Thanks to all who have opined so far.
Well, this thread was posted in the open discussion because that is exacly what this part of the forum is for.
I hoped to get some opinions in order to flesh out this theme. I stated some historical facts and my opinions. It is not intended as an academic paper and did elicit responses and reactions.
My gut feeling is still that the Arabs need to realize that their presence in Palestine was due to Mohammed's war machine
in the 7th century. The same war machine that conquered other countries and people. People who were forced to live under the rule of an aggressor. The conquered people under Mohammed did not enjoy equal priveleges as the 'true Muslim Arabs' did.
So , again I see the Palestine issue in gross terms. Palestine was not ruled by the Arabs at the time that the U.N. 1948 resolution
made for Israel and Palestinian states. Therefore the Arabs, it would seem, should accept what Mohammed handed out to controlled peoples back in their history, especially if they claim practically indiginous rights to the land of Palestine(which they are not truely indiginous to).
There has been many chances of resolution lost because of both sides, however it appears to me that the Arab side does not want the presence of Jews at all. That is why I feel they should
accept historical destiny , if I may use such a phrase, and get on with their lives.
As an after thought in my original post I queried about educational levels and how far back they can be traced because I also suspected that many Arabs come from generations of families having no formal education. Point being that the common masses
whom are being represented by a very small group of people, call them politicos and clerics for lack of better terminology, are vulnerable to being brainwashed. Alot of anti-U.S. sentiment among Arabs, I opine, is probably due to this rather than any other real premise (in relative terms, all things being equal) as well as anti-Jewish sentiment or any other target group. That is what I referred to as "the camel races" sic {The "chess game" .} Yeah, the world is full of intrigues and self-interests, but with regard to this situation, Arafat , I opine, has lately done his best to shunt away from fair resolutions and seems to be patronizing other agendas.(can you draw terror?)
Being such a hot topic that fuels a fire of Middle East unrest , I'd think that compromise for the benefit of peoples' lives would have been accepted by now rather than allow for the tripe of fanaticism and radical clerics who want to stir savagery.
Here is a link to the U.N. version of the Palestine issue.
Hairs can always be split in order to state each and every individual's gripe, but the Jews are there to stay and the Arabs have to accept that. My assumption and suspicion is that the Arabs want no Jews period.
Indeed, Longston has a very sober reply. Yes it is complicated but I believe it is being fired up unnecessarily.
http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/ec8db69f77e7a33e052567270057e591/3b58e8d0adf62b5f852561230077c62d!OpenDocument
Hope this link works.