QUESTION 4 - If you agree that expansion to annex all of Palestine is the covert goal of Israel, how could you possibly conclude that Israel has ever negotiated anything in good faith?
Note that even at the acceptance of the 1947 UN Resolution partition, Ben-Gurion pledged to his party that the boarders established were "not final", thus their acceptance was merely a tactical necessity as a prelude to further expansion. Why would Israel genuinely agree to any ending of hostilities if their actual (covert) goal is to expand Israel to include all of Palestine? What would you do if full annexation were your actual goal from the start?
Note also that for the 1947 partition, the Palestinians were neither consulted nor compensated, so how could that plan be the basis for peace? How could you expect the Palestinians not to fight back against that existential assault?
Of course, some Muslims have the covert agenda of establishing a Sharia Law theocracy, and there are many Muslim (and non-Muslim) countries with abhorrent records of the treatment of women, for instance, but that does not justify Israel's assault and annexation of Palestinian land. Furthermore, many Palestinian leaders are secular and understand the dangers of theocracies.
QUESTION 6 - Given the above, how do you think Palestinians should respond against such insults and atrocities?
How would you respond if you were a Palestinian whose home and/or livelihood (orchards, farmland, etc.) was just bulldozed with little to no notice and with no compensation - to make room for a new settlement of Jews who are actually subsidized to live on what had been your land for hundreds of years?
QUESTION 7 - In what way is the Goldstone report on the 2008-2009 War on Gaza inaccurate in finding that the vast majority of war crimes were perpetrated by Israel? You can find the report at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf
The author is a well-regarded Jewish jurist from South Africa who was commissioned to investigate war crimes. He initially refused when the mandate was to investigate only Israeli war crimes. Once the charter of the investigation was enlarged to look at war crimes perpetrated by both sides, he was willing to participate. Note that he documents war crimes on both sides; it's not all about Israel, but Israel holds the cards. The Palestinian options available for responding to Israel's occupation are severely limited because of Israel's military and technological prowess.
Here are some quotes from the report:
Military objectives as stated by the Government of Israel do not explain the facts ascertained by the Mission, nor are they congruous with the patterns identified by the Mission during the investigation.
While the Israeli Government has sought to portray its operations as essentially a response to rocket attacks in the exercise of its right to self-defence, the Mission considers the plan to have been directed, at least in part, at a different target: the people of Gaza as a whole.
It is clear from evidence gathered by the Mission that the destruction of food supply installations, water sanitation systems, concrete factories and residential houses was the result of a deliberate and systematic policy by the Israeli armed forces. It was not carried out because those objects presented a military threat or opportunity, but to make the daily process of living, and dignified living, more difficult for the civilian population.
QUESTION 8 - Why do you suppose that many Jews, including Israelis, at risk of being hit by rockets and subject to governmental persecution, and especially those who have actually been to Gaza, support Palestinian rights?
In fact, just this week (August 16, 2014) there was a massive (estimates of 10,000 people) anti-Gaza War demonstration in Tel Aviv. On the other hand, you'd be hard-pressed to find even one Palestinian anywhere in the world who supports Israel's position. Why do you think Jews would oppose their own government's policies if the perspective of Israel and the US corporate media on the conflict were accurate?
And no, it's not because they're "self-hating Jews" (a meaningless term). Am I a "self-hating American" because I oppose my government's fraudulent wars and consistent support of terrorists and brutal dictators? Rich Forer's book has a chapter specifically addressing the "self-hating Jew" issue.
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