RickWhite
Well-Known Member
I frequently hear the question asked about what I would do if I was a Palestinian and an occupying force had allegedly stolen my land and done all these awful things, what I would do.
If I was in a situation similar to the Palestinians today my first priority would be to find a way to relocate. If that were not possible, I would do what I could to make peace with my neighbors. I would appeal to their humanity and their good nature to help us create better conditions for ourselves and to treat us fairly.
I would also realize that while violence and war are sometimes necessary, terrorizing a civilian population serves no purpose except to harm the innocent and harden hearts. I would argue that save for revenge, there is no point at all in killing innocent people when it can not possibly accomplish anything.
Even if things got so bad that I was compelled to join a group of resistance fighters and wage war on an occupying force, I would never agree to commit acts of terror.
In fact, my decision to join or support such a group would come only after considering the possibility of success and the loss that would be involved weighed against the potential gain. If we were in a position in which we were fighting against a far superior army, and would need to raise all of our children to become human bombs that would strike the civilian population I would certainly push for a different course of action. Such techniques are reminiscent of the old story "the judgment of Solomon." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgment_of_Solomon. In any case, if there is no possibility of winning, there is no purpose in fighting. If the outcome will be the same, why choose the more bloody path?
No, if I were a Palestinian, I would try to show my fellow Arabs the error of their ways. I would try to convince them that what they have been doing since the beginning has only made things worse. I would try to convince them that the best course of action is to take what ever land we can get as our homeland and we should focus our efforts on building a country instead of making war on our neighbors.
I would argue that once we build our own country we could normalize relations with our wealthy neighbors and we could work with them toward common interests and goals. After all, I would argue, the Israelis have so much to offer should we befriend them. I would even argue that our best choice would be to tell Israel to take all the land and make us citizens.
I would also point out that we have received billions of dollars in aid and could all be living high on the hog had our own leaders not stolen all of the money and used us as canon fodder for so many years.
I would point out that we were already given a home in Jordan which is entirely Palestinian land. Instead of making our home there and living in peace and prosperity, we let our hatred and our blood lust ruin it for us. We even waged war on our new host nation specifically because they chose the path of peace, which we should have, instead of war. We had peace, we had a homeland and we blew it due to our belligerent ways. We should have learned our lesson then.
If I were a Palestinian, I would try to convince my fellow Palestinians that the best way to move foreword is simply to lay down our arms and to embrace peace. And I would surely be executed.
If I was in a situation similar to the Palestinians today my first priority would be to find a way to relocate. If that were not possible, I would do what I could to make peace with my neighbors. I would appeal to their humanity and their good nature to help us create better conditions for ourselves and to treat us fairly.
I would also realize that while violence and war are sometimes necessary, terrorizing a civilian population serves no purpose except to harm the innocent and harden hearts. I would argue that save for revenge, there is no point at all in killing innocent people when it can not possibly accomplish anything.
Even if things got so bad that I was compelled to join a group of resistance fighters and wage war on an occupying force, I would never agree to commit acts of terror.
In fact, my decision to join or support such a group would come only after considering the possibility of success and the loss that would be involved weighed against the potential gain. If we were in a position in which we were fighting against a far superior army, and would need to raise all of our children to become human bombs that would strike the civilian population I would certainly push for a different course of action. Such techniques are reminiscent of the old story "the judgment of Solomon." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgment_of_Solomon. In any case, if there is no possibility of winning, there is no purpose in fighting. If the outcome will be the same, why choose the more bloody path?
No, if I were a Palestinian, I would try to show my fellow Arabs the error of their ways. I would try to convince them that what they have been doing since the beginning has only made things worse. I would try to convince them that the best course of action is to take what ever land we can get as our homeland and we should focus our efforts on building a country instead of making war on our neighbors.
I would argue that once we build our own country we could normalize relations with our wealthy neighbors and we could work with them toward common interests and goals. After all, I would argue, the Israelis have so much to offer should we befriend them. I would even argue that our best choice would be to tell Israel to take all the land and make us citizens.
I would also point out that we have received billions of dollars in aid and could all be living high on the hog had our own leaders not stolen all of the money and used us as canon fodder for so many years.
I would point out that we were already given a home in Jordan which is entirely Palestinian land. Instead of making our home there and living in peace and prosperity, we let our hatred and our blood lust ruin it for us. We even waged war on our new host nation specifically because they chose the path of peace, which we should have, instead of war. We had peace, we had a homeland and we blew it due to our belligerent ways. We should have learned our lesson then.
If I were a Palestinian, I would try to convince my fellow Palestinians that the best way to move foreword is simply to lay down our arms and to embrace peace. And I would surely be executed.