Last edited Sun Dec 10, 2017, 01:15 PM - Edit history (1)

You have no idea of the history of the turmoil between Israel and Palestine. Of the entire Middle East region itself for the past 300 years of colonization, as well as the Crusades.

The early military bits were as much about colonialism in Europe by the Ottomans (which were also the imperialists in much of the Middle East and North Africa). Even the footholds in the middle 1800s were the result of things like piracy, a recurring theme and often covered by "jihad."

Few like discussing the piracy and others things as "jihad" because it makes it religious. Just as few like discussing the Ottoman presence in Europe as imperialism. Remember the imperialist Crimean War? We see a bit of resurgence of this as the quasi-Islamist Erdogan talks about ripping up the treaty between Turkey and Greece because of dreams of former imperial glory and Putin emulation. Few remember the first great wave of ethnic cleansing and genocide--we focus on the Armenians, not the Greeks, even though the Greeks preceded the Turks in Asia Minor by at least 1500 years.

But you're right. There was a lot of turmoil. Pogroms against Xians and a great wave of Christian immigration out of the area in the mid-late 1800s as the Muslims lost battles. Religious uprisings as the Ottoman empire weakened, whether in The Sudan or in the Hejaz, esp. after some of the more hateful Ottoman practices were tempered by Western-imposed reforms. Battles between Westerners seeking influence, often economic, but that often meant dealing with often religious opposition. It's hard being the "best nation" and having others show that they're superior, whether it's 1930s Europe, 1900s Middle East, or 1990s China. Leads to militarism, ethnic hatred, and either despondency and rejection of ethnic pride or to armed struggle.

This doesn't constitute an argument for or against acknowledging Israel's capital as Jerusalem, unified or not. The turmoil's been there. It's not new. This is a blip.

She looked programmed. I want some of what she's smoking/drinking.

Mahmoud Abbas telling the US that it could fuck right off, and that it no longer had a role in the peace process?

That "moving the ball forward"?

They think the public is dumber than a bag of hammers.

They are wrong. Not by much sometimes, but wrong.

Right now it's an Abbas death watch.

Sheldon Adelsons millions to trumps re-election chest.

dumber than a box of rocks can't fix STUPID

This administration doesn't want peace, they want war and are doing their dead level best to really piss off the Palestinians and inflame the mid-east. Israel wants the Palestinians to be slaves for them with no rights at all and they steal all the land. We know this because that's what they are doing now with the illegal settlements that we pay for, despite laws that say the $$ can't be used this way. Israel is delusional too because they think that once they've stolen everything from the Arabs and expelled them or converted them to virtual slaves, life will be good. Nope, the more they destroy the harder the resistance. Plus, I bet Russia will step in to help the Palestinians just to fuck with drumpf and USA, and then things get even worse.

The whole world sees this move as Big Foot USA muscling in to take over Jerusalem on behalf of land-grabber Bibi--to the exclusion of the others with a shared interest in Jerusalem. Once the U.S. embassy is built there--yet another one of Emperor Trump's monuments to himself, this one at taxpayer's expense--there will be U.S. troops stationed there to protect it and, incidentally, help the IDF suppress protests (and grab more land?) as needed. People know it's a takeover.

on the news lately? TYVM.