so much to rant about and so little time...

My friends, I hate violence, and I believe that violence only begets more violence. So it is pointless when people on opposite sides of a conflict point fingers at one another without finding a solution to the problem that ignited the violence in the first place. Israel and its supporters believe that they are justified in all that they are doing between this weeks air raids and ground invasion, the blockade, the nationalization of falafel, and, to top it all off, Israel blames Hamas for forcing their hand because of rocket attacks. Hamas and it's supporters blame Israel for leaving them with no options and are fighting back with what little resources area available to them after 60+ years of occupation... and the list goes on and on, back and forth, with endless amounts of accusations and explanations. But there are undeniable constants in the equation that cannot be changed or misinterpreted in any way.

Firstly, long before the Balfour Declaration of 1917 that promised Palestine as a Homeland for the Jews, Palestine was already inhabited by...guess who... THE PALESTINIANS.

Secondly, an easily forgotten and overlooked fact was that there were many ARAB-JEWS who lived all over the middle east alongside Muslim and Christian Arabs. Yes, for those of you who didn't know, there have always been Jews in the region, but for cryin-out-loud they were as Arab as any Christian or Muslim in the Region, the only difference was their religion. But these three religious groups coexisted because they are all religions of the same family and because... that's right, they were all Arab.

Fact number three, after World War II it was the influx of NON-ARAB JEWS that believed they were entitled to Palestinian land which began to cause friction between immigrants and indigenous people. The mistake was that the Zionists believed that they were entitled to a homeland for all Jews at the expense of the indigenous population. The counter argument goes something like this: "The Land was barren and unoccupied and the Jewish settlers brought it to life, no one was living there until the Jewish settlers came." The problem with that assertion goes back to fact number 1: that the region has been occupied for thousands of years dating back even before historical records were kept. This assertion is backed up not only by archaeological evidence but also by countless historical records, including the, Quran, the Old testament of the Bible (Tanakh for the Jews), the New Testament of the Bible, as well as historical records kept by the Romans, the Byzantines and the Arab Caliphates. Again, many quack scholars want us to believe, that Arabs began to migrate to the region after the first Jewish settlers made it inhabitable. The overwhelming evidence (mentioned obove) contradicts this theory. Additionally, a sizable amount of objective scholars without ulterior motives discredit the Arab-migration-after-Zionist-settlement theory.

I can go on forever listing and proving facts but the truth of the matter is: While all peoples are entitled to life, liberty and land, it is inhumane and wrong to seek these entitlements at the expense of another people. There was no reason Jewish immigrants could not coexist and attempt to harmonize with the indigenous people...hell the Arab-Jews/Christians/Muslims were doing a fine job of coexisting for the longest time. It was the desire to create an exclusively Jewish homeland at the expense of an indigenous population which is how the Zionist forefathers shot themselves in the foot. That bullet wound is still there, infected and festering and rotting the very foundations that the state of Israel is currently teetering on.