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The point I was trying to make is that Israel has the capacity and the ability to annihilate the Palestinians and have not done so!
I think they have showed remarkable restraint up to this point.
They still exist because Israel has allowed them to exist
Israel answers to no one - definitely not to the UN and probably not much more than that to the US.
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i) The Israelis do not have the ability to wipe out the Palestinians, just as the Nazis did not have the power to wipe out the Jews. They do not even have the power to wipe out all the Palestinians within its own borders (I mean Israel+Palestine) let alone all the refugees in neighbouring countries. It would be a genocide on Holocaust proportions, except it would be beemed live to every TV set on the planet - I know the UN are a bit reluctant to act sometimes, but they do have their limits.
ii) Would you say that Osama Bin Laden has shown "remarkable restraint" in only blowing up a couple of towers and a few embassies/resorts? After all he probably could have done more.
iii) They still exist because they are a people with human rights, the will to live and a territory that is theirs by right (we can argue all we like about where the border lies, but there was always intended to be an area for the Palestinian people). Israel does not give them permission to exist. Israel is not God.
iv) Israel will answer to the world community if it goes too far. Every country does. Even America has been put in its place by the WTO at times. (note: The US is rarely sanctioned by world bodies because it is a veto wielder at the Security Council and knows how to play the 'this is legal... just' game. If Israel started a flat out genocide it would have neither of these protections.)
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One question: why is it, that when Hamas/Jihad blows up some Israelis, everyone goes out of their way to point out that the rest of the Palestinians are innocent, and this is just a small minority; while, if Jews in Israel blow up Palestinians, many (young) Muslims blame all of Israel, or even *all* the Jews worldwide? (One might suggest that Hamas/Jihad have more popular support from the Palestinians than Sharon has from the Jews...)
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One answer, because a government is elected by and represents the citizens of the state. A terrorist group is just that - a group.
If Hamas kills a person then blame Hamas.
If Israel kills a person then blame Israel.
I do not like the fact that my government killed people in Iraq. I did not support them in their action. I did not vote for Labour. But I still must bear some responsibility for what they did, because it is
my government and
I (along with all other Brits) must take responsibility for its actions - if I and all other citizens don't take responsibility, then who will?