Who supports HAMAS in this forum?
No one, of course. The right of Palestinian self-determination and the right to full political participation and equal rights is separate from Hamas or the policies the Palestinians might eventually pursue if they have those rights. But people who refuse to countenance any criticism of Israel or see the Palestinians as humans endowed by their creator with the rights of humanity try desperately to equate the two.
People thinking they can "drive Israel/Israelis into the sea" need to wake up and smell the future that thought will bring them.
Well, how different is that from how Israelis treat Palestinians on the.West Bank. The rhetoric may not be as brutal but the reality is. You know, I'm a peaceful man but if I spent the last 54 years living as a subjugated person in my homeland with no political say in my fate, no ability to peacefully change my situation, with a subjugator backed by a strong military and police presence that has traditionally not respected my people and culture, and which has expressed the intention to keep my homeland as its own forever and people it with its citizens, rhetoric about driving them into the sea might well resonate with me way more than it does at this distance. There is a reason the two state solution has been the official US policy. It is in Israel's best interest. It is far easier to negotiate peace between nations than with a subjugated people.
I favor self-determination.
I favour the Arab world's accepting the UN's formation of Israel in 1948.
That didn't happen...so today we have what we have.
I've been watching You Tube videos of the Nazi concentration/Holocaust camps of WW2.
In my mind Israelis made up their minds a long time ago that nothing like that was ever going to happen to them again.
Who could blame them for adopting the
"Look after yourself first in this world, son...because nobody else will" policy?It's a 'dog eat dog' world everywhere one goes today.
From the schoolyard to the workplace, from the tent to the real estate market, in the neighbourhood, int'l trade, ...people will
"cut your throat for sixpence" if you're not prepared to fight.