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This requires a bit of a history lesson. In 1949, after the first Arab-Israeli war, Israel gained its independence. Israel negotiated with its neighbors the 1949 Armistice Agreements. These agreements established the 1949 Armistice Lines (often referred to as the 1967 borders, for reasons that will shortly become apparent) as de facto borders.
However, ...
51
The question seems to assume that sharing values with someone necessarily implies that you support that person (or group etc) in all things.
There's a difference between sharing certain values with a person or group on the one hand and supporting them regarding a specific issue, conflict or contention.
For example, if Jane is a dyed-in-the-wool left-winger ...
34
First, They already have, and that is part of the reason for the conflict in the first place.
What it seems like you are suggesting is that they go in and remove the existing inhabitants from Palestine all together. The truth is none of the other Arab nations want the Palestinians either. They are from Arab tribes that have a history of conflict with ...
34
In all likelihood, the disbursement of the funds to the Palestinians happened when it did because of politics. Many Democrats and Republicans hold Israel's status in the region as sacrosanct, regardless of what they do, and doing so at the last minute of his term and at the beginning of someone else's doesn't leave much time for others to really critisize ...
31
As with the definition of Palestine, the definition of Israel varies depending on whom you ask. Whereas I could organize the definitions of Palestine by controversy, every definition of Israel is controversial, and likely to offend at least someone. So, here are the various modern definitions of Israel, from smallest to largest.
Arguably this does not count,...
31
Basically, it's related to the US abstinent on UN Vote on Israeli Settlements (United Nations Security Council 2334).
As quoted, then Secretary of State John Kerry said on the reason for abstaining:
“The status quo is leading toward one state and perpetual occupation,” Kerry warned. “The Israeli prime minister publicly supports a two-state solution, but ...
29
Why hasn't a country named Palestine been created yet?
As you alluded to in your summary, the nation of Israel was formed during WWII and it included land claimed by the Palestinians. Israel became recognized by the global community, where as Palestine did not. Since then Palestinians have been trying through various means to create a nation. This has of ...
25
There are 3 ways to look at land "ownership": sovereignty history, living in the area historically, and current sovereignty. Let's examine each:
Sovereignty history
If you want to take a look historically, "Palestinians" as a sovereign nation did not exist until 20th century.
Before 20th century, the land was Ottoman Empire's and then British control.
...
24
Israel does not want to be in charge of those areas, and has already given most of the area to Palestinian sovereignty.
Before 1993, Israel was in control over the entirety of the West Bank and Gaza. This was a result of the Six Day War. To summarize, Egypt blockaded the Strait of Tiran, and surrounding Arab nations prepared to invade Israel. Israel ...
24
Let's begin by repeating the definitions of de facto and de jure:
de facto: a) in fact, whether by right or not. b) existing or holding
a specified position in fact but not necessarily by legal right.
de jure: a) according to rightful entitlement or claim; by right. b)
existing or holding a specified position by legal right.
De jure the state of Palestine ...
22
There are still Assyrian people with population between 3.5-4 million who might want back the whole neighbourhood of Israel, since there was a long period of time when they held it.
Ancient Egypt also held Palestine/Israel territory for long time.
Keeping a certain piece of land for a time doesn't create any right for it. It is a false judgement. Otherwise ...
20
In addition to all the OTHER answers, another reason is the sheer difficulty. The cost/benefit analysis doesn't tip towards capture.
Capturing a terrain is easy (Update: yesterday, 8/5/2014, a high ranking IDF officer noted that they could take over entire Gaza in 10 days if the government made that decision).
Actually successfully occupying a terrain ...
20
The long term plan of the Israeli government is to create a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. This is even the stance of current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who, in the Bar-Ilan speech, expressed support for a two-state solution. This came as a bit of a surprise, as Likud has traditionally been opposed to a two-state solution, as are many of ...
20
It is incorrect that the blockade applies to all goods. Many are allowed, though Israel does not publish justification for all non-weapon items that are banned. Since 2010, Israel eased restrictions on non-military items.
On 20 June 2010, Israel's Security Cabinet approved a new system governing the blockade that would allow practically all non-military ...
18
First of all, Palestine was never sovereign British territory. It was held by the UK under a League of Nations mandate, with the responsibility to prepare it for eventual independence.
