Monday, July 26, 2010

Why Palestinians Resist

When you hear it said that Palestinians and Arab's generally despise Jews and this is the real root of the conflict between Israel and Palestinians, consider the following quote from Israel's first Prime Minister David ben Gurion.

"If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?" (Quoted by Nahum Goldmann in Le Paraddoxe Juif "The Jewish Paradox", pp. 121-122) via here.

Or consider the highly respected historian (and self proclaimed Zionist) and professor of history in the Middle East Studies Department at Ben Gurion University in Be'er Sheva Israel, Benny Morris.

The fear of territorial displacement and dispossession was to be the chief motor of Arab antagonism to Zionism down to 1948 (and indeed after 1967 as well). (Righteous Victims: a History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001, p 37) (Link)

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