Comments by "Sandy Tatham" (@sandytatham3592) on "James Ker-Lindsay"
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@JamesKerLindsay : I was heartened by the conference held in Jerusalem in March where Ynetnews reported that "more than 20 guests, some from countries that have no diplomatic ties with Israel, arrive for a historic conference in Jerusalem tackling war on terror and radicalization, desalination and food security."
"Among the guests who came to the conference, initiated by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, are representatives of Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Djibouti, Tunisia, Mauritania, and Sudan—states that do not have diplomatic ties with Israel. In addition, representatives came from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Somaliland, South Africa, South Sudan, and Uganda. Among the attendees were the former head of the Journalists Association of Bahrain and a senior Saudi reporter."
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@oiulti6900 : "A Jew is any person belonging to the worldwide group that constitutes, through descent or conversion, a continuation of the ancient Jewish people, who were themselves descendants of the Hebrews of the Bible" [from Britannica]. The Jews were exiled from their ancestral homeland for two thousand years, so they come from a wide variety of places, eg. Russia, Ethiopia, Morocco, India, Europe. It's up to Israel's Jewish leaders to define who is a Jew in terms of returning to Israel.
That's pure nonsense to say that Christians are never at risk in Muslim countries. I'm currently in Egypt where Christians are being persecuted, where their churches need heavy security, and where no person born into a Muslim family can convert to Christianity in a legal sense. Christians and Jews are always second-class 'dhimmis' in a Muslim-majority country. They can NEVER be certain of their security, and they can't hold positions of power. That was also the situation when the Ottoman Empire occupied Palestine.
It's only now that the Holy Land is once again under the leadership of the indigenous Jewish people that there is equality under the law for all citizens, and freedom of worship. When the Jordanian Muslims invaded and conquered Jerusalem in 1948, they destroyed synagogues and exiled Jews from that most Holy Jewish city.
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@aliragh : The Arab leaders from 1918 onwards always wanted a Jew-free state, and they still want that today, 'from the river to the sea'. Out of the DEFEAT of the Ottoman Caliphate, the Middle East land was handed over by the victors, the Allied Powers of British-France, etc. to the current occupants for self-determination, even though they were under no obligation to do so. The Arabs got 99% of that land, today's Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The #indigenous Jews wanted less than 1% of that land, and they share it with 21% Arab Israeli citizens who have equal rights with Jews. So please stop whining about the poor 'Palestinians'. Stop using them as geopolitical #weapons against the Jews. By now they should all have been resettled in one of the surrounding Arab countries after they refused to accept peace with the Jewish state of Israel.
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@doit2810 : Maybe you can tell me why the 'Palestinians' STILL get all of the attention, funding and public support when there are real refugees today who are in greater need of help? In the last 100 years, millions and millions of people have been #displaced. Some were forced to exchange populations (Turkey-Greece), some were persecuted and exiled (800,000 Jews from Arab lands), and others fled from one country to another to avoid bloodshed when a new country was formed (India-Pakistan). But today it's only the so-called Palestinians who still play #victim. It's only their 'feelings' which seem to count because they are being used as pawns in the game of Arabs against the Jews.
All efforts should be made on resettling them with citizenship in one of the surrounding Arab countries, and then Israel might allow them to apply for long-term residence status in their current homes. But if they behave in a hostile manner to the Jewish nation, they must be deported.
The Jews did not get to return to their ancestral home due to 'sentiments'. They supported the Allied Powers in the war effort against Germany-Ottoman Empire, and for that they were rewarded with the chance to reconstitute their ancestral homeland, the land that they are #indigenous to. The majority of the 'Palestinians' were recent immigrants in 1948. They had come from Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries when they saw employment opportunities after the British and Jews had improved the land of Palestine. The countries of their recent ancestors should give them citizenship, and not hold them in perpetual stateless limbo.
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@osamaasiri4746 : I'm well aware that the Arabs were the invaders and conquerors and they imposed their culture and religion upon those that they conquered. So I propose that the more recent immigrants to the area of Palestine be repatriated to the lands of their forebears, for example the al-Masris being given citizenship by Egypt, same for Syrians, Kurds, Iraqis, Libyans, etc. Jordan is around 70% 'Palestinian', even though the ruling family are Arabs, so their culture is already compatible with many 'Palestinians'.
