Comments on: Anniversary of the Balfour Declaration http://www.yourish.com/2007/11/02/3929 Cutting straight to the point Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:14:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Ed Hausman http://www.yourish.com/2007/11/02/3929/comment-page-1#comment-29492 Ed Hausman Sun, 04 Nov 2007 05:53:04 +0000 http://www.yourish.com/2007/11/02/3929#comment-29492 Until the "Palestinian people" was invented as a weapon against Israel, the local Arabs did think of themselves as Syrians, when they weren't actually recent immigrants from somewhere else. Until the “Palestinian people” was invented as a weapon against Israel, the local Arabs did think of themselves as Syrians, when they weren’t actually recent immigrants from somewhere else.

]]> By: Michael Lonie http://www.yourish.com/2007/11/02/3929/comment-page-1#comment-29473 Michael Lonie Sat, 03 Nov 2007 03:01:46 +0000 http://www.yourish.com/2007/11/02/3929#comment-29473 One irony is that the Palestinian Arabs exist as a people only because of the Jewish immigration. If Palestine had not been established as a Jewish Homeland the place might well have been folded into the Syria Mandate, as the French wished. I suppose the Arabs would think it a fine thing to be oppressed by the thugs who have ruled Syria over the last sixty years. It also seems likely that if Israel had not been established there would have been a huge intra-Arab war by now, with Egypt trying to conquer the Levant and other countries (Iraq and Syria for certain, and maybe Turkey) fighting to prevent it. That is what happened in the 1830s and early 40s, and it took the intervention of the British on the side of the Turks to put Egypt in its place. Who would have intervened this time, the USA? The USSR? Maybe both? Now there would have been a nice prospect, potentially leading to WWIII sometine in the 50s, sparked off by the internecine warfare among Pan-Arab Nationalists, ever jealous of each other. People who believe that the Middle East would be sweetness and light, and the US have much greater influence and many friends there without Israel, are really naive. One irony is that the Palestinian Arabs exist as a people only because of the Jewish immigration. If Palestine had not been established as a Jewish Homeland the place might well have been folded into the Syria Mandate, as the French wished. I suppose the Arabs would think it a fine thing to be oppressed by the thugs who have ruled Syria over the last sixty years.

It also seems likely that if Israel had not been established there would have been a huge intra-Arab war by now, with Egypt trying to conquer the Levant and other countries (Iraq and Syria for certain, and maybe Turkey) fighting to prevent it. That is what happened in the 1830s and early 40s, and it took the intervention of the British on the side of the Turks to put Egypt in its place. Who would have intervened this time, the USA? The USSR? Maybe both? Now there would have been a nice prospect, potentially leading to WWIII sometine in the 50s, sparked off by the internecine warfare among Pan-Arab Nationalists, ever jealous of each other.

People who believe that the Middle East would be sweetness and light, and the US have much greater influence and many friends there without Israel, are really naive.

]]> By: Bob http://www.yourish.com/2007/11/02/3929/comment-page-1#comment-29470 Bob Sat, 03 Nov 2007 01:58:48 +0000 http://www.yourish.com/2007/11/02/3929#comment-29470 Indeed, the Jewish claim to a homeland does <b>not</b> depend on the Balfour Declaration. Quite the contrary, the Balfour Declaration merely acknowledged an irrevocable land grant which already existed (Exodus 32:13). Indeed, the Jewish claim to a homeland does not depend on the Balfour Declaration. Quite the contrary, the Balfour Declaration merely acknowledged an irrevocable land grant which already existed (Exodus 32:13).

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