Time to retire Helen

[idlewind]

Wow! Am I the only person on this board to think that the artificial establishment of European Jews into the Palestinian homeland was a very serious foreign policy error perpetrated by the British and now perpetuated by the Americans? From my understanding, the Palestinians were driven off their land and it was given to these European Jews solely as retibution for the Holocaust, which the Palestinians had nothing to do with. I think they have a very legitimate gripe. The Jews were given the Holy Land simply because the Palestinians were a weak nation. I am oversimplifying and I have nothing against Jewish people, at all, but this was a very big blunder on par with the George W. Bush invasion of Iraq, and we have already seen the immense destruction both of these blunders have caused.

I read a statement by an Israeli that went like this " I did not care where Israel was established, Britain, New York or New Zealand would have been just the same. Regardless of where Israel is I would fight to the death to protect it. After what happened in the holocaust morality seems a joke and something for others to worry about."
I am sure the Indians view allowing the Spanish and the French to come ashore was a serious foreign policy blunder. But the past is the past and what is done is done. As Wrobert says: " It is what it is."

 

[scooterbug44]

Question - where do you think we could have set up Israel instead of the Middle East and thus avoided many issues?

 

[Lake View Too]

I have often wondered what history would be like if Israel had not been created, or it had been done in a different manner.

IMO (and many others) Israel building more settlements and expanding is responsible for a lot of the current conflict and needs to stop.

Yes, doesn't it seem very artificial to set up a country, in someone else's homeland, completely based on one religion?

 

[scooterbug44]

Not after a massive genocide that decimated their population, relocated and impoverished survivors, and involved most of a continent. The scope of the solution was due to the scope of the problem.

Trying to remember how my history teacher explained it - but basically everywhere is someone's homeland, but they had historical ties to Palestine and after the biatch slapping they got from the Nazis needed their own space where they could ensure their own safety/survival.

 

[Lake View Too]

Not after a massive genocide that decimated their population, relocated and impoverished survivors, and involved most of a continent. The scope of the solution was due to the scope of the problem.

Trying to remember how my history teacher explained it - but basically everywhere is someone's homeland, but they had historical ties to Palestine and after the biatch slapping they got from the Nazis needed their own space where they could ensure their own safety/survival.

Good points, but obviously it hasn't worked out so well. Can anyone cited a similar situation where on occupying "nation" was given a country with the blessings of the international community (i.e. the UN)?

 

[30ashopper]

She's finally gone.

Helen Thomas announces retirement - TheHill.com

 

[scooterbug44]

Good points, but obviously it hasn't worked out so well. Can anyone cited a similar situation where on occupying "nation" was given a country with the blessings of the international community (i.e. the UN)?

Yep - it's called the American West. Palestinians = Indians, Israelis = settlers.

 

[Lake View Too]

Yep - it's called the American West. Palestinians = Indians, Israelis = settlers.

Not a bad analogy, actually. But, someone please explain to me why we are condoning virtually everything that Israel does.

 

[Will B]

She just announced her retirement...

Effective immediately...

From Politco...

Helen Thomas retires - On Media - POLITICO.com

"Helen Thomas announced Monday that she is retiring, effective immediately," read a statement from Hearst Newspapers on Monday. "Her decision came after her controversial comments about Israel and the Palestinians were captured on videotape and widely disseminated on the Internet."

And before somebody politicizes my link as that's what we all do here...
It is being reported on ALL news sites. Politico just happens to be the first one I saw it on

So there...

 

[poppy]

Please, do we really have to go through the list of people who have been canned because they said something that offended someone? I admire her longevity but that statement is over the top and she has to pay the price. If she apologizes and owns it she probably gets just a slap on the wrist.

Yes please, go through them, then name those who weren't canned.
I will never understand why a pissy little country like Israel demands so much attention from the U.S.