Vatican Supports Two-State Solution

[Roy5]

** I was a pilgrim to the Holy Land four times**, once when the Arabs ran many holy places, There was no problem visiting Bethlehem, East Jerusalem, etc. In fact, Arab guides made their living off tourists. We flew into Amman, Jordan, then through the West Bank, then into Israel. Our main hassle was crossing into Israel from what was then under Jordanian jurisdiction. The Israeli border people deliberately made it tough for Arabs, and tourists were backed up as a result also.

 The Vatican, Near East bishops, and most Christians in the Holy Land have strongly opposed the Israeli occupation. The government doesn't permit Christian evangelism - among other forms of discrimination. Messianic Jews face particular opposition. 

 However, there is plenty of blame to go around. Our goal should be justice for both Israelis and Palestinians. Sadly, our government's total embrace of Israel over the years was at the root of Muslim anger. We were loudly professing democracy but supporting decades of occupation when those occupied have had no vote and when more and more settlements were built on the land on which a Palestinian state could be established. Why? Mainly for domestic political reasons - the pressure of AIPAC and Christian Zionists who insist that the USA back Israel regardless, with our tax dollars, with our best military equipment, and in the UN. Obama seems no better than his predecessors. He (like other politicians) wants votes and campaign money and fears alienating both.

 If you want to encourage terrorism, continue to support the biased US policy. If you want to diminish the threat of terrorism work for an equitable peace that will help Israel, the Palestinians, and world peace. It's as simple as that. 

God bless the Israelis, the Palestinians and all of his children.

 

[GEddie]

Sounds very nice but Arab violence in the area did not begin in 1967. It did not even begin with the inception of the Israeli state. To pressure the Israelis to resume status quo 1967 in hopes that the violence will go away is a gamble they cannot afford to take.

ICXC NIKA

 

[scipio337]

So it is OK for the Israelis to treat the Palestinians the way they do? Are the Palestinians to be denied statehood? …

The Ottoman Empire did just that for 400+ years. As did the Abbasid Caliphate for 500 years or so.

 

[scipio337]

** I was a pilgrim to the Holy Land four times**, once when the Arabs ran many holy places, There was no problem visiting Bethlehem, East Jerusalem, etc. In fact, Arab guides made their living off tourists. We flew into Amman, Jordan, then through the West Bank, then into Israel. Our main hassle was crossing into Israel from what was then under Jordanian jurisdiction. The Israeli border people deliberately made it tough for Arabs, and tourists were backed up as a result also.

 The Vatican, Near East bishops, and most Christians in the Holy Land have strongly opposed the Israeli occupation. The government doesn't permit Christian evangelism - among other forms of discrimination. Messianic Jews face particular opposition. 

 However, there is plenty of blame to go around. Our goal should be justice for both Israelis and Palestinians. Sadly, our government's total embrace of Israel over the years was at the root of Muslim anger. We were loudly professing democracy but supporting decades of occupation when those occupied have had no vote and when more and more settlements were built on the land on which a Palestinian state could be established. Why? Mainly for domestic political reasons - the pressure of AIPAC and Christian Zionists who insist that the USA back Israel regardless, with our tax dollars, with our best military equipment, and in the UN. Obama seems no better than his predecessors. He (like other politicians) wants votes and campaign money and fears alienating both.

 If you want to encourage terrorism, continue to support the biased US policy. If you want to diminish the threat of terrorism work for an equitable peace that will help Israel, the Palestinians, and world peace. It's as simple as that. 

God bless the Israelis, the Palestinians and all of his children.

Well, Roy, perhaps we could compare the persuction Christians and Messianic Jews face in the lone Jewish state, and compare that to the persecution they would face in any number of the Arab states in the region.

How is Christian evangelism handled in Saudi Arabia, perhaps? Or Egypt? Syria?

Our side with Israel is mostly a Cold War holdover. If you don’t remember, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria were Soviet client-states. It took Arabs losing 3 wars, and a considerable amount of bribes on our part to even get these nations to make peace with Israel (the exception still being Syria).

Of course, Saudi Arabia has no lobby or influence in US foriegn policy, at all!

For all the talk of “occupation” and “stolen land”, I’ve never had a very simple and elementary question answered:

WHO did Israel steal land from? Jordan? Egypt? The British? The Ottoman sultanate?

Who??

 

[JimR-OCDS]

WHO did Israel steal land from? Jordan? Egypt? The British? The Ottoman sultanate?