As for the idea of "Israelis sharing the land with Palestinians", today around 21% of Israeli citizens are already Arabs. That's the tipping point for Islamic extremist problems all around the world, so I would never recommend that Israel increase their Arab Muslim citizenship quota, though allowing 'Palestinians' to return on long-term residence visas would probably be viable. Finally, how can you "negotiate and build good relations" with those who declare in their political charters that they want you dead or gone?
I wouldn't count on the US, Britain or Israel decreasing in power so much that the Islamic bloc, with assistance from China and Russia, will overtake them. Islam is losing power and things are looking more positive (from my perspective) by the number of Islamic countries now normalising economic ties with Israel, either officially or through back channels. Everyone can benefit from the entrepreneurship of the Israelis.
Mohammed bin Salman has brought in huge changes in Saudi Arabia. The young people now have access to information and can communicate with the whole world. This was never available to the generations that came before, who were more easily *indoctrinated*. You can't stop the spread of knowledge, so that also gives me hope for peace in the region.
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@QuantumNinja1.9 : You mean the attempted genocide by Hamas, and now Israel's war with Gaza? Yes I follow this very closely. I was in Dahab on the Red Sea when the Hamas attack occurred, only about five hours by car from Israel's border. I was sickened by the responses of the Egyptian men around me, some of them my good friends. Every Muslim man said they supported Hamas and what Hamas did to the civilians of Israel, though one older man did say that "maybe it was a bit too sadistic". Israel should finish off Hamas's military capabilities and then extend sovereignty over the Gaza Strip. There will be no chance for peace without this.
Hamas is to blame for all of the deaths and casualties, and Egypt is complicit by not allowing a secure safe zone to be set up just inside Sinai for babies, children, mothers of small children, pregnant women and girls, the very sick and the elderly. It's inhumane to keep vulnerable people TRAPPED in a war zone when Egypt could allow them to be moved to a secured safe area fairly close by. But we know that the more pictures of deaths of children in Gaza that are circulating on TikTok and Instagram, the better the publicity is for Hamas, and the greater the number of 'useful idiots' who will call for a ceasefire.
Is that enough? What are your thoughts?
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You seem to ignore that fact that the Arabs of Palestine fought with the Ottoman Turks, or stayed neutral, during WWI. The German-Ottoman Alliance was DEFEATED. Wars have consequences!!! Losers of a war that they started do not get to dictate who gets what land 🙄. The Jewish people fought with the British and were granted the right to reconstitute their ancestral homeland in less than 1% of the carved-up Ottoman Middle East land. All current occupants of historic Palestine had the choice of accepting to live within the Jewish state of Israel, or alongside it. Today two million Arabs (mostly Muslim) are full Israel citizens with equal rights and they serve in the Knesset and on the Supreme Court, and increasingly in the IDF and security services.
The Hejazi Arabs also fought with the British, led by Lawrence of Arabia, and they were granted self-rule in 99% of the Ottoman ME land, today's Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Much of that land is rich in oil.
The fact that the invading Arabs of the late 7th century planted their own building on top of the most holy site for the Jews is irrelevant. Muslims have their own holy sites in Arabia. There is no 'occupation'. Israel is probably the most legal country in the world today because the Jewish people are not there by aggressively invading, but by being granted the right under the international agreement of the League of Nations in 1920, later ratified by the United Nations, and by arriving earlier than 1918 and purchasing their own land.
Over 80 million people around the world have been displaced by wars and founding of new countries in the last 110 years. Those displaced peoples mostly accepted reality, moved on, and today their children thrive. Why is it only the so-called Palestinian Arabs who still moan and whine? Why do they get six times more funding than any other displaced group? I suggest you accept that Israel is there to stay and it's only going to grow stronger...🇮🇱🙏💙
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@workieddinka6334 : I visited in 2012 and 2017, both times staying three months. I spent weeks in Addis, travelled up to Bahir Dar and Gonder, then to Axum, down through some major cities like Mekele, to Lalibela, then back to Addis. I also went east to Harar and visited nearby cities and towns of Dire Dawa and Jijiga. Then I went south, staying in Awasa, and visiting a few cities/towns on the way to Moyale. My first visit was during the time when Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was not seen for weeks, and no media mentioned where he was, which was very strange! The overall lack of freedom of the press, the mistrust between peoples of different clans/tribes/ethnic/religious groups, the secretive and closed nature of the people in general, was all very apparent to me. When I crossed the border into Kenya after my first visit I suddenly felt I could breathe and speak freely again, and get complete answers to my simple questions. That's a slight exaggeration of course, but it's to give you the overall picture. And it's not just the language barrier, because I found many Ethiopians who spoke excellent English. I'm expecting you to take my comments negatively, because that was the usual reaction I got, except from a couple of close friendships I made during my time there. I definitely want to return to see if the atmosphere has changed.
