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Originally Posted by FunForOne
Acutally, thats the opposite of the way I understand it. I think Israel would be more agressive and less patient while dealing with middle eastern countries. Even if you think they couldn't protect themselves, many would die during the "conflict".
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LOL. Nawh! Think you got it wrong. Just let U.S. drop Israel and see what happens
Anyways, the fact is neither of us will be right because palestine-israel conflict was instigated by the west and being carried on by the west. There won't be any solution to it anytime soon because it's not in the west's best interest. If you read history and used your own brains a bit you'll see how it's all really played out. Here's a brief:
In November 1917, before Britain had conquered Jerusalem and the area to be known as Palestine, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration. The declaration was a letter addressed to Lord Rothschild, based on a request of the Zionist organization in Great Britain. The declaration stated Britain's support for the creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine, without violating the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities. The declaration was the result of lobbying by the small British Zionist movement, especially by Dr. Haim Weizmann, who had emigrated from Russia to Britain, but it was motivated by British strategic considerations.
Paradoxically, perhaps, a major motivation for the declaration may have been the belief, inspired by anti-Semitism, that international Jewry would come to the aid of the British if they declared themselves in favor of a Jewish homeland, and the fear that the Germans were about to issue such a declaration.
After the war, the League of Nations divided much of the Ottoman Empire into mandated territories. The British and French saw the Mandates as instruments of imperial ambitions. US President Wilson insisted that the mandates must foster eventual independence.
The British were anxious to keep Palestine away from the French, and decided to ask for a mandate that would implement the Jewish national home of the Balfour declaration, a project that would be supported by the Americans. The Arabs opposed the idea of a Jewish national home, considering that the areas now called Palestine were their land. The Arabs felt they were in danger of dispossession by the Zionists, and did not relish living under Jewish rule.
Jewish immigration swelled in the 1930s, driven by persecution in Eastern Europe, even before the rise of Nazism. Large numbers of Jews began to come from Poland owing to discriminatory laws and harsh economic conditions. The rise of Hitler in Germany added to this tide of immigration. The Jewish Agency made a deal, the Hesder, that allowed Jews to escape Germany to Palestine
in return for hard currency that the Reich needed.
The British White Paper of 1939 was issued to satisfy mounting Arab pressure against further Jewish immigration to Palestine. Violent Arab opposition to the Mandate and Jewish settlement had begun as early as 1919, and took the form of periodic pogroms and agitation for return of Palestine to Syria. In Easter 1920, Amin El Husseini and Aref el Aref, led a particularly violent pogrom in Jerusalem. In later years the British gave Husseini the office of Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, while Aref el Aref was to write a history after the 1948 war. In 1929 there were further Arab riots in Hebron and Jerusalem.
The Jews of Palestine responded to the White Paper and the Holocaust by organizing illegal immigration to Palestine from occupied Europe, through the "Institution for Illegal Immigration" (Hamossad L'aliya Beth). Illegal immigration (Aliya Bet) was organized by the Jewish Agency between 1939 and 1942, when a tightened British blockade and stricter controls in occupied Europe made it impractical, and again between 1945 and 1948.
In Jerusalem, Arab riots broke out on November 30 and December 1 1947. Palestinian irregulars cut off the supply of food, water and fuel to Jerusalem during a long siege that began in late 1947. Fighting and violence broke out immediately throughout the country, including ambushes of transportation, the Jerusalem blockade, riots such as the Haifa refinery riots, and massacres that took place at Gush Etzion (by Palestinians) and in Deir Yassin (by Jews). Arab Palestinians began leaving their towns and villages to escape the fighting. Notably, most of the Arab population of Haifa left in March and April of 1948, despite pleas by both Jewish and British officials to stay.
The British did little to stop the fighting.
In the summer of 1956, Israel, France and Britain colluded in a plan to reverse the nationalization of the Suez canal. Israel would invade the Sinai and land paratroopers near the Mitla pass. Britain and France would issue an ultimatum, and then land troops ostensibly to separate the sides. The plan was carried out beginning October 29, 1956. Israel swiftly conquered Sinai. The US was furious at Israel, Britain and France. UN General Assembly Resolution 997 called for immediate withdrawal. Israeli troops remained in Sinai for many months.
Israel subsequently withdrew under pressure from the UN and in particular the United States.
In several summit conferences beginning in 1964, Arab leaders ratified the establishment of the PLO, declared their resolve to destroy Israel, and decided to divert the sources of the Jordan river that feed the Sea of Galilee, to prevent Israel from implementing the water carrier plan. The Syrians and Lebanese began to implement the diversions. Israel responded by firing on the tractors and equipment doing the work in Syria, using increasingly accurate and longer range guns as the Syrians moved the equipment from the border. This was followed by Israeli attempts to cultivate the demilitarized zones (DMZ) as provided in the armistice agreements. Israel was within its rights according to the armistice agreements, but Moshe Dayan claimed many years later that 80% of the incidents were deliberately provoked. The Syrians responded by firing in the DMZs (Click here for a map of the demilitarized zones). When Israelis responded in force, Syria began shelling Israeli towns in the north, and the conflict escalated into air strikes.
The USSR was intent on protecting the new Ba'athist pro-Soviet government of Syria, and represented to the Syrians and Egyptians that Israel was preparing to attack Syria. As tension rose, Syria appealed to Egypt, believing the claim of the USSR that Israel was massing troops on the Syrian border. The claim was false and was denied by the UN. \
While Syrians and Egyptians were equipped with late model Soviet heavy tanks, many of the Israeli "tanks" were in fact tiny
French AMX anti-tank vehicles, and the heavy tanks were refurbished WWII Sherman tanks fitted with diesel engines.
Israel had also been allowed to purchase about 250 M-48 Patton tanks from the US in 1965.
Since USSR was selling arms and ammo to the arabs, U.S. decided to be equal and started selling arms and ammo to Israel. Many believe if Palestine's new Ba'athist party was pro-U.S., today things would have been much different.
It would be the oppressed jews terrorizing the world today. If then Ba'athist party could predict future, they would not be pro-USSR which was to fall apart in early 90s that became a major setback for arabs.
Bottomline, some countries must still be selling arms to Palestinees. And I'd bet U.S. is not purposefully stopping it because U.S. needs instability in the mid-east so arabs with all its wealth do not become too pwerful economically to compete with the U.S. not to mention Israel is geographically a good loc for u.s. to guard against some not so friendly euro countries