Who??

They took the homes of the Palestinians often at gunpoint and gave them over to immigrating Jews from Europe.

In 1947, Zionist’s militias committed genocide of Palestinians who’s only crime was that their village was on the boundary lines for the proposed state of Israel.

The history behind creating the state of Israel and the treatment of the Palestinians who lived there before hand, is akin to the white man’s treatment of Native Americans in the USA.

No one today would dare call the Native Americans who fought back against white settlers, terrorist.

Yet, Palestinians who fight back against the Jewish settlers in occupied territories are always called terrorist.

Jim

 

[GEddie]

They took the homes of the Palestinians often at gunpoint and gave them over to immigrating Jews from Europe.

In 1947, Zionist’s militias committed genocide of Palestinians who’s only crime was that their village was on the boundary lines for the proposed state of Israel.

The history behind creating the state of Israel and the treatment of the Palestinians who lived there before hand, is akin to the white man’s treatment of Native Americans in the USA.

No one today would dare call the Native Americans who fought back against white settlers, terrorist.

Yet, Palestinians who fight back against the Jewish settlers in occupied territories are always called terrorist.

Jim

That shows only that we romanticize violent struggles that are safely in the past. If someone descended from Native Americans were to kill people in 2011 as an act of defiance, he would be labelled and treated as a terrorist.

ICXC NIKA

 

[scipio337]

They took the homes of the Palestinians often at gunpoint and gave them over to immigrating Jews from Europe

In 1947, Zionist’s militias committed genocide of Palestinians who’s only crime was that their village was on the boundary lines for the proposed state of Israel…

There were also some Palestinians who fled in the invading Arab armies in 1948.

In early April, an estimated 25,000 Arabs left the Haifa area following an offensive by the irregular forces led by Fawzi al-Qawukji, and rumors that Arab air forces would soon bomb the Jewish areas around Mt. Carmel.
Palestinian Nationalist:

The Arabs of Palestine left their homes, were scattered, and lost everything. But there remained one solid hope: The Arab armies were on the eve of their entry into Palestine to save the country and return things to their normal course, punish the aggressor, and throw oppressive Zionism with its dreams and dangers into the sea. On May 14, 1948, crowds of Arabs stood by the roads leading to the frontiers of Palestine, enthusiastically welcoming the advancing armies. Days and weeks passed, sufficient to accomplish the sacred mission, but the Arab armies did not save the country. They did nothing but let slip from their hands Acre, Sarafand, Lydda, Ramleh, Nazareth, most of the south and the rest of the north. Then hope fled (Middle East Journal, October 1949).

But many of them stayed. 1 out of every 5 Israelis…Is Palestinian.

Which is tit for tat. Arabs and Muslims had their pogroms and riots agains Jews, for several hundered years

JimR-OCDS:

The history behind creating the state of Israel and the treatment of the Palestinians who lived there before hand, is akin to the white man’s treatment of Native Americans in the USA.

No one today would dare call the Native Americans who fought back against white settlers, terrorist.

Yet, Palestinians who fight back against the Jewish settlers in occupied territories are always called terrorist.

Jim

Its nothing at all like the case of Native Americans, unless, of course, there were several Cherokee, etc, speaking nations in the region.

You’re wrong. Native Americans who killed civillians, women and children would be called terrorists. See “American Indian Movement”.

I noticed you still didn’t answer the question.

WHO was the land stolen from??

 

[JimR-OCDS]

scipio

There were also some Palestinians who fled in the invading Arab armies in 1948.

Actually they fled both Israeli and Arab armies so they wouldn’t be caught in the battles.

However, after the fighting, they attempted to return to their homes and were stopped at gunpoint by Israeli forces.

Many were put on buses and driven out to edge of Gaza and forced to walk out into the desert with only what they had on thier backs. Those and their children make up the majority of populations living in exhile in Gaza refugee camps.

But many of them stayed. 1 out of every 5 Israelis…Is Palestinian.

Some stayed, but in various areas, many were forced out of their homes at night by Israeli solders. Their homes were later inhabited by immigrating Jews from Europe. This is an ugly fact on the history of the state of Israel that the west refuses to acknowledge.

Which is tit for tat. Arabs and Muslims had their pogroms and riots agains Jews, for several hundered years

Actually Jews, Muslims and Christians lived peacefully with each other for decades before 1948 when the State of Israel was established.

Its nothing at all like the case of Native Americans, unless, of course, there were several Cherokee, etc, speaking nations in the region.

