"International Trade Secretary Liam Fox is visiting Israel to boost economic ties ahead of Brexit" ... from the BBC News website earlier.
In my mind Israel is a puzzle. The Jewish people suffered immensely in WW2 yet their attitude to the Palestinian people seems so out of character. I do hope the UK will insist Israel treats the Palestinians better before we trade more with them.
I know the Israelis will say they need to be recognised first, but compromise is needed on all sides. Israel was fighting in 1967 when I was about to go to university. I have been retired for 10.5 years and still there is no peace.
Grow up and act like adults!!
I have worked in Israel and the whole history of the recent conflicts makes depressing reading especially the British Mandate for Palestine.
ReplyDeleteBoth sides are as bad as each other fighting over what is basically worthless sandy, rocky scrubby land.
However when you are surrounded by folks who have the stated intent to wipe you off the face of the earth and lob rockets at you every day, it's not surprising that the Israelis behave in the way that they do.
The main current problem IMHO is the influence of Hamas, who manipulate the situation to remain in power and seem quite happy to have their own population suffer as a result.
This old quote from Golda Meir just about sums it up for me "We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children," she claimed. "We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us."
Fair comment, but I think both sides need the WILL to compromise. Clearly the current situation cannot go on for ever. Israel blames HAMAS. The Palestinians blame Israel for treating them as non-people. Come on! South Africa, Northern Ireland are 2 examples where people have woken up and changed. Surely there MUST be a way forward.
ReplyDelete"South Africa, Northern Ireland are 2 examples where people have woken up and changed"
ReplyDeleteNot really, both are about to 'kick off' again at some point.
In both countries (S. Africa and N.Ireland) there is now a realisation that jaw jaw is better than war war. In N.London the two communities (Arabs and Jews) live side by side. Yes they are different traditions, but they live in mutual respect. What I am hoping is that Israel and Palestine can live in mutual respect. After all this time it is surely in the interests of BOTH to accept each other. Neither side is perfect.
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