Does anyone really care about the Palestinians?

[Shirley Temple Mount]

In the context of how refugess are treated globally, their case is sadly not unique.

You are of course wrong. The Palestinian case is in fact unique.

Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations

The Palestine refugee problem is the oldest and largest refugee problem, which has been on the agenda of the United Nations since its inception.

No other refugee crisis has the potential to bring about war and chaos in such a manner as this issue. The situation is very unique as it lies at the heart of US regional policy and is an open wound for the worlds 1+ billion Muslims. The occupation of Jerusalem is a potential disaster for the entire world. The situation is very unique.

[toughbutfair]

few care.

The muslims (and some here) use them as an excuse to hate America. Why would we care more about them than Rwandans or some other group. Why do you guys obsess about them and not other groups?

[Shirley Temple Mount]

There are tens of thousands of peace keepers all aver the trouble spots of Africa. When we have a a few thousand in Jerusalem and the West Bank , I guess, I for one, might have more patience for people with crappy arguments like yours.

[toughbutfair]

There are tens of thousands of peace keepers all aver the trouble spots of Africa. When we have a a few thousand in Jerusalem and the West Bank , I guess, I for one, might have more patience for people with crappy arguments like yours.

So the plight of the AFricans doesn't bother you because we have some peace keepers there, but the plight of the Palestians does because we don't?

So the plight of the people isn't the issue then.

[SAT]

few care.

The muslims (and some here) use them as an excuse to hate America. Why would we care more about them than Rwandans or some other group. Why do you guys obsess about them and not other groups?

We (meaning the west) do not actively support ongoing genocide in Rwanda through political and military support whereas we do actively help and support Israel in it's perpetration of war crimes on an imprisoned indigenous population. In the case of Rwanda therefore we cannot ask our governments to stop doing something they are not doing in the first place but in the case of Israel / Palestine we can.

[Shirley Temple Mount]

We (meaning the west) do not actively support ongoing genocide in Rwanda through political and military support whereas we do actively help and support Israel in it's perpetration of war crimes on an imprisoned indigenous population. In the case of Rwanda therefore we cannot ask our governments to stop doing something they are not doing in the first place but in the case of Israel / Palestine we can.

Well I'm afraid you a have it quite wrong there. The lions share of the blame for genocide in Rwanda can quite fairly be placed on the doorsteps of our European friends. France and Belgium are hugely responsible for bringing it about and for failing to respond rapidly to the former colonies distress call when the bloodbath became imminent. The French and US in particular played damning roles in thwarting the efforts of the UN force there to stop what they could clearly see evolving. The Horror in Rwanda was and is a western responsibility. But my point about putting peacekeepers in Jerusalem and Palestine is that so much political water and acid would have gone under the bridge by that time that the whole dam thing would have imploded ten times over before a blue helmet was seen on the ground.
We trot in thousand of Blue helmets into the dark continent as though we still own the bloody place. But everybody knows that you put a UN soldier in Israel or even Palestine and the IOF will shoot him. We also know that because it's ISrael we are dealing with they would not receive so much as a harsh word for doing it.
So when I say when we see a few thousand UN peacekeepers in Israel Palestine you can read When pigs fly !

[Rocky]

Well I'm afraid you a have it quite wrong there. The lions share of the blame for genocide in Rwanda can quite fairly be placed on the doorsteps of our European friends. France and Belgium are hugely responsible for bringing it about and for failing to respond rapidly to the former colonies distress call when the bloodbath became imminent. The French and US in particular played damning roles in thwarting the efforts of the UN force there to stop what they could clearly see evolving. The Horror in Rwanda was and is a western responsibility. But my point about putting peacekeepers in Jerusalem and Palestine is that so much political water and acid would have gone under the bridge by that time that the whole dam thing would have imploded ten times over before a blue helmet was seen on the ground.
We trot in thousand of Blue helmets into the dark continent as though we still own the bloody place. But everybody knows that you put a UN soldier in Israel or even Palestine and the IOF will shoot him. We also know that because it's ISrael we are dealing with they would not receive so much as a harsh word for doing it.
So when I say when we see a few thousand UN peacekeepers in Israel Palestine you can read When pigs fly !