Oh, it is the same. Forcing people off their land and sending into exhile into refugee camps is akin to what whites did to NA’s.

You’re wrong. Native Americans who killed civillians, women and children would be called terrorists. See “American Indian Movement”.

Oh sure, in the past they were called terrorist and many other things. But they were responding to the slaughter of their own women and children by the US Army.

I noticed you still didn’t answer the question.

WHO was the land stolen from??

I did answer, it was stolen from the Palestinians living in what is now called Israel.

Jim

 

[scipio337]

scipio

Actually they fled both Israeli and Arab armies so they wouldn’t be caught in the battles.

However, after the fighting, they attempted to return to their homes and were stopped at gunpoint by Israeli forces.

Jim,

Washington didn’t let the Loyalist who fled to Canada back into the US, either. What happened to Palestinian Arabs who stayed?

JimR-OCDS:

Many were put on buses and driven out to edge of Gaza and forced to walk out into the desert with only what they had on thier backs. Those and their children make up the majority of populations living in exhile in Gaza refugee camps.

But did you know there are more Palestinain Arab refugees living in UNWRA camps in Jordan than there are in Gaza?

Don’t just take my word for it, its from the official UNWRA website.

unrwa.org/userfiles/2011011352710.pdf

JimR-OCDS:

Some stayed, but in various areas, many were forced out of their homes at night by Israeli solders. Their homes were later inhabited by immigrating Jews from Europe. This is an ugly fact on the history of the state of Israel that the west refuses to acknowledge.

And what happened to the Jews who were kicked out of Arab countries?

There were anti-Jewish pogroms in Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, and nearly every other Middle Eastern nation.

In Libya, Jews were deprived of citizenship, and in Iraq, their property was seized. Those Jews who were forced to emigrate were not allowed to take their property. From 1948 to 1949, the Israeli government secretly airlifted 50,000 Jews from Yemen and from 1950 to 1952, 130,000 Jews were airlifted from Iraq. From 1949 to 1951, 30,000 Jews fled Libya to Israel. In these cases over 90% of the Jewish population opted to leave, despite the necessity of leaving their property behind.

In total it is estimated that 700,000 Jews were forced out or fled from their homes in Arab countries from 1948 until 1964.

This is an ugly fact on the history of the Middle East that the Arab world and the Palestinian Arab supporters refuse to acknowledge.

JimR-OCDS:

Actually Jews, Muslims and Christians lived peacefully with each other for decades before 1948 when the State of Israel was established.

That’s really laughable.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920_Palestine_riots

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929_Palestine_riots

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936%E2%80%931939_Arab_revolt_in_Palestine

And I suppose that Christians lived under the “Pact of Umar” were “living peacefully”, too?

Just like Copts do today in Egypt?

JimR-OCDS:

Oh, it is the same. Forcing people off their land and sending into exhile into refugee camps is akin to what whites did to NA’s.

Not really.

The formation of modern Israel and Jordan was a post-colonial collapse that broke down ehtnic and religious lines. It was a lot like the fall of the British Raj and formation of India, Pakistan, and East Pakistan. Except in that case, there were over 14 MILLION displaced Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs that were accepted into their ethnic/religious majority country.

Not so in 1948. There were 500,000 - 1 million Palestinian Arab refugees, and a similar number of Jewish refugees. Israel accepted the Jewish refugees. The Arab League STILL forbids any member state from granting any Palestinian Arabs citizenship.

Again, there are more Palestinian Arabs living in UNWRA camps in Jordan than there are in the West Bank.

Your Native American comparison would be similar if there were an independent, Nez Perce speaking nation located in what is now Canada, and after being forced from what is now Idaho, the Canadian Nez Perce forced the Idahoian Nez Perce who fled the US to live in UNWRA camps, and denied them citizenship.

Then we would have a valid analogy!

JimR-OCDS:

Oh sure, in the past they were called terrorist and many other things. But they were responding to the slaughter of their own women and children by the US Army.

I can’t defend the actions of the past US Army. As a combat vet, I would label any who intentionally target civillians as “terrorists”, whether they wear a uniform, or not.

JimR-OCDS:

I did answer, it was stolen from the Palestinians living in what is now called Israel.

Jim

But “Palestine” was the name of a region, not a state. I live in Missouri. It would be like stating that Missouri stole the land from the “Bootheelians”. Even the name “Palestine” was given by Hadrian.

