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Conflict in the Middle East
Original poster

In one paragraph can you summarise the Israel / Hamas conflict?

143 replies

curmudgeonlydoesit · 31/10/2023 08:53

as if I was 12 please?

OP posts:
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JustMaggie · 31/10/2023 09:11

Jews suffered terribly at the hands of the Nazi's and they asked the British if it would be ok to have a homeland in Palestine. They wanted somewhere where they could be safe and never persecuted again. The British said "sure, no problem, you can have Palestine" so the Jews moved in. The Palestinians said "WTF?" and the Jews said "Sorry, it's ours now. Out."

PuttingDownRoots · 31/10/2023 09:13

For centuries people have fought over a piece of land they consider to be the Holy Land. It is still ongoing with atrocities being committed in the name of religion and both sides think they are right.

RudsyFarmer · 31/10/2023 09:18

Humans are depraved.

Floppyelf · 31/10/2023 09:24

JustMaggie · 31/10/2023 09:11

Jews suffered terribly at the hands of the Nazi's and they asked the British if it would be ok to have a homeland in Palestine. They wanted somewhere where they could be safe and never persecuted again. The British said "sure, no problem, you can have Palestine" so the Jews moved in. The Palestinians said "WTF?" and the Jews said "Sorry, it's ours now. Out."

This is the most accurate post in here for a long time.

Peskysquirrel · 31/10/2023 10:42

This is the most accurate post in here for a long time.

It really, really isn't.
Jews did not first "move in" to Palestine after WW2. They have lived in the region for thousands of years.
And have you never heard of the 1917 Balfour Declaration?

JustMaggie · 31/10/2023 20:41

I think it's fair to say that the worst of the hostilities started after the end of WW2.

Nagado · 31/10/2023 21:11

I’ll have a go.

There’s a bit of land that two groups of people have been fighting over for a very long time. Both groups consider it to be their rightful home in the world and believe that the other group have no place there. Both groups accuse the other of doing dreadful things to them in an attempt to get them to leave the land. Every now and again, other countries wade in to try and solve the situation but normally end up making it worse. There is no solution that anyone has thought of that will make both sides happy.

SurprisedWithAHorse · 31/10/2023 21:15

Floppyelf · 31/10/2023 09:24

This is the most accurate post in here for a long time.

Show quote history

No it isn't, it's horseshit.

Teddleshon · 31/10/2023 21:18

Second the horseshit assessment.

HaveALaff · 31/10/2023 21:22

JustMaggie · 31/10/2023 09:11

Jews suffered terribly at the hands of the Nazi's and they asked the British if it would be ok to have a homeland in Palestine. They wanted somewhere where they could be safe and never persecuted again. The British said "sure, no problem, you can have Palestine" so the Jews moved in. The Palestinians said "WTF?" and the Jews said "Sorry, it's ours now. Out."

Yeh basically this.

HaveALaff · 31/10/2023 21:25

I have a Palestinian friend who told me a story.

It starts with her grandmother saying... "I know the people who live in my home. I let them in." And she did ... She let them stay in her home as refugees and one day they kept the keys to the house and there was nothing she could do about it. The law or enforcement's didn't protect her. That was it. The end.

Puffykins · 31/10/2023 21:26

It's longer than a paragraph (and that paragraph that describes Jews moving to Palestine is factually incorrect on several levels) - but this article is excellent (and factually correct): https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/10/decolonization-narrative-dangerous-and-false/675799/?fbclid=PAAaYiyPux9HHJQrzE0eXcjPKZ5AnqIa3PRs8Z-kWABnc2EEm3Yux-wxyOfwaemmAUKgObR2EcYYECxiZlzTUyb6lRPE20_U73mG70lwieYmjdryen9YJBOhV7Nyt9kWjvE

PurpleChrayne · 31/10/2023 21:27

HaveALaff · 31/10/2023 21:25

I have a Palestinian friend who told me a story.

It starts with her grandmother saying... "I know the people who live in my home. I let them in." And she did ... She let them stay in her home as refugees and one day they kept the keys to the house and there was nothing she could do about it. The law or enforcement's didn't protect her. That was it. The end.

You're going to have to be a bit more specific here...

That's what we call a bubbemeisis.

sleepyscientist · 31/10/2023 21:31

Religion and culture mean two groups cannot live side by side. Sadly one group was targeted by hitler so it's now frowned upon to blame them when they have gone to far.

NeverNotDreaming · 31/10/2023 21:33

Zionism was around long before WW2.
honestly it can’t be summed up in a paragraph, there’s too many layers at play

Fahbeep · 31/10/2023 23:37

Two groups, same land, powerful elements within both groups refuse to live in peace and harmony with the others (whom they dehumanise and mistreat). Racism is a big factor. Won't be fixed until each side accepts the other's dignity and right to exist and be there with them on the land, and until a two state solution is implemented.

PaminaMozart · 31/10/2023 23:41

have you never heard of the 1917 Balfour Declaration?

most people haven't.
But Palestine wasn't Balfour's to give away, was it...

auberginefortea · 01/11/2023 01:42

JustMaggie · 31/10/2023 09:11

Jews suffered terribly at the hands of the Nazi's and they asked the British if it would be ok to have a homeland in Palestine. They wanted somewhere where they could be safe and never persecuted again. The British said "sure, no problem, you can have Palestine" so the Jews moved in. The Palestinians said "WTF?" and the Jews said "Sorry, it's ours now. Out."

I'm kind of impressed at how wrong this is. To be honest, I don't think it can be summarised in a paragraph.

auberginefortea · 01/11/2023 05:11

PaminaMozart · 31/10/2023 23:41

have you never heard of the 1917 Balfour Declaration?

most people haven't.
But Palestine wasn't Balfour's to give away, was it...

It kind of was - or was soon to be so

YireosDodeAver · 01/11/2023 05:21

The strip of fertile land at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea has been the most desirable bit of land in the region for so many thousands of years that the start of the conflict dates to myths and legends from before reliable histories were ever written. Throughout all recorded millenia the land has very rarely been able to exist as an independent nation for more than a few decades, it's generally part of a wider global empire. It is currently in dispute between the US dominated western hegemony and the middle eastern islamist hegemony. Neither side will ever give up - historically, no empire ever gave up its claim, the cease of any previous claim only came about with the decline and fall of the empire in question.

SinnerBoy · 01/11/2023 05:26

Peskysquirrel · Yesterday 10:42

Jews did not first "move in" to Palestine after WW2. They have lived in the region for thousands of years.

I don't think that anybody has said that no Jewish people lived there before Israel came into being. They numbered about 100,000 I'm the early 40s and were mostly concentrated around Jerusalem.

And have you never heard of the 1917 Balfour Declaration?

The one which said that, whilst it was considered desirable for there to be a Jewish homeland, that it couldn't be at the expense of the indigenous population? That Balfour declaration?

In any case, why should the Palestinians pay the price for the Nazi's atrocities?

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