Is everything black and white? Must there be exactly one side that is right and one side that is wrong?
There are shades of gray, but that does not mean they are similar shades. Big difference between #D0D0D0 and #303030.
You write as though everything was happy and peaceful before 7 October 2023. Really? Did the conflict have no prior history?
There is. Hamas have been murdering Israeli civilians for decades. That's why so many of them are in prison.
One of the goals of the 10/7 massacre and hostage taking was to effect the release of all the Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons. And not for nothing, that was also a common demand on picket signs at western protests.
Almost as if there was some kind of collusion between Hamas and the protest movement. Hmmm.
The
prisoner issue had been very near and dear to Yahya Sinwar btw. because he himself imprisoned for over two decades and foolishly released in the Shalit deal. See, I can criticize Netanyahu too when he does something stupid!
Upshot is that a new Hamas leader might be less obsessed with the issue of prisoners and more amenable to a reasonable deal. Time will tell.
Palestinians are resentful of the approx. One Million Israelis who have confiscated Palestinian houses and territory in the West Bank for their own dwellings. Can you understand that?
Judea and Samaria (aka West Bank) is a very different issue than Gaza. Gaza Strip is in the southern coastal plain, an area traditionally associated with Philistines. Judea and Samaria are core Israelites lands historically, so there is much more emotional attachment to those lands. Moreover, the area was never part of a state of "Palestine". Before Israel, it was controlled by Jordan, then Brits, then Ottomans and a series of foreign empires down to the Romans. Last time the land was natively ruled was the Hasmonean Kingdom of, yes, Israel.
So giving up WB would be very difficult to sell to the Israeli public. At the same time, disengagement from Gaza proved disastrous. A unilateral withdrawal from WB would open it to becoming a larger Gaza from which Palestinian terrorists would launch rockets and other attacks.
I do understand some kind of negotiated settlement should be made. A way to have part of WB annexed to Israel while giving most of it to the Palestinians. But it must be a negotiated deal and one where there is reasonable certainty that this State of Palestine would not become a cesspool for terrorists. Given that not even Lebanon is willing and/or capable of getting rid of Hezbollah, I do not rate the ability and willingness of a future Palestinian government to get rid of terrorists very highly. Especially when even Fatah, the supposedly moderate party, maintains a terror wing, and when PLO has mourned Yahya Sinwar's death.
Abbas’s PLO mourns ‘martyrdom’ of Hamas chief Sinwar, a ‘great national leader’
Can these people really be legitimate partners for peace given this attitude?
Those settlements are in violation of international law. Last time you were asked about this matter, your reply amounted to "Might makes right. Ha ha ha!" Is that still your position?
They are disputed territory. Technically, Israel won it from Jordan, but they relinquished claims to it. Final status should be negotiated, rather than pressuring Israel into a unilateral withdrawal.
Long before Hamas attacked a year ago, the conditions imposed by Israel on the Palestinians had similarities to the Warsaw Ghetto under Hitler.
Bullshit. It is Godwinesque hyperbole like this that makes discussion of this issue so difficult.
Do you have any hope for the Palestinians' future? Are Netanyahu's actions the way to build trust and friendship?
There can only be a future for Palestinians if they give up terrorism and also give up notions of destroying Israel, or of so-called "right of return" etc.
Take Gaza. How can Gaza have any future whatsoever? Surely, the necessary condition is that Hamas is no longer in charge or active in the Strip. Rebuilding Gaza is a project that will last 25-30 years and cost upward of $50G. It would be foolish for international community to commit that kind of money if Hamas is still in charge or active in the Strip. They can divert funds and material to rebuilding tunnels instead of apartments for example. And if they decide to attack Israel again in five years, all the rebuilding efforts will be for naught.
Germany wasn't allowed to keep their Nazi government. Neither should the Palestinians.
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