Do Jews have as much if not more claim to the West Bank and Jerusalem as Palestinian Arabs?UN Secretary Geral Ban Ki-moon said recently the world body expects Israel to surrender immediately to Arab demands that it relinquish all claims to \Judea and Samaria and half of its capital Jerusalem. but isnt Jerusalem God's holy city and as the Palestianians have Mecca why cant the Jewish people have... |
Most Israelis are willing to compromise when it comes to the West Bank, but Jerusalem is a no-no. It doesn't even have anything to do with religion. Jerusalem is important to the Jews culturaly and historically. Jews pray toward it. Jews outside of Israel end every holiday cermon with "next year in Jerusalem". It has greater imporatance to Jews than any other religion.
lolaboll: but just like you won't force farmers to kill cows in India, why can't you let the Jews have Jerusalem? Muslims have Mecca, Christians have the Vatican. Jerusalem is the most important place in Judaism, and it's simply respectful to let then have it.
Should religion really be the deciding factor for whether there is peace in the Middle East? Given the complexities of the region, it makes little sense to place one religion over another. Dividing Jerusalem, a city holy to three religions, is the best means of compromise. By the way the Palestinians do not have Mecca, as they do not live anywhere near Saudi Arabia. Just as the Jews have the right to a homeland, so do their Arab neighbors. This is the concept of ethnic sovereignty in that each minority population has the right to form their own countries to safeguard their customs. Israel has long been threatened by its Arab neighbors, but it will be even more threatened if it does not achieve peace; and the Arab leaders are overthrown in democratic revolt, which would threaten Israel's reliance on the status quo and fear.
First off, not all Palestinians are Muslim, so the statement that the "Palestinians have Mecca" is not only inaccurate as Mecca is wholly part of another country, but also irrelevant. What about Christain/ Athiest Palestinians? Furthermore, places of worship don't dictate your claim to land. Should Jews in the U.S. be forced to give up their property simply because the Wailing Wall is 7000 miles away? You can't dictate people's lifestyles for them by religon; Muslim Palestinians mantain the universal human right of living in their ancestral homeland.
Second, your arguement relies entirely on religon; for anyone whose an athiest/ buddhist/ zorastian/ druze the idea that there are a "chosen people" and that there land is Jerusalem/ Palestine/ Israel is entirely unfounded. In other words, one can't apply a religously-established argument to those who are not religous/ or of a different religon.
It's tantamount to saying that because cows are sacred creatures, according Hinduism, dairy farms all over the world are blasphemous and need to be shut down. The thing is, it's unfair to impact the lives of those who don't necessarily follow those scriptures.
The I/P conclict will always be contraversial, but rhetorically speaking, a "religous" argument is highly subjective and therefore warrants very little substance. That's precisely why the United States (among several other countries) emphasize the separation of church and state.
If you believe that Jerusalem is God's holy city you shouldn't steal other peoples' property in it. You should not even covet other peoples' property but that will be only if you believe in God. If on the other hand you don't your argument is blasphemous and insincere.
Do you have more claim to America than Aboriginals
I'd doubt it
NO