There was no Palestinian Arab state in 1948, and Egypt and Jordan didn’t grant one from 1948-1967.

 

[scipio337]

Which is tit for tat. I believe the Vatican should support a two-state solution, provided the Palestinian State can live in peace with Israel as a neighbor. I belive most Israelis do, but the difficulty will be East Jerusalem.

 

[Roy5]

JimR had summed up things rather well from a Palestinian point of view.

There are many of us - more and more, I think - who try hard to be both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian. We are not sympathetic to terrorism, but terrorism can be carried out by states, too. Nazi Germany was a prime example in its slaughter of Jews, gays, gypsies, Russian prisoners of war. etc. One reason many of us have some sympathy for Israel is that it became a haven for Jews after World War II.

  **On the other hand, the Palestinians were in no way responsible for the Holocaust**. They became disturbed when more and more Jews poured into their land and gradually took much of it over, aided by US billions, tax-exampt funds from wealthy Jews in the USA, etc. Then, in 1948, the Jews declared an independent state - after, by the way, Jewish groups like the Irgun directed terrorism against both the British and the Arabs, Read the story of the bombing of the King David Hotel, for example.

 **When the Jews began to seize more and more land** and committed various acts of genocide against Arab civilians (Muslim and Christian, both) neighboring countries tried to intervene. Contrary to popular mythology the Zionist forces had superior numbers, armaments and determination. And, by the way, Israel launched at least three of the four wars that followed - in 1967, 1982, and the invasion of Gaza a couple years ago. They, of course, justified them. Warmakers always justify their wars. Remember how Hitler claimed that Germany had been attacked by the Poles in 1939!

** What could and should have happened is that the displaced Palestinians were well compensated** for their property and for being ousted from their villages. That would have been considerably less expensive in lives lost and billions of US tax dollars etc. It should have made the refugee camps, centers of continuing bitterness, unnecessary.

**But, instead, the Palestinians were demonized **as lies were promoted (and still are promoted). The Palestinians have no airplanes, tanks and other advanced weapons, supplied mainly by the US, so some of them have fought by methods which I do not approve. I would have preferred the methods of Gandhi and ML King Jr. (I was jailed twice during the Civil Rights struggle of the 60s.)

** I hope it is not too late. **Unfortunately, none of the major American politicians, of either party, except maybe Ron Paul, has the courage to take a brave and neutral position. It’s always talk about Israel as our only ally in the Middle East. Since Israel has no other real ally in the entire world that statement has little meaning. Israel has succeeded in alienating most everybody outside of the US. It has been a millstone around our necks. Israel depends upon domestic politics to use and abuse America as a perpetual puppet.

We have paid a huge price for that but don’t seem to wake up. Since Israel depends upon us entirely - financially, militarily, and diplomatically - for its security and future existence we could have forced a fair settlement. But, no… Those who know the truth (I believe many key politicians do) are afraid to be accused on ‘throwing Israel under the bus’. When anyone dares speak up tons of money are poured in to defeat them, e. g., Senators Percy and Fulbright years ago. Sad, sad, sad. Sad for Israel, for the Palestinians, and for us.

 **What if the Mexican-Americans becomes so numerous in the Southwest** that they eventually claim California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas - perhaps even more - as part of Mexico. It was, after all, not that long ago that they were part of Mexico. Would we say, fine? Mexico has a right to them? Of course not, even though we would still have 45 or so states left. Think about it. 

  ** I confess to some cynicism** because I see little chance of an America that is not controlled by avid Israel supporters. I want to scream out: 'What are we doing! Why can't we see that our policy is bankrupt, that we just create more and more hatred of Israel and the USA,  that we promote more and more terrorism?

  **God bless Israel, the Palestinians, and all the world.** Christ would want us to take a serious lead on the road to peace. We seem to ignore this.

 

[EzraJacob]

Romans 2:10
But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

Let God’s will be done .

Ah, and its also said in there, The first will be last and the last will be first

Its also said, there is no more division

 

[someguy14]

Ah, and its also said in there, The first will be last and the last will be first

Its also said, there is no more division

In that case, thank a glorious God for helping us through with patience friend .
May the people grow to understand how much God truely loves each and every one of us.
Highest blessing’s to the Alpha and Omega.
May God bless.

 

[trdchubi]

**This idea that one group is favored by God over the others is, in my mind, contrary to the basic focus of Christ.
**
One example is the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews. They had intermarried, had developed a different form of religion, focusing on Mount Gerizim rather than Jerusalem. There are still Samaritans practicing that faith at Nablus and elsewhere.

