It's about time the Palestinians got a clue. They aren't going to get their land back anymore than the Native Americans will theirs. Right or wrong, it's just the way it is. Deal with that or live the rest of your life, and your children's lives, as refugees instead of starting again and building a new legacy.

You do not have a clue. Abbas backtracked almost immediately because he has no support among his own people for this reasonable concession. If there was a treaty negotiated that included this provision it wold never be ratified in the Palestinian territory. There are too many people there who would not accept this and would simply overthrow Abbas. Most of the Palestinian leadership does not really want peace with Israel. If there were to be peace with Israel then they would have no one to blame for the fact that they have no economy to speak of and the fact that most of the people live in abject poverty. So long as there is a conflict with Israel they have an enemy to point to that they can blame for their own failures as leaders. If there was peace then the Palestinian people would turn their anger towards their own inept leadership and blame them for the sad state of their existence. By ensuring that the fight against the boogeyman Israel continues the Palestinian leadership can avoid having to take any responsibility and avoid the backlash from their own people for their inability to improve the conditions under which the Palestinian people live.

No need to be rude, JS. I was referring to a Palestinian in authority finally saying out loud what everyone was already thinking, those with a clue anyway. It's like when Bill Cosby finally said out loud how the lack of Black fathers was hurting his people, much to the dismay of Jesse Jackson and his ilk. Of course Hamas will whine and disavow Abbas, but it needed saying even if it was later retracted. Maybe finally the Palestinians will begin talking about it openly.

AG99

I agree with you 100% Just look at the America. Americans do not want to hear the truth either. In my personally belief, most people in this world want to live in a dream setting rather than to face the truth.

Agreed it is about time it was said. They could have had peace during the Clinton presidency with part of Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital and much more land than now if they had of agreed to limited return and not wanting the most sacred holy site in Israel.

Before the US pressures anyone to give up anything we need to return some land to the Native Americans and Mexico. But then there wouldn't be much US left.

The Palestinians will never be free as long as they remain the puppets of the Muslim counties surrounding them.

Mike

I agree Arafat want all or nothing. There was no compromising. So the Palestinian got nothing.

Until the phrase "Death to Israel" is not taught in Palestinian schools there will never be peace. Right wrong or otherwise the State of Israel will always be. There are thousands of Palestinians peacefully living in greater Israel..... they are the true Palestinians and deserve the freedom they have by renouncing their radical cousins need for blood.

What a Stupid comment, basically like saying, we don't want a cure for cancer because we are making too much money off the treatment. The Palestinians don't know how to compromise, and never will. They celebrated in the streets when the planes hit on 9/11 and liberal Americans still think they want to be their friends. Israel knows better, and afte several thousand rockets being shot at them this year, who can you blame them. The Jewish state gets a piece of land a little bigger than New Jersey and the Arab world wants them to give it away to a group of people who never even owned it. Speaking of getting "Owned" the six day war was fought against half the Arab world, and they already gave back a huge piece of oil rich land they won. Leave Israel alone to live in piece

It is a region of children living out the sins of their parents over and over again.

Humans are not built for long term thinking if their short term life fills up with just surviving one more day.

Leaders without a conscious find the region to be fertile ground for leveraging miserable conditions into hatred of old enemies. With out a clean break from the past, this pattern is self sustaining.

Human history is a roller coaster ride of civilization progress and decline. The last several hundred years has been a monstrous era of progress. I am very much in fear that our next decline cycle might be from such heights that to fall from it will be so steep that we wont be able to pull out of it before cratering into the ground.

and that isnt in the conservatives interest of settling the west bank

Yeah, because I mean the Labour and Kadima parties in Israel have never built a single settlement in Jerusalem or the West Bank...

...and Sharon didn't unilaterally remove every single settlement in Gaza.

SMH

Abbas doesn't mean it, he is just trying to influence the Israeli elections. This olive branch has thorns hidden beneath the leaves.

@square dude

The Conservatives in Israel need a hostile Palestine

No they don't they are surrounded by hostility, while Syria is in a civil war both sides would come together against Israel.

Ahmadinejad has stated he wants to wipe Israel off the map, and as long as Iran continues with its nuclear ambitions I see little chance of Netanyahu losing.

The Palestinians amount to little more than an irritating pimple, Iran is the real threat.

Anti, agree with you that Iran is Israels main threat, but make no mistake Israel will drag us into that conflict if they can. Look at Israels capability the distance and Irans capability and nobody would mistake that Israel can stop anything. Israel needs our military to do their job for them and most in the military say if Iran is willing to take the damage even we couldnt stop them. Personally the last thing we need right now is another war spending our blood and money, Israel always say they have the right to defend themselves, fine go defend yourself just dont involve us.

square dude

Israel doesn't want war, however they have to and will take out the nuclear sight's, they wont hit populated area's or cities. They have already defeated the Iranian radar warning systems when they took out Syria's nuke system--Russia sold them both the same system.

Remember stuxnet, who's to say there isn't something sitting dormant in the radar systems. they already have our latest bunker busters and one on top of another in the same crater could go very deep. Israel will likely destroy their radar systems and military sections of the power grid taking out communications. Israel would only have to take out militarily used runways to neutralize the Iranian air force. How would Iran respond, throw over some Shahab-3 rockets without command and control.

