Gaza 'will not be liveable by 2020' - UN report

[JDPriestly]

27. True. If all Americans who are descended from immigrants had to return to the countries of their

ancestors' birth, Europe, Asia and South and Central America would probably refuse their entry.

True, Israelis argue that they should be in Israel because their ancestors were there, but I seriously doubt that the Russians who introduced the resolution to divide what had been the British protectorate of Palestine or the Americans who supported the resolution or the British who relinquished their authority in the area for the partition were really concerned about where the ancestors of the Jewish people had lived thousands of years ago. They gave lip service to that idea, but the real problem facing them, the problem they were desperate to solve, was the million plus Jews who were homeless and located in Europe where they faced irrational hatred and could no longer live.

The US and other countries gave homes to enormous numbers of refugees from all over Europe including Jewish people after WWII. Homes were sought for millions of people. Israel was where many Jews wanted to go.

Peace treaties change maps and move people.

Most Americans do not know that Austria was an empire before WWI. After that war, as a part of the peace treaty, it was chopped up, parts of it were handed to its neighbors leaving Austria a relatively tiny country today. The map of Europe and perhaps the world was drastically changed after both WWI and WWII.

That's what happens after wars.

The solution that was chosen after the Holocaust -- the partition of Palestine -- can no more be changed now than the decision that was made in Europe that Alsace-Lorraine, which had long been the object of argument and war between France and Germany, became a part of France. To try to do so would result in yet another war and upheaval in the world.

We should do everything to avoid war including trying to live with the geographical decisions made by those who negotiate peace.

The best solution for both Palestine and Israel is to first learn to live in peace with each other in the current boundaries and then, once trust is established move to a common security arrangement and gradually if possible become either two co-existing states or one nation that permits absolute freedom of religion.

I think that it will take a long time for Jews to feel safe enough to be willing to abandon the idea of a refuge in a Jewish state. The Holocaust and the centuries of persecution which have not ended yet, cause Jewish people to distrust the idea of giving up Israel. I am not Jewish, but having visited concentration camps and having read about European history and lived in Europe, I think the Jewish people are right to distrust the idea of leaving Israel.