 Anyway, the priest and the Levite 'passed by on the other side'. The Samaritan risked his own life, gave of his own resources, to help the man who had been robbed and lay dying by the road. 

 This, to me, shows that Christ was rejecting even priests and Levites who showed no compassion while lauding a hated Samaritan who stopped and attended to the victim. So, Jesus (God) did not favor the Jews but people of whatever faith who did his will. Too many well-intentioned people are believers in Christ but don't become his followers. We are not saved by our doctrines or church affiliation but by a simple faith in Christ expressed through  'living for Jesus' and seeking to serve him in our daily walk.

That in my understanding is challenging the wisdom of an All-knowing God and rejecting what He made clear in the scriptures:

6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Deut 7:6

And those priest and levite are Judean religious leaders. They do not comprise the entire Jewry during Christ time. The Galilean Jews believe in Jesus Christ.

The Lord is basically against the hypocrisy of religious leaders in His parable.

 

[trdchubi]

**Why do I have trouble believing that Zaki said those things to Al-Jazeera, then added “don’t say these things to the world”? To speak to Al-Jazeera this way is to speak to the world, of course. It is widely heard by friend and foe alike. **

Did he say Jerusalem, for example, or East Jerusalem? Obviously moving 650,000 settlers isn't the end of Israel. While I believe that figure is a bit high, why did Israel deliberately settle several hundred thousand people on the West Bank if she really has any interest in a two-state solution? As to the wall, some of it was built on on territory that should be included in a new Palestinian state, some of it divides farmers from their crops, etc. As far as I'm concerned a just wall can remain, but with adjustments.

There is an enormous amount of propaganda tossed around by all sides. I would want to see the precise text correctly translated into English and not depend upon a source hostile to the Palestinians. There is something unreal about the quote as quoted.

 This nonsense between the Israelis and the Palestinians has gone on too long. Just today I was reading (again) that the Vatican favors a two-state solution. The world has waited so long for this problem to be solved, and as long as it festers the terrorists nd other enemies of the US benefit. Why can't people see that? Gen. Patreaus saw it clearly. This blindness is frustrating to those of us who want to preserve Israel while gaining justice for the Palestinians. Both goals can be achieved if the US insists upon it. It helps no one to peddle propaganda designed to heighten suspicion and undermine efforts to achieve peace and harmony in the Holy Land.  

 God bless Israel and the Palestinians. May they dwell together in peace and mutual respect. This continuing hostility has been very injurious to Christians in that part of the world. Between the Israeli occupiers and the Muslim radicals Christians are being squeezed out. Peace between Israel and the Palestinians would help them enormously.

Have you heard the of concept of taqquiyya?

The Arab Journalist of this article should give us a viable interpretation of what was really being said by abbas zaki. The writer of Fatah’s Double-Talk which Caldera already posted is an Arab Muslim.

 

[trdchubi]

JimR had summed up things rather well from a Palestinian point of view.

There are many of us - more and more, I think - who try hard to be both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian. We are not sympathetic to terrorism, but terrorism can be carried out by states, too. Nazi Germany was a prime example in its slaughter of Jews, gays, gypsies, Russian prisoners of war. etc. One reason many of us have some sympathy for Israel is that it became a haven for Jews after World War II.

So again with respect to those who advocate neutrality and the plight of the arabs, can anyone answer this question:

Is this bid, for UN membership of yet another arab state in the M.E, NOT actually aimed in reigniting and prolonging the conflict or NOT really designed in eliminating an existing member state?

 

[trdchubi]

When the Jews began to seize more and more land and committed various acts of genocide against Arab civilians (Muslim and Christian, both) neighboring countries tried to intervene. Contrary to popular mythology the Zionist forces had superior numbers, armaments and determination. And, by the way, Israel launched at least three of the four wars that followed - in 1967, 1982, and the invasion of Gaza a couple years ago. They, of course, justified them. Warmakers always justify their wars. Remember how Hitler claimed that Germany had been attacked by the Poles in 1939!

Myths?

The belief, that Israel attacked ‘peaceful’ Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq on June 5, 1967 and seized the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the “West Bank” from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria, is advocating the claims of the same organization that wants the destruction of Israel.