You seem to be all over the place. First there has been UN peacekeepers in both Lebanon and Egypt before, which was linked to the conflict with Israel and there are still peacekeepers in Lebanon today.

Also In previous talks the idea of bringing in international peacekeepers into the Jordan Valley has been discussed and accepted by Israel (I'm not sure about the Palestinians) in the event of the creation of a Palestinian state.

However in the modern day there is no need for peacekeepers in the West Bank as there is no large scale violence and warfare, beyond isolated small incidents. It isn't easy to get countries to Volunteer to send peacekeepers as it costs money and the troops can die and the UN and AU have both had immense difficulties in trying to get peacekeepers to Darfur and Somalia in recent years and both those areas are in far worse shape than Palestine and the level of casualties has been far higher.

For the sake of accurary the large majority of Peacekeepers in the main UN Missions in Africa which are in the DRC and Darfur aren't European either.

[Shirley Temple Mount]

You seem to be all over the place. First there has been UN peacekeepers in both Lebanon and Egypt before, which was linked to the conflict with Israel and there are still peacekeepers in Lebanon today.
.

All over the place ? Me ?... I'm not the one in Lebanon and Egypt.


I said that the day you see thousand of peacekeepers in Jerusalem or Israel/ Palestine you will see pigs flying over their heads. Now that may be because the Israelis are bombing the pig-farm up the road but you get the picture/ Same goes for the Jordan Valley.
The reason why Israel loves to see peacekeepers in Lebanon is that its a win win propaganda situation for them. Figure it out yourself.

[darkhorse]

Palestinian refugess and their plight is sadly nothing special. They live in squaler and misery, but in relative security.

Lets face it, bar Europe, Australia and the US there are very few destinations legitimate asylum seekers from anywhere want to go. Malaysia and Thailand host a great many asylum seekers from Burma and Vietnam, yet all are regularly harassed and intimidated, even though they are registered with the UN.

But back the issue of Palestinians. I saw a program last year about a Palestinian refugee in Cuba. His lot is not that differant from those in Lebanon in reality. He suffered poverty, discrimination and uncertainty (with the added ingrediant of racism). It was in his opinion still better than life in the occupied territories, but again, as a Palestinian refugee he was not much better off in Cuba than he would have been in Egypt, Jordan or Lebanon.

There is the political issue of the right of return involved in the situation of Palestinian refugees. But in a wider context, no nation outside of the West is particularly accomodating or welcoming of refugees. Apart from the ongoing political consideration of the 'right of return', the situation of Palestinian refugees is only of greater concern because we chose to make it so. In the context of how refugess are treated globally, their case is sadly not unique.

Palestinian refugees in Arab camps are very different to genuine refugees from conflicts in Asia or elsewhere - not just because the camps have existed since 1948 and that they are now populated by the descendants of the original refugees and not just because of the miserable conditions in which they are held.
Palestinians are themselves Arabs and share a common language and culture with their captors - they are effectively the same peoples. Although Arab governments claim concern for the plight of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and regularily threaten war with Israel on their behalf, they treat their own Palestinians even worse than the Israelis do.
Arabs governments know that if they give citizenship rights to Palestinian refugees then the conflict with Israel would gradually wind down and ultimately dissappear. And, whether we lke it or not, this will be the only way that this conflict will ever ultimately be resolved.
And when that central political issue of the Arab world is resolved, political attention in the Middle East will turn to how these countries are run - which is the last thing any Arab government wants.
Michael Martin would be best advised to stay well away from this conflict as no amount of soft talking will resolve it. Showing up in the West Bank is missing the point and delaying the date when Palestinians will be allowed back into the Arab world - where they belong.

[Horses]

I saw this on TV today. This is the BBC version which has been edited the euronews version was a lot worse really showed Biden whoring himself and America for Israel.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwIpMJvU8dM"]YouTube- Biden repeats commitment to Israeli security, BBC, 2010-03-09[/ame]