An informative video presentation:

http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened

Should be required viewing for those who mindlessly repeat the line that Israel is land stolen from Arabs.

Here are some chestnuts:

• There were no Arabs in Palestine until the Muslim invasions of the 7th century. In the nearly 1300 years that followed, the Arabs made no attempt to create an independent Palestinian state. But, they did not want the Jews who were living in the Middle East to form a Jewish state.
• Today, the Arabs who live in Israel have more rights than Arabs living in any Arab country.
• After the 1948 Arab war against Israel, 850,000 Jews were forced to flee Arab countries in which they had lived for thousands of years. No one talks about these refugees. Because Israel re-settled them. Today, Jews are persona non grata in Arab states, but Arabs have full citizenship rights in Israel. Sometimes the present is a guide to the past.
• If the Palestinians only want a state of their own, why is there no Intifada in Jordan where Palestinians are a majority of the population? In fact, after the failed 1948 war against Israel, Jordan annexed the West Bank and Egypt annexed Gaza. But when the Palestine Liberation Organization was founded 15 years later in 1964 it did not call for the liberation of the West Bank from Jordan or the Gaza Strip from Egypt. Instead, the Palestinians called for the "liquidation of the Zionist presence" - the destruction of Israel.

Gee, maybe it would be a good idea if we just threw in with the palis and helped them make the area jewridden.

Things are going so swimmingly in Gaza right now...

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The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? - Psalm 27:1

It's always a grand ol party when Tanny and Jizzy get together to do some Arab bashing.

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http://www.spike.com/video/mad-real-world-katie/2795938

As is his usual debate tactic, Brightside can do nothing but impugn the motives of posters. I am curious to know whether he or anyone wishes to controvert any of the arguments in the presentation.

Your right, the Israelis don't have to accept one iota of blame what so ever for the current problem. Its entirely the fault of dirty arabs.

By the way, if the Golan Heights isn't resolved by next summer look for a shooting war between syria and israel. Syria is undergoing a massive rearmament program right now with the help of iran. You could see Israel fighting on three or four fronts for their survival. God forbid they try to resolve the border disputes diplomatically.

Debate??? You, sir, impugn anyone who debates by applying that word to what brightside does.
When the only "diplomacy" acceptable to your enemy is your total destruction, is diplomacy really a choice?

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The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? - Psalm 27:1

Obviously you have also decided not to address any of the arguments, substituting instead a straw man argument and an implication of racism.

Nowhere has anyone said that Israel doesn't have one iota of blame in the conflict. In almost any conflict, both sides have some blame. However, the claim that Israel is land stolen from Arabs, and further that such theft is the fundamental cause of conflict in the middle east is false as outlined in the link. It is a lie constructed by those who wish to convince us that Israel is not a legitimate nation and thus has no right to defend itself. Many Americans swallow it whole because they have zero knowledge of middle east history, the subject often having no coverage in our public education curriculum.

Again, do you wish to controvert any of the statements I listed in my post, or anything from the link? I will show you how that works by taking issue with one of your points (which was completely off topic). You say "God forbid they try to resolve the border disputes diplomatically." I take "they" to include Israel, which is odd since they seem to be the only side that tries diplomacy. At least, it is clear that their enemies eschew diplomacy, so what good what it do? The Gaza and Lebanon treaties were almost immediately broken when Israel was attacked by rockets. Hezbollah leader Nasrallah says:

"The Jews are a cancer which is liable to spread again at any moment."
"There is no solution to the conflict except with the disappearance of Israel."

And of course there is Hamas' charter, which calls for the eradication of Israel:

"Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."

And as you well know, the entire conflict began after the UN declared Israel would have a state comprised of 10% of the original Palestine Mandate, and 60% of that 10% was desert, and 5 Arab nations attacked Israel in an all fronts war in an effort to eradicate it.

How do you take facts such as these and conclude that Israel abandons diplomacy? And how do you suggest that Israel practice diplomacy when its enemies declare that the only solution is to destroy it?

I consider motives in choosing whether I will debate with people or not because honest debate entails a back and forth, not one side haranguing from a soap box and branding everyone who dares to disagree a “liberal.” I support Israel’s right to exist, I recognize that there are two valid sides to just about every argument, and I know that there are moderate voices in the Arab world that are usually drowned out by extremists. Our inability to debate is predicated on your constant focus on the extremist view point, which shapes your whole view of the conflict.

Israel would be wise to find a way to deal with and empower moderate voices in the Arab world because, unless some diplomatic solution can be reached, the day is fast approaching in which we are going to see an all out war in the Middle East. Safe money is that Israel would be the first to use nuclear weapons in such a conflict. Most Arab nations that are party to the conflict, through the aid of Iran, have developed conventional forces that would easily be capable of overrunning Israel. If said war happens, Israel will not have many options.

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http://www.spike.com/video/mad-real-world-katie/2795938

Consider motives all you want, but debate is not dishonest when it is focused on fact and logic. I disagree with you, but I try to be fair. If my views are "extremist," then show me why they flow from distortions rather than facts.

I don't know why this would be news to you, but there have been several all out wars in the Middle East since 1948 in which most or all of Israel's neighbors attacked in concert. See my post above about diplomacy. It would be nice to believe that "all sides want peace" as we are often told, but one side repeatedly states that the only solution is the destruction of the other. And who are these moderate voices? Israel's neighbors: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt. Israel has negotiated an end to hostilities with Egypt, though Egyptian television and news media continue to preach hatred of Jews. Jordanians have a similarly hostile view, as evidenced in news and in public opinion polls, but there is at present no threat of violence between the two as far as I know. Tell me where you think the other two will just give up and leave Israel alone. When negotiations in 1993 and 2000 offered a two state solution and compromise, Palestinian groups redoubled their efforts at violence.

Why do you charge Israel with the task of empowering moderation within Arab nations? How can they do that? Don't Arabs, in your view, have any responsibility for moderation and settling for diplomacy? The implication sounds to me to infantalize the Arab contingent.

Why is it Israel's responsibility to somehow find and "empower" the few "moderate" Arab voices? They get drowned out because they're such a stark minority.
It is also a safe bet that the Arab country (countries) will be the ones to strike first as they have always been the agressors in this conflict.
Lastly, if an Arab country DID have conventional forces that stood any chance of doing anything against Israel other than suffering a humiliating defeat, they'd attempt an attack immediately.

Rather than accuse others of "Arab bashing" why do you think the Arab world is incapable of living peacefully with a Jewish state in their midst? Why is the honus on Israel to negotiate its way out of a conflict it won't start? Seems like you have a pretty low opinion of Arabs yourself.

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The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? - Psalm 27:1