What is the allowable thing to do for the leadership of Israel when dejavu happens? Will they seat around and wait while:

• tens of thousands of Arab troops massing on Israel’s borders
• frenzied demonstrations in every Arab capital demanding the demise of their Jewish state
• the leaders of the Soviet bloc proclaiming unqualified support for Arab war aims
• the French… Israel’s only ally, abruptly changing sides.
• the Syrian chief of staff says, “Our objective is the freeing of Palestine and the liquidation of the Zionist existence,”
• the Iraqi president proclaimed, "Our goal is clear – to wipe Israel off the face of the map.
• Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, who ousted U.N. peacekeepers from the Egypt-Israel border and blockaded Israeli shipping through the Straits of Tiran, foresaw a “total war . . . aimed at Israel’s destruction.”
• the Palestine Liberation Organization pledged “We shall destroy Israel and prepare boats to deport the survivors…if there are any.”

 

[trdchubi]

**But, instead, the Palestinians were demonized **as lies were promoted (and still are promoted). The Palestinians have no airplanes, tanks and other advanced weapons, supplied mainly by the US, so some of them have fought by methods which I do not approve. I would have preferred the methods of Gandhi and ML King Jr. (I was jailed twice during the Civil Rights struggle of the 60s.)

As pointed out before Yasser Arafat diverted nearly $1 billion in public funds to insure his political survival, but a lot more is unaccounted for.

Yes Gandhi and King were peaceful men. Arafat and abbas on the other hand are from the ‘religion of peace’.Big difference.

 

[trdchubi]

** I was a pilgrim to the Holy Land four times**, once when the Arabs ran many holy places, There was no problem visiting Bethlehem, East Jerusalem, etc. In fact, Arab guides made their living off tourists. We flew into Amman, Jordan, then through the West Bank, then into Israel. Our main hassle was crossing into Israel from what was then under Jordanian jurisdiction. The Israeli border people deliberately made it tough for Arabs, and tourists were backed up as a result also.

Yes you are, but you are entering Israel from arab controlled territories. You can’t possibly expect a light security detail while touring with arab guides, did you?

If your point is that the Holy sites should be readily accessible, then I must say it should be for everyone. But the problem is arabs claim that each and every Jewish Holy Place is rightfully theirs including Christian Holy sites. I hardly believe that any arab controlled Holy sites will be well taken cared off. In fact there were times that they were the proponents of vandalism.

Have you ever wondered what these arabs did to one of the most important Christian sites, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem?

The Vatican, Near East bishops, and most Christians in the Holy Land have strongly opposed the Israeli occupation. The government doesn’t permit Christian evangelism - among other forms of discrimination. Messianic Jews face particular opposition.

Do you think the Christians will do better under arab rule. We should understand the Christians’ Plight in the Holy Land.

 

[Roy5]

trdchubi

** I could contest all of your assertions, but obviously your mind has been thoroughly captured by one side, and I have other duties, so I’m not going to bother.** My mind began to change in 1956, when I was very pro-Israel. In October of that year Israel invaded Egypt while England and France bombed it. I was furious. Seemed like old-fashioned colonialism. It was time that African countries should be free to decide their own policies. It was only then that I began to read both sides, and gradually I came to my conviction that two ‘rights’ were making an horrendous wrong. By the way, I was doubly annoyed by the Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956 - with British and Franch connivance - because it coincided with the Hungarian uprising against Soviet control. It undermined the moral ground of the West

 **Both the Israelis and the Palestinians had and have legitimate arguments, but the US, because of political considerations here at home, has been totally pro-Israel.** This lies at the root of Muslim anger going back decades. Muslims wondered how the US could spout democracy and such while giving total support - financial, military and diplomatic - to a power that was occupying the West Bank and Gaza where the residents were un by a foreign powert and had no vote, What kind of democracy is that? And, by the way, if the US only permitted, say, Protestants to immigrate into the US what kind of democracy would we be?

** Read both sides with an open mind and you will - I’m convinced - become pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian and work for justice and peace to the benefit of both - plus our beloved USA**. Sadly, the American government is unlikely to do that and terrorism will continue. Israel shares a part of the blame for all this. I worry that eventually Americans will draw back from the international scene, tire of fiddling in the Middle East, and then Israel will be alone and in serious danger. Now is the time to negotiate a fair peace. Time is on the side of the enemies of Israel.

** God bless Israel, the Palestinians and people of everry creed, color, culture and country.**

PS Are you a Jewish convert to Catholicism? Just wondered. Perhaps you dealt with that in an earlier posting that I missed.