How would the green revolution in Iran respond, would they take to the streets again after having seen the rest of the arab spring, would Iran be able to handle both the internal and international issues at the same time. How badly have we damaged their infrastructure and ability of normal day to day life with our sanctions.

All we really have to do is refuel Israels air force in the air, we are already having joint air force maneuvers with Israel, We also have 3 carrier groups along with minesweepers in the Persian gulf and 1 carrier group in the Mediterranean, why do you think that is? This is likely going to happen whether its Obama or Romney.

All Iran has to do is allow the IAEA inspectors access to what they want and this could all be averted

Israel would only really need us for a ground war and I don't think Israel or Obama want to go down that path, but Romney needs a reason for his additional military spending the the pentagon doesn't even want.

Israeli conservatives need that right of return platform of Palestine to justify to the Israeli public their extreme policy's, Netanyahu doesent want a peace partner that he would have to make concessions to, he wants a enemy he can destroy.

square dude, you have no idea what youre talking about. israel isnt the problem. a country will never be able to make peace with people who want them dead just for being jews. thats the issue here. first of all, that land never belonged to the palestinians to begin with. secondly, if anyone in their right mind agreed that they should be given land from before 1948, then you'd also assume it would be alright to give arizona, texas, and new mexico back to mexicans. sorry, but the war is over, they lost. if they weren't so anti-semetic, they'd be able to co-exist in peace... however, "palestinians" (i use that term in quotes since there is no such thing as palestine) are too racist to exist with anyone else. hence why jordanians and lebanese didnt want them on their land either. get a clue.

When you say there is no such thing as palestines why do you sound like Iran when they say there was no holocaust. You sound like its ok to take property from people because they dont exist, its ok to take from people because their not Gods chosen people.

no, im saying there is no such thing as palestine. because there isnt. just like there is no such thing as atlantis. the country formally known as palestine is now israel and has been since 1948. it originally belonged to england who donated it to the UN after the holocaust. it never belonged to the people who lived there. people ("palestinians") who dont believe in jews disagree. so by supporting "palestinians" youre essentially admitting youre an anti-semite. its not ok to take property from anyone... but when you fight a war and lose, you forfeit that property. you shouldnt spend the next several decades complaining to the world that you lost your homes because you chose to fight a war against judaism in the first place. read the laws of war.

There were people calling themselves Palestinians, they lived there for generations, thats a fact, Jews also lived there, in certain parts of the country but not the entire country. Im tired of folks using the anti-semite word when a balanced approach is proposed, its like being call a racist whenever you dont give the other party everything they demand.

square dude the problem is that people who want Israel to disappear usually only tell part of the story. It's like censoring parts of a book and then telling everyone the book is crappy.

Latekate are you sure your not censoring that book yourself? Having a balanced approach isnt easy just like having a open mind isnt easy. Israel has the right to exist, I have no problem with that, but shouldnt the Palestinian people also have that same right?

um, no actually people use the term "anti-semite" when you support an entire group of people who have openly admitted to wanting jews dead. at no point have the "palestinians" ever gone out of their way to seek peace. hence, why they are annexed and why surrounding countries have refused their entry. they are hostile and dangerous. they were initially allowed to stay on the land and share it with the jews in 1948. instead they started a war and lost. now youre saying they should get that land back?

One of the things people fail to remember (or perhaps have NEVER known), is that the area that the British called 'Palestine' covered the entire region. Guess how much of this land is now Israel? Seventeen percent. That's right, 17%.... guess where the rest of it went? Remember the Black September massacre? That was people getting slaughtered by the very people who now use them to foment hatred of Israel. And not for nothing, but there are a number of refugee camps that have been in existence for far longer than the state of Israel has. These camps have turned into small cities over the decades. Some have even been around for a century or longer. Can't blame Israel for them, either. Read a history of the region and the facts will surprise you; the map was redrawn by the British, so many of these countries are no more legitimate or illegitimate than the state of Israel, and the people called Palestinians have been living everywhere and treated as pawns by everyone. A Palestinian state inside the borders of Israel is exactly what Israel's neighbors want... because it will give them a strategic advantage when they decide to attack.

The so called 'right of return' is the dumbest concept ever known. The Palestinians want to flood Israel with 5.5 million people? Even according to the most liberal estimates, there were perhaps 1 million people driven out of or willingly left their homes in 1948. Per Wikipedia, the number is 711,000. And many of them are actually living in the West Bank anyways.

The biggest mistake was placing them in camps and tending to their every need. There has since been created generations of refugees who collect charity and aid, with no ability to care for themselves.

They should have been integrated into surrounding societies, like every other emigration wave in history. There were 1 million Jews kicked out of Arab countries after 1948. There were many more millions of Jews who left Europe after World War 2, with absolutely nothing. Many settled in America, Canada, Israel, Britain, even Australia, and became productive members of society.

rockmebritney

Well stated, you rock

N, so you are saying that the Palestinians should immigrate to the US just like the Jews did? Frankly I wouldnt want that, Palestinians have the West Bank but the Israeli conservative govt is making it impossible for displaced Palestinians to settle there because then their settlements would be surrounded like they were in Gaza. Israel is taking West Bank water resources to support their own settlements and starving the Palestine population, that needs to end.