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@samimicheal23 : I visited in 2012 and 2017, both times staying three months. I spent weeks in Addis, travelled up to Bahir Dar and Gonder, then to Axum, down through some major cities like Mekele, to Lalibela, then back to Addis. I also went east to Harar and visited nearby cities and towns of Dire Dawa and Jijiga. Then I went south, staying in Awasa, and visiting a few cities/towns on the way to Moyale. My first visit was during the time when Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was not seen for weeks, and no media mentioned where he was, which was very strange! The overall lack of freedom of the press, the mistrust between peoples of different clans/tribes/ethnic/religious groups, the secretive and closed nature of the people in general, was all very apparent to me. When I crossed the border into Kenya after my first visit I suddenly felt I could breathe and speak freely again, and get complete answers to my simple questions. That's a slight exaggeration of course, but it's to give you the overall picture. And it's not just the language barrier, because I found many Ethiopians who spoke excellent English. I'm expecting you to take my comments negatively, because that was the usual reaction I got, except from a couple of close friendships I made during my time there. I definitely want to return to see if the atmosphere has changed.
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@alemneshwaktola5887 : I explained more in a comment above, and I should first explain that I'm not a tourist who just wants to look at things and travel with a guide. I'm a traveller who is very interested in what is happening inside cultures. What I found in many places was that people didn't seem to speak openly and I found it very hard to get clear answers to my questions. (This was not due to the language-barrier because many people speak great English.) Ethiopians appeared to have very low-trust of outsiders, and at times of other Ethiopians. Many Ethiopians are also still quite tribal, which is not always a bad thing but it can hamper development and social changes which the elected government wants to bring in. I was often in areas where I felt a state of anxiety or tension, so I hesitated to say or do anything which might provoke more tension (Gondar was one of those places). Many people seemed to not be able to let down their defences, ie. their insecurity about social status, or some other kind of perceived status. I am aware that Ethiopia has a unique and, oftentimes, a very sad history, though there is also a very strong sense of pride in being Ethiopian. Your country also has a VERY diverse demographic, so none of what I experienced came as a surprise to me. Does this help explain my comment to you?
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@Cici_mimi : The 'Palestinians' are not a people in the sense that other indigenous peoples are. The name was invented in the 1960s for a political purpose. It is an attempt to destroy the Jewish state of Israel from within, because they had tried many times to destroy Israel by military attacks and failed. Arab leaders tell us that the so-called 'Palestinians' are the exact same people as the Arabs in Jordan, Syria, Iraq, etc. 'Palestinians' are from all over the Arab and Muslim world, many only arriving in the region in the last 100 years as economic migrants after the Ottoman Caliphate was defeated in 1918 and the British and Zionist Jews improved the land, draining the malarial swamps, etc. The 'Palestinians' speak Arabic, the majority are Muslim so their holiest sites are in Arabia, and their names often reflect where they've come from, eg. al-Masri is Egyptian, al-Kurd from the Kurdish region, al-Baghdadi from today's Iraq, etc.
I support #indigenous rights, so I naturally side with the Zionist Jews. They are an "indigenous rights" success story. The founding of Israel is the beginning of the rollback of Arab Islamic imperialism. I just spent a month in Morocco and was happy to find that there are growing signs of the indigenous Berber-Amazigh people rising up against their Arab conquerors, who forced them to speak Arabic and coerced them to adopt Islam as their belief system. Don't you support indigenous rights? 🙄
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@Cici_mimi : The 'Palestinians' are not like other indigenous groups. The name was invented in the 1960s for a political purpose. It was an attempt to destroy the Jewish state of Israel from within because they tried many times to destroy Israel by military attacks and failed. Arab leaders tell us this. They say the so-called 'Palestinians' are the same people as the Arabs in Jordan, Syria, Iraq, etc. 'Palestinians' are from all over the Arab and Muslim world, many only arriving in the region in the last 100 years as economic migrants after the Ottoman Caliphate was defeated and the British and Zionist Jews improved that land. The 'Palestinians' speak Arabic, they are mostly Muslim so their holiest sites are in Arabia, and their names often reflect where they've come from, eg. al-Masri is Egyptian, al-Kurd from the Kurdish region, al-Baghdadi from today's Iraq, etc.
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