Is the Israeli- Palestine conflict the root of terrorism?

Question

Everyone in the Assembly but Bush thinks the Israel Palestine conflict is THE problem that has to be tackled for a stable middle-east. Do you agree?

I did not ask to express my own political opinion (while it might be implied in the diction) as some seem to do, I asked because I was interested in your answers. Why the hostility? I did ask if you agreed, I didn't say you'd be wrong not to.

Answer 1

Yes, this is where suicide bombing originated as a technique of terror. The US under Bush decided to disengage from the Israel - Palestine peace process, and terrorism spread. Even if it is not truly the "root", the conflict is seen as the root of terrorism and anarchy in the middle east, by the people who live there. Therefore, brokering the problem in a fair way would go a long way toward establishing stability in the middle east.

Answer 2

The radical ideology of radical Islamic militants and the cowardice of good Islamic men is the root of terrorism. Are you suggesting that if the Israeli state were disbanded that there would be no more fighting in the middle east? I think that the people over there only know war. Now do I think that Israel is an agitator in the middle east. Yes, just by the presence of a Jewish state in the middle east is setting the stage for conflict. But they have as much right to exist as a state as Palestine. Sharing is a pretty simple concept that I learned when I was a 4 year old.

Answer 3

No. It's a symptom of terrorism, not the cause of it.

Think of it this way: If the Israelis packed up and left the Middle East, would terrorism end? You know the answer to that question. Every time you run from terrorists, they run after you.

Answer 4

Israel and any problems related to it, in spite of what you might read or hear in the world media, is not the central issue, and has never been the central issue in the upheaval in the region. Yes, there is a 100 year-old Israeli-Arab conflict, but it is not where the main show is. The millions who died in the Iran-Iraq war had nothing to do with Israel. The mass murder happening right now in Sudan, where the Arab Moslem regime is massacring its black Christian citizens, has nothing to do with Israel. The frequent reports from Algeria about the murders of hundreds of civilian in one village or another by other Algerians have nothing to do with Israel. Saddam Hussein did not invade Kuwait, endangered Saudi Arabia and butchered his own people because of Israel. Egypt did not use poison gas against Yemen in the 60's because of Israel. Assad the Father did not kill tens of thousands of his own citizens in one week in El Hamma in Syria because of Israel. The Taliban control of Afghanistan and the civil war there had nothing to do with Israel. The Libyan blowing up of the Pan-Am flight had nothing to do with Israel, and I could go on and on and on.

The root of the trouble is that this entire Moslem region is totally dysfunctional, by any standard of the word, and would have been so even if Israel would have joined the Arab league and an independent Palestine would have existed for 100 years. The 22 member countries of the Arab league, from Mauritania to the Gulf States, have a total population of 300 millions, larger than the US and almost as large as the EU before its expansion. They have a land area larger than either the US or all of Europe. These 22 countries, with all their oil and natural resources, have a combined GDP smaller than that of Netherlands plus Belgium and equal to half of the GDP of California alone. Within this meager GDP, the gaps between rich and poor are beyond belief and too many of the rich made their money not by succeeding in business, but by being corrupt rulers. The social status of women is far below what it was in the Western World 150 years ago. Human rights are below any reasonable standard, in spite of the grotesque fact that Libya was elected Chair of the UN Human Rights commission.

It is fair to say that this creates an unprecedented breeding ground for cruel dictators, terror networks, fanaticism, incitement, suicide murders and general decline. It is also a fact that almost everybody in the region blames this situation on the United States, on Israel, on Western Civilization, on Judaism and Christianity, on anyone and anything, except themselves.

Bottom line: Israel is only an excuse Islam uses in the west to further their cause of conquest. If the wealthy Arab countries wanted to solve many of the hardships of the Gaza Strip, as well as other hardships of their Palestinian "brothers," they could easily do so. The latest increase in oil prices added more than $50 billion to their bank accounts, according to the estimates of economists. There would be a tremendous change for the better in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The problem is that the Arab countries are not even keeping their minimal promises to assist the Palestinian Authority. They want other countries - Japan, the United States and countries in Europe - to increase their contributions.

The disregard of Palestinian distress on the part of the Arab countries deepens the vacuum that the Iranians and the Al-Qaida extremists are trying to penetrate. In the final analysis, the Arab countries will also have to pay the bill. Apparently, those who claim there are Arab rulers who are interested in having the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continue, in order to divert the attention of the masses in their countries from their severe distress, are correct.

Answer 5

unlikely, the muslims were killing people well before 1948, there were mass killings by muslims during Muhammeds era (even by Muhammed himself and his followers). Islam has always been violent. Israel is just an excuse.

Answer 6

Yes.
We can tackle it by cutting off the ENTIRE middle east barring only imports and exports (If any)
We do everything for them. I don't know one thing that they do for us.
No more millions of tax dollars and troops lives.

Answer 7

I don't agree. Sunnis and Shiites have been going at it long before Israel arrived on the scene.

Answer 8

NO!!! The root of terrorism is Iran and Syria and the
the Al Qaeda terror network and Islamo-Fascist PIGS!!!!!

Answer 9

It's part of it. There will never be peace between them. I'm sure a lot of them want peace but just as many radicals will continue to cause problems.