Do any Americans have empathy with the Palestian situation?

Question

I do not condone terrorism but the fact remains that the state Israel didn't exist before WWII. I don't give a toss about the Promised Land and all that because I'm sure Jesus also said love thy neighbour and remember the story of the good Samaritan.

Why slowly take more and more from the people who were there when the Jews started arriving in droves in the 1930s and big time after WWII given the persecution and murder that Jews have suffered at the hands of the Nazis? Why would people such as the settlers treat Palestinians in such a way by telling them to get the f**k out when (although with graver consequences) the Nazis did the same to them?

I'm not criticising just trying to understand the division on this issue between most Europeans and the US.

Answer 1

I think few Americans have empathy with the situation. Many people, including my own friends and family gave me blank looks when I asked them about it. I believe that most Americans do just think that Israel has always been there, and "those darned Palestians just need to go." I agree that some of the militant Jewish behavior mirrors that of the Nazi's--but by no means all Jews condone such behavior.
In the final analysis, I think that America is so big, and has so much free space to occupy, and spread out in...that I think they cannot even comprehend the issues of the conflict. So they put their trust in their government.

Answer 2

Funny, but it was the world powers at that time that decided, and it was England territory, so why would Europeans feel differently than the US?
And if I'm not mistaken, the Israelites were peacefully setteling there when the Arabs became violent against them. Which is what I don't really understand....I am Christian but still reguard and respect the Jewish as our ancestors, just like they are ancestors to the Muslims. They deserve to have a homeland, and I believe they were there first, or at least when Moses led them there. Do the Muslims not believe in Moses and the promise God made so long ago? The Israelites have only taken more land than they orginally received by protecting themselves from the violence they've endured. Just like now, it is in southern Lebannon where the Hezebola live that they are fighting, but yet it is Hezebola that have started or continued the fighting. The rest of Lebannon was at peace with things, or at least trying, and now they are suffering because of Hezebola. Israel keeps trying to give back the extra land they have taken, but continue to suffer from terrorists even worse when they do. Whats up with that?!?
If the promised land was in the US instead, and it was my home I had to give up, as long as I was properly compensated for it or was allowed to stay (which was the case in Israel), I wouldn't have any problems with it. I believe Islam is a loving religion, but the Muslim culture is full of hatered, as shown throughout the land and conflicts with everyone including their own, and that is why there is so much conflict throughout the whole region.
PS. the Muslims do believe in Jesus also, so why can't they love their neighbor, be it Muslim or Jew? What other culture do you know has so much strife amongst their own?

Answer 3

Don't forget that Israel (Palestine) was home to Jews for thousands of years...way before Islam even existed as a religion. You could even make an argument that the Jews have a superior claim to Palestine then the "Palestinians" do.

At this point, fifty-eight years after the creation of Israel, the Palestinian people are going to need to come to terms with the situation and move on with their lives. They could have their own sovereign state whenever the decide to clamp down on the terrorists in their midst and start cooperating with the civilized world.

Remember also that Palestine was never an organized nation before Europeans arrived. It was a collection of tribes and city states...not a unified nation. They are not trying to regain some lost national identity...it has never existed in the first place.

Plenty of other nations have lost wars and have come to terms with their loss and made progress toward a new life. Just sixty years ago Germany and Japan were smoldering ash-heaps. Now they are hugley successful world powers. The Palestinians need to start making decisions on practical grounds so they too can move on and start moderninzing and improving their way of life...for their sake, and for the world's sake. They need to let the dream of destroying Israel die, so that we all might live.

Answer 4

Absolutely. We hope for peace in the area. Understand, this is a complicated situation dating back much further than 1948. The UN set the boundaries and the Arabs rejected it. Israel has compromised over the years, yet some Palestinians will never compromise. Muslim, Christians and Jews etc, have all lived/battled in this region for thousands of years. When all sides want peace, there will be peace. If some want to kill all Jews, there won't be compromise.
Research this one a little more before you make your conclusions...

Answer 5

The truth is every person is being called upon to do the right thing. That means everyone! Israel cannot live in peace with terrorists on its borders, vowing to destroy them. Israel is asking Lebanon to step up to the plate and kick out the terrorists. The terrorists need to know that they can run, but there will be NO PLACE on this entire Earth where they can hide. Israel is asking Lebanon to take a higher moral ground. Lebanon doesn't listen. It seems like the only time they want to listen is when they are being bombed. It's time for Lebanon to do the right thing for the world and expel all terrorists. Israel has said that Lebanon can be its greatest ally if it is morally responsible to its people.

Answer 6

I used To be more sympathetic towards the Palestinians and not the Israelis.

My mind has changed over the last few years because Israel has given many indications that if the Palestinians were to behave more responsibly, they would work with them to create a Palestinian state. Israel also provides a strong economy in the region with lots of jobs for Palestinians, but all they get in return is suicide bombers and rockets fired at them.

Answer 7

Does IRAN, Syria, Iraq, etc.. have empathy for the Palestine situation, or do they use the situation to stir up anti Semitic rhetoric?

The problem with the Palestinians is their tactics. They have been given many offers in the past that they have flatly refused. They also have a history of leadership that has not had the best interest of their people in mind. Does promoting youth suicide bombers really have a chance at success? It is not a fight for freedom, it is a crusade to eliminate the Jewish race. Don't believe it? Then you are blind to history and current events.

Answer 8

Yeah, but we're in the minority. I just heard some Senator A**hole on the radio say that "Israel is the only nation created by God". That baked my *ss. That is what we are up against here.
I also wish that more americans understand that people have to be pretty desperate to resort to the measures the Palestinians have resorted to.

Answer 9

Your logic escapes me. The Palestinians have their own land, land now, land that belonged to Syria and Jordan before the 67 war. Israel has every right to defend itself against terrorist attacks. Stop the terrorist attacks and Israel can live in peace with its neighbors.

Answer 10

What is a definition of terrorism? Doesn't terrorism mean killing innocent civilians? Well, If that is true than Israel terrorize Palestine and Lebanon civilians...

Jews lived in Israeli for centuries, but they were minority population. Muslims were always in good relations with them and with Christian people. That changed when they occupied Muslim land.