how, in the eyes of a Jordanian Arab, Israelis are nothing but Western colonizers. The Israleis have very little in common with Arabs, and if there's one country / culture they remind me of the most, it's northern Italians. Add to this the Muslim religious dogma that can't accept giving up any land to infidels, hurt pride because of all the lost wars, the rabid Jew hatred taught in Palestinian schools for generations, and simple envy... I don't know how there can ever be peace in that part of the world. Pity, too, as I loved my visit to Israel. Wonderful country, amazing people, amazing history, and what they did with the land that once was a desert is nothing short of a miracle.
Also, why do most Arab countries (and other Muslim countries such as Iran) refuse to have diplomacy with Israel, and even refuse to refer to it by the name "Israel"? The USA was once at war with Germany and Japan but never refused to use those countries' names...
A wide-ranging confluence of subjects and areas of study would need to be presented here
to answer your questions. Books have been written and journalism published over many
decades in various languages, from different perspectives. If you truly want to understand
the various perspectives, facts, claims, theories and events then you will not only need
to spend years studying the origins of current events, politics, diplomacy, war and propaganda;
but also covert ops, secret societies, economics, imperialism, and military history; then
a heavy dose of anthropology, genaeology, theology, history, revisionist beliefs, and racism.
British Israelism, British royal history, British Arabian history, selling of peerages, Bank of England,
Zionist movement, Lawrence of Arabia, Lord Balfour and Baron Rothschild, the French Levant,
Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, House of Saud, evolution and development of Jewish rabbinical claims
concerning the Holy Land, Papal bulls and encyclicals, the Crusades, the Ottoman Empire,
Roman Empire, Persian Empire, Idumeans, Edomites, Canaanites, Samaritans, Judahites,
Scythians, Causasus Mountains, Dariel Pass, Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, Spiritual Israel,
Benjaminites, Levites, Khazarian Empire, Khazars, Israelite history in Babylon and Assyria,
Talmuds, Mohammedism, Ishamael and Isaac, Palestinian Liberation Movement, death of
Yassir Arafat, American and British middle east policy, and so on. good luck ! I've spent
enough time just listing a few of the subjects you can have fun exploring.
At least one small segment of Arab society that seems to love Israel are gays - they flock to Tel Aviv in droves, at least according to one article I read. I guess they prefer to prostitute themselves openly to make a living in Israel vs having to hide & risk being killed for their lifestyle at home.
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