UK occupation of the West Bank and Gaza did not end in an orderly fashion, but in the violence of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The UK unilaterally declared its mandate would ...
answered Jan 30 '18 at 9:29
Royal Canadian Bandit
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17
The short answer is because the Bible/Torah states that God promised
them the
land. Therefore letting
the Palestinians have it would go against the will of God.
The rest of the world calls the area West Bank, but in Israel it is
called Judea and Samaria because that is the names it had when the
Israelite kingdoms ruled about 2300 years ago. These names were
...
16
You are correct that the Israeli-Arab conflict has not resulted in nearly so much death as ongoing conflicts in Africa. You can see from this webpage that, even though the vast majority of conflict-related deaths over the past several decades have taken place in Africa, the British and American media consistently cover other continents more.
However, this ...
15
It really depends on whom you ask. Depending on the context, people talking about "Palestine" could be referring to a few different things, though some definitions are more controversial than others. Barring historical definitions, like British Mandatory Palestine, Palestine could mean any of the following, in reverse order of controversy:
The least ...
15
No, it does not forbid it.
The Geneva Convention establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of war
Geneva Convention IV Article 28 of the 1949 Geneva Convention IV provides: “The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.”
The loss of civilian life ...
15
No.
All Israeli citizens, Jews, Arabs and others, have a right to vote and can freely exercise it. I have never seen any serious claim otherwise. I personally know Arab Israelis who have voted and faced no difficulty whatsoever.
At present, 13 of 120 seats in the Israeli Parliament are held by an Arab party. In other parties, 4 more seats are held by Druze ...
15
You seem to be asking several different questions. Let's address all of them in turn:
How does corruption in Israel differ from other Western democracies
Corruption is somewhat subjective but there's some well regarded efforts to measure it, however accurate they are[1]. On such is "Corruption Perception Index".
By that metrics, in 2016, Israel was ranked ...
14
I'd like to point out that the US left (as in Democratic Party) is, in this regard, not really comparable to the European left (as in SPD, Parti Socialiste, Swedish Social Democratic Party, ...) - and I have no idea about far eastern views on this but suspect that south-American views are more in line with the EU.
Anti-Capitalism & Anti-Imperialism
...
14
When answering this question, it's useful to clarify a few things.
First, it's important to clarify what we mean by a "settlement". As you learned in the comments, there are settlements and settlement outposts. Settlement outposts are considered illegal under Israeli law, and are established without the explicit permission of the Israeli government. They ...
14
First of all, the main option the question is ignoring is that most opponents of the "standard" Arab-imposed 2-state solution idea (return to 1967 lines) are actually in favor of 2-state solution, just in forms different than what Arab states want.
Dual-citizenship idea. Quoting from Wikipedia:
A number of proposals for the granting of Palestinian ...
13
Geopolitics.
Israel is historically (after the switcheroo of 1960s alinements) America's beachhead in Middle East, in contrast to Soviet-client (these days Russia but no big difference) Arab states.
Why is America interested in Middle East? First, oil. Second, to prevent another hegemon (USSR/Russia; or regional like Turkey or Iran) from taking influence ...
13
The Palestinians ultimately want a one state solution because they believe, and have believed for a long time, that all land West of the Jordan river rightfully belongs to them. This been the Palestinian stance since before Israel existed. In 1937, Awni Bey Aboulhadi, Palestinian representative, said before the Peel Commission:
Every Arab in Palestine ...
13
The shortest answer I can give, is that Israel and Palestine aren't sports teams. We don't just pick one or the other based on a single issue, or based on how similar they are to us. We look at a wide range of issues and the history as best we can, and in the end, we find the Palestinian arguments to be more compelling. It would be silly to make a decision ...
12
Israel has already captured Palestine. That is why the
Palestinians are living under a military occupation. But it will never
officially declare Palestine conquered or make it part of Israel.
If they did, and if they wanted to continue to be a democratic state,
they would have to give the Palestinians citizenship. Then the
population of Israel would be ...
12
First, I want to point out (as user1873 did in the comments) that that map is not an accurate representation of the historical geography of the conflict.
In image one, the green land was not Palestinian, but Ottoman and then British. In the 19th century, Palestine was a part of the Ottoman empire, but after Britain defeated the Ottomans in World War I, it ...
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