That will end as soon as proper borders are negotiated, and that will happen as soon as Palestinians stop running away from negotiations.

amen!!!

Even in the bible it talks about how the Jewish people attacked the existing population to establish their homeland so for me what happened 2000 yrs ago doesn't justify the stealing of land by Israel, many people lived there not just the Jews. To swallow your argument you would also have to believe the original peoples in America own the property your house sits on, suspect you dont believe that just as I dont.

square dude, by your own argument then, the Palestinians have no claim to the property that the Jewish houses sit on either.

Anilof, your right its too late for the Palestinians people to return, just as the Indians here dont. But currently Israel is settling land that was given to the Palestinians, just as Indians have the rights to property on their reservations shouldnt Palestinians have the right to keep Jewish settlers off their land, also to the natural resources on that land?

In war land can be gained or lost.

It's up to Palestinians when this war ends. If they make peace, they will stop loosing land, they might even get back some of the land they lost.

Old dog, there are people calling themselves Palestinians, when people say no such people exist it sounds like when Iran said the Holocaust didnt happen. Both points of view want to push a particular agenda despite facts on the ground.

Simple what you said could be also said about how we treated the Indians here in the US, Indians were defeated just like the Palestinians but I wouldnt call that shameful, just overwhelming force.

square dude

Are the Indians walking into markets, malls, movie theatre's, buses full of school children with bomb vests and blowing themselves up in order to kill innocents, are the Indians lobbing missile's into your neighbourhood, do they shoot indiscriminately into cars with family's going about their business.

Were the Indians dancing in the street on 9/11. Are you supporting people who would slit your throat without a second thought.

Anti, no I dont support any activity which kills innocent people, but tell me what would you do if some foreign govt took over, kicked you out of your home, sent you to some reservation and then on your reservation they started to settle their own people on the land and controlled the resources that you depended on to live? Now this foreign govt has tanks, attack helicopters and a modern army, all you had was your rifle and imagination, now tell me how would you resist?

But keep in mind, that you attacked this government first.

square dude

No one was kicked out of their home by the Israeli's, the arab leaders sold the land and the homes to Israel. So really the arabs owe the prior home owners the money they made on the sale of their homes. If they were given the money what do you think the Palestinians would do, build new homes or invest in suicide vests.

Trueism did you read the bible where it said the Jews promised land was already occupied by other peoples? So the Jews werent the ORIGINAL people who settled in that area, that argument is bogus . However the argument that the present day Jews kicked out the Palestinians isnt bogus, its fact.

Square Dude,

Obviously you have an "agenda" against Israel and for "palestinians." There were decades of attempted peace talks by Israel and the answer was suicide bombers and rocket attacks. Arabs want war with Israel and then cry over the consequences.

If you are not a Jew or a palestinain, maybe you should work on your own country's immigration problems.

Jw its not a agenda against Israel, its a agenda against Israeli fundamentalist conservatives, the conservatives in Israel dont want peace they want a war to justify any action they take. Their worst nightmare is a Palestinian which doesent attack them. There are many Jews who disagree with their govt, just as many Americans disagree with their govt, that doesnt make them anti American, just as when I disagree with the Israeli govt doesent make me anti-Semitic.

"Their worst nightmare is a Palestinian which doesent attack them."

Well, in that case they never had anything to fear, and it doesn't look like their nightmare might come true any time soon.

If the story in the bible about the Hebrew Exodus out of Egypt is true then the people who occupied the land now referred to as Israel, previously Palestine under British rule, have every right to claim it as their homeland. Seems to me that originally Jews were nomadic animal herders and the towns/villages in that part of the desert were populated by Arabs. Whether or not God gave that land to the Jews as a promise is far from certain. We have only the word of a story writer whose work is told in the bible. My belief is there will always be hatred between Jews and Arabs in the region, just as there has always been.

Conspiracy theory on your part and the opinion of a 19th century dead guy.

So in your opinion why was Israel created and by whom?

Palestinians can have their freedom the day they accept that there is a Jewish state next door, until than, they will keep ripping what they sow.

Israel did give back Sinai in exchange for peace - and did give back Gaza in hopes of peace. What happened? Gaza became a base for Hamas for shooting rockets into Israel. No more land back to blood thirsty terrorists.

That's ridiculous, thinking to keep religion out of government. Do you agree that government should get involved when a woman is raped to catch the offender? Then you also agree that the government should be given the authority to enforce morality, to make an effort to bring justice.

If these people deserve this land, they should ascribe to the principles that made them deserving of it. A non-religious government goes against what is necessary, otherwise it would be an "abomination" - the United Nations State of Israel set up for the "chosen people" who accept nothing less, being given power by the blind, destructive, and unbelieving hydra that is the UN. Absolute dominance of what they believe to be rightfully theirs is the goal, consequences be damned (even if they violate Commandments).

You loath them anyway, no matter what they do. Jews bad.