(In response to a post entitled "Israelis don't want peace.") - EoZ - by: Macaroniguy
How moronic you are. How ignorant of history you are.
Israel has ALREADY made concessions, more than any other country has ever made (willingly). And, in this conflict, Israel is the ONLY one making concessions.
Do you know that Israel, even with the 'extra' territories, still only comprises 22% of the Territory of Palestine that was given over by the British? Israel was originally bequeathed, in the Balfour Declaration, 100%. While the Israelis went through the proper channels and sought the approval of the League of Nations in order to legitimize its nation, the Arabs simply grabbed 78%, most of that going to make the country of Jordan. Israel could have easily fought, but they did not, as A CONCESSION TO PEACE.
Then, Israel was attacked in 5 separate wars of pan-Arab military aggression. In the 1967 war, in particular, Israel defended itself, fighting off the invaders, and actually gained a huge swathe of land. Did Israel keep this land? No. It gave back 90% AS A CONCESSION TO PEACE.
Only a small amount was kept, as a buffer between itself and its hostile enemies. Whom did this land belong to? Answer: the Jordanians. Did the Jordanians make a claim to recover this land? Answer: No.
Finally, as A CONCESSION TO PEACE, Israel allowed Egyptian born and raised Arafat to bring in his fellow Arabs, calling themselves 'palestinians' (though most have no roots in the region preceding the 1900s) to live in this region. They did so on the Arab promise that they would peacefully co-exist. Question: Did the 'palestinians' do as they promised, did they behave according to the condition of their occupation of Israeli land? Answer: No. They have conducted a 30 year long guerrila war against the Israelis, slaughtering innocent Israelis unmercifully.
Nevertheless, AS A CONCESSION TO PEACE, Israel offered *NINE* times peace treaties to the 'palestinians', and all nine were rejected, the 'palestinians' not willing to bend even modestly, though the Israelis were willing to give away nearly everything.
This war is costing Israel preciously. It costs Israel, most importantly, in the lives of its people, both mortally and emotionally. It costs Israel economically, draining away a huge percentage of its revenues in fighting a never-ending war. It also costs Israel economically in that the Arabs have spent trillions of oil dollars in a large PR campaign to smear Israel and villainize her for defending herself, to the point that other nations balk at trade with her.
The U.S. tax dollars sent to Israel are a pittance, in point of fact. Compared to the $2.0 billion yearly military aid to Israel, the U.S. contributes more than $130 billion(!) every year to the defense of Europe and more than $30 billion to the defense of Japan, Korea, and the Far East. Over 300,000 U.S. troops are stationed with NATO and over 30,000 U.S. troops in the Far East. In contrast, not one single U.S. soldier needs to be stationed and put at risk in Israel. U.S. military analysts estimate that the U.S. would have to spend the equivalent of $150 billion a year in the Middle East to maintain a force equivalent to Israel's. Finally, Israel provides the U.S. with invaluable intelligence and testing of its weapons.
To sum up: Israel has done everything in the name of peace, has made untold concessions for peace, has toed the line in every way possible, while the Arab/Muslim terrorists and militants have done everything possible to ethnically cleanse her, to genocidally destroy her, in the name of hatred and war.
