I didn’t like it when critics started calling Israel an “Apartheid state” and I don’t like the accusations of “genocide” either. South Africa’s racial discrimination was uniquely venal and using the word “Apartheid” for other places takes away from that. And whilst some Israeli government statements are unquestionably racist about Palestinians I think on balance that the actions of the Israeli government cannot be termed genocidal, but it’s certainly close.
But are we dealing with reasonable people who just have a grievance if we institute dialogue with and between Hamas and Israel? I don’t think we are in either case. And, tragically, there’s nothing new about the situation. The problem is that it goes back to 1948 and, arguably, well before that. Land was confiscated and a state created some of which, today, with land acquired in wars and not returned in peace, but settled.
Israel’s actions for decades can be described as being the seeking of and gaining of Lebensraum. This word should send a chill through the blood of Jewish people anywhere, including in Israel. Because if one state gains room another state, or people, loses it. There’s a zero sum.
And Hamas and their powerful backers are at the core fighting about the loss of land – in short about losing their land to a huge scale pogrom – an irony that should make Israelis pause for thought. But Netanyahu has made it clear that his goal is fully to incorporate Gaza into Israel. And then…? The Israeli Prime Minister’s “New Middle Easr” doesn’t imclude Palestine. Negotiate your way out of that!
Paddy’s Blogs in a crazy world 
Netanyahu is simply following the Zionist creed of the consolidation of the Jewish state in the ancient traditional Biblical lands. The fact that Palestinians live there is an inconvenience and therefore war suits their mantra. Hamas gave the hawkish Israeli government all the excuses they needed to further their aims. Their stupidity has no limits
Those Zionist aims are clear to us all. Israel believes it is entitled to become the single nation-state within Palestine. It’s very difficult to see any room for compromise or accord with the Palestinian people.
Military strength with the support of other nations may be the only option left for the Palestinians. That is unlikely at the moment so the eternal conflict will continue, generation after generation.
It was General George Patton who believed war and conflict were integral to the human condition. Peace was simply a time to regroup, take stock, and recover before the next fight. That concept is particularly fitting in the Middle East.
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Excellent comment, thank you.
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