Kaliningrad was captured by the russians during world war 2 was it not? Shall we class that as an illegal war? I'll take your point however.
What's an illegal war? Germany attacked its neighbours and was defeated.
The Arabs attacked Israel and were defeated.
There is nothing illegal about defeating the attacker.
Well the UN didn't single out Israel, they've made requests to the likes of Iraq (for their invasion of Kuwait), Sudan (for their invasion of Darfur), It's just that these countries didn't have a hugely succesful lobby in America that allowed it to get away with clearly disregarding the UN.
Kuwait didn't attack Iraq. I am all for annexations resulting from attacking another country for no reason other than greed being illegal.
I am talking about annexations in lieu of reparations, annexations done by the attacked and winning party.
Maybe you misunderstood me. I am all for Russia and Poland keeping parts of Germany even though they won them in a war. And with the same passion I am for Israel keeping East-Jerusalem and Golan.
Either way, to put into context what is happening, let's say Britain and France went to war tomorrow. In a conflict lasting six days, the French forces were pushed out of Normandy before finally suing for peace.
Ok, good example. So the French decided to attack Britain and exterminate the English. Plus they wanted to make Britain a part of France (or replace it with another French country).
This war follows, of course, two decades of France trying to destroy Britain. Also all ethnic English have been expelled from Europe and settled in England. (Plus, in an earlier war between the two, ethnic Normans in England tried to slaughter their fellow British and then fled to France.)
British forces remained in Normandy, which you know isn't all that unuasal after winning a conflict. Then the French went to the UN asking for Normandy back, and the UN agreed with them.
You see, and that's the part I don't see. Germany didn't get Pommerania back after the war. That's simply not how it's done.
What you are looking for is a way to give an aggressive country no reason to avoid war.
Which in some respects may not of been the right thing to do, whats to say that after giving Normandy back the French just wouldn't have another pop at us? Regardless the UN has voted, it is the closest thing we have to a global democracy (which i think can only be considered a good thing) and as such should be adhered to.
Democracy without a constitution is not a "good thing" and never has been.
What you are talking about is not "democracy" in the sense that we know it but simply a vehicle for anti-Semitism. The UN, with votes per country, will ALWAYS vote against Israel in those situations. What's the point of having the Arabs attack Israel and lose and then ask the Arabs (who have more votes than Israel) whether they should be given back what they lost?
That's like having Germany and Austria attack Poland every now and then and lose (hopefully) and then demand, with two votes against one, that Poland pay reparations.
Britain at this point refuses, and maintains an occupation of Normandy against the will of the French people living there, and the French people in the surrounding area, The French government, the UN and international opinion (whatever good that is).
Perhaps it protects Britain from another French attack?
What if Britain offered to give Normandy back to France in exchange for peace (like Israel did with the territories and Gaza in 1967) and the French refused?
The British then start moving British citizens across onto Main land Europe and settling in Normandy, more importantly removing French families from their homes, bulldozing them and then building a new house on top of it for the new British settlers (All this in the areas with good access to water and other rich resources).
That's what the French wanted to do to the British. I can see how they would hate that.
However, the settlers in the territories were not "moved" there by Israel and (in most cases) build settlements on land that was Jewish before 1948.
You might be surprised to learn that Poles live in Pommerania.
Leauki may contest the issue of bulldozing, as he has previously with me. I've not been to Israel, nor the Gaza strip or the West Bank. I've only information i've obtained from journalists and members of organistations such as the UN.
Actually, neither journalists nor the UN made that claim; not that I could find, anyway. My contesting the issue was with YOU making the claim, while the BBC (and the UN as far as I could see) didn't even go that far.
I remember when I asked you for a source, you came up with a BBC article describing the destruction of a police station in Jenin during the war. (I assume we can both agree that the grounds of a former police station in the middle of a hostile city is not a prime location for a "settlement".)
I spoke to my fathers friend, an expert in peace negotiation for the UN from Northern Ireland. He was in Ramalla and witnessed a Palastinian home having it's occupance evicted and finally bull dozed. Several days later work began on brining in mobile homes for a new Israeli settlement. I believe this happened fairly recently.
Actually, the Jewish settlement is next to Ramalla, not in Ramalla. What your father's friend saw was very likely the destruction of a home by the police or army. THAT HAPPENS, especially when the house harboured terrorists or was a weapons depot.
It is unlikely that mobile homes would be moved into that same position afterwards, for the simple reasons that there is no benefit in doing so, not even for the greediest and evilest of Zionists.
There are perfectly nice spots to settle that are not located in the most hostile city of the West Bank.
If the "expert" connected the dots in such a way, it suggests to me that he made a colossal mistake that will probably cost lives when it is sold as fact.
Point is, if you claim that Israel (not settlers, but the Israeli government) practice ethnic cleansing, you better have evidence; not a story of a friend of a friend that can mean lots of things, but actual evidence.
but the more i find out about it, the more i can in the very least understand their contempt for their Israeli neighbours.
Can you find out about my contempt for anti-Semitic lies and the people who propagate them?
When you say "find out about it", better make it "hear stories". You didn't "find out" anything. You read a story of a police station destroyed by a bull dozer and jumped to ethnic cleansing from there.
Yes, I can understand Arab contempt for Israel too. Some simply hate Jews and have hated them before Israel had the power to do anything to anybody. And others, most others I would think, just happen to be fed stories as facts because somebody thinks that hearing a story means "finding out".
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Amin_al-Husayni):
"Back in the summer of 1940 and again in February 1941, al-Hussayni submitted to the German government a draft declaration of German-Arab cooperation, containing a clause:
Germany and Italy recognize the right of the Arab countries to solve the question of The Jewish elements, which exist in Palestine and in the other Arab countries, as required by the national and ethnic interests of the Arabs, and as the Jewish question was solved in Germany and Italy"
You still think this has anything to do with Israel bulldozing people's homes?
I want to be honest with you. It's your statement, in the other discussion, I think it was yours:
"Well quite simply because if a foreign government came into my town, bulldozed some buildings and built a settlement I'd be sure as hell willing to fight to take it back."
That statement was probably the most disgusting and anti-Semitic statement I have read in a long time. Most supporters of the "Palestinian cause" (the one launched by the Grand Mufti or the reaction to Israel's reaction) tend to be less direct.
After DECADES of Arabs trying to exterminate the Jews, YOU are finally telling me that this is about "fighting to take it back", that the Arabs are simply defending their homes against destruction?