The Jews and the Arabs, the Israelis and the Palestinians are often portrayed as two eternally opposite forces locked in battle on a more or less equal arena in one scenario. The other is the overwhelming Israelis as a bulldozer crushing the helpless Palestinians. Both are inaccurate, the latter is a false popular cliché
The main difference between the opposing parties is how their ethical backgrounds have affected their strategy,
This difference negates both above pictures; despite escalation of the difference.
Jewish ethics originated thousands of years ago in at least the period of the early Hebrew kingdoms. To anyone who reads the Bible/OT its obvious they were no-nonsense strict rules. Its pointed out by Jew haters how many times the Judean, Israelites lapses in their ethics. Even in pre-Hebrew legend Abraham's near sacrifice of Issac can be seen as a potential relapse and symbolic of all subsequent relapses. These ethics entered a new phase with exposure to Greek reason after Alexanders conquest. This new paradigm eventually resulted in the writing down of the many books of the Talmud. The Roman defeat of the Jews occurring during this formulation of the Talmud. The end of nationhood brought ethics into focus as a glue to how a people together. Wile adherence was still strict it was now flexible due to the Talmud. Following these books made Jews into people of the book. In the diaspora strengthened ethics and the lack of power held violence in check. Rash aggressive qualities were held in check for so long in the face of violent persecution that Jews were seem as meek. Terrible massacres were seen as judgments from God. This meekness had to be changed of overcome once Jews in Palestine faced Arab rioters. By 1948 the Jewish warrior had arrived yet that character type still faced the now pervasive ethics setup. It created a new compromise we see not only in Israel but spreading into Diaspora. The meekness that characterized Jews exists more in the eyes of Jew haters than reality.
The Arab ethics makeup on the other hand is far different. The Quran has no commentary to guide it, It's freely open to a wide range of interpretations. Today several fundamentalist interpretations dominate especially Wahhabism. That originated in the early 19th century and was the point of view of tribal people with tribal values predating Islam. This aggressive type of Islam contrasts to the intellectual and mystical variants like Sufism (which also predates Islam).
Arab Islam never faced reform in the face of modernity as Judaism and Christianity had.During the Islamic Empire of the 700's-800's Islam was an intellectual religion which readily absorbed Greek ideas of classical times. In in contrast to the Dak Ages in Europe. But a slow decline ensued partly to dynastic breakups of the Caliphate and conquering by Seljuk and later Ottoman Turks from central Asia.
Turkish rule let the Arab version of Islam relapse to pre-Islamic tribalism. There were flowering of Islamic culture like Abassid Baghdad. But Ottoman isolation did not challenge the religion. So it remained on a cocoon preserved in its medievalness,
And then came the rude awakening starting with the French landing in Algiers in 1830. The British took Egypt in 1878. The French took Tunisia.And later with the Spanish took Morocco. Italians took Libya. In World War 1 the British and French tok the rest of Turkish lands of the Arabs. But already Zionist settlers were
in Palestine, as the British called it, 37 years.
Arab culture reaction was first to to incorporate European values but see Islam crumble before them revived fundamentalism. Without a reform of an enhanced Qur'an Islam had no flexibleness to counterbalance the values of the WEST. And these values have been shown to erode and/or destroy native cultures all over the world. There were efforts to reform Islam but retrogression of tribal fundamentalism trumped all.
In British Palestine violence broke out unlike when it was Turkish Syria. Arabs actually attacked Jews for being who they were. They were importers of Western values who might outnumber the Arab. Arab aggression increased in leaps and bounds is all Arab lands where European influence existed. First Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon achieved semi-independence promised by the colonial powers. After World War 2 the Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and the semi-independence in the East ended with full independence. All started as attempts at democracy but all lapsed into dictatorships. preserving power was more important than spreading it around. What was particular about the Arab outlook was its aggressiveness in destroying the Jews in Palestine. In succeeding years many alliances tried to destroy Israel. In that effort the Arab State created by the UN in 1947 was totally ignored and dismembered with parts handed to Egypt and Jordan.These Arabs didnt even have an identity for at least 16 years when Yasir Arafat created "the Palestinians". Violence prone attitudes of Arabs made for an alliance of Arab Palestinians (later Palestinians) and the surrounding Arab states in the form of fedayeen raids from Jordan and Gaza. They were almost always attacks on civilians as the Israeli military was protected against attacks, This policy continues today as PLO attacks (Black September and many other groups) and later Hamas (and others like Al Aqsa, Islamic Jihad, etc) attacks were always against civilians. Civilians like the Olympic athletes in Much, airline passengers in Entebbe and many similar attacks. Arab violence went up a notch during the First Intifada. As reckless rock throwing children and adults were allowed to attack IDF troops. So when the Oslo agreement was reached the Arab effort to drive the "Jews into the Sea" fell unto Hamas. They upped the ante by introducing suicide bombing. People usually uninformed indoctrinated youth were made into living bombs and sent into Israel. During the second intifada other groups joined in this effort thinking they could get the Jews to leave.
Israelis reacted by building wall and ended their 2nd intifada. But the new Arab philosophy of self sacrifice manifested itself in Gaza and the West Bank, It became standard policy for the Palestinian militants (or terrorists) to try to get as many of their fellow Palestinians killed in battles with the IDF as possible. So today they fire from mosques, apartment buildings, schools shelters, crowds, markets, stores in an effort to get the Israelis to fire back on their positions.Ammo caches are kept purposely in civilian areas. Israel must manuever to pinpoint neutralize the opposition. Thats not easy. Colonel Kemp of the British forces in Afghanistan in studying the situation remarked the Gaza operation was the most humane military operation in HISTORY! But in war many civilians still died. Much less than Iraq or the Lebanese Civil War. But the world puts the Israeli arab in a different category quite unfairly.The Arabs feel the perception of themselves as victims rather than the true picture as aggressors is more important to the Palestinian (really Islamic ) cause than the lives of Gazans/Palestinians. This strategy was very similar in the Hezbullah Lebanon war. There Hezbullah had ammo caches in apartment buildings as well. It's obviously a desperate strategy this disregard for human life. This aggressiveness has spread once again around the globe in the Al Qaeda movement where bombings, plots as well as indoctrinated lone mass shooters have rained violence from the Philipines to Denmark and the USA. The Qur'an itself has been interpreted to reveal an afterlife of 72 virgins in a luscious paradise to ever person to sacrifices his or her life for the jihad against the values of the WEST and the Jews.The Prime Minister of Israel remarked in 1969 on the Arab disregard for their own children in the struggle against Israel, This is chillingly prophetic with the suicide bombing strategy 26 years later.
The main difference between the opposing parties is how their ethical backgrounds have affected their strategy,
This difference negates both above pictures; despite escalation of the difference.
Jewish ethics originated thousands of years ago in at least the period of the early Hebrew kingdoms. To anyone who reads the Bible/OT its obvious they were no-nonsense strict rules. Its pointed out by Jew haters how many times the Judean, Israelites lapses in their ethics. Even in pre-Hebrew legend Abraham's near sacrifice of Issac can be seen as a potential relapse and symbolic of all subsequent relapses. These ethics entered a new phase with exposure to Greek reason after Alexanders conquest. This new paradigm eventually resulted in the writing down of the many books of the Talmud. The Roman defeat of the Jews occurring during this formulation of the Talmud. The end of nationhood brought ethics into focus as a glue to how a people together. Wile adherence was still strict it was now flexible due to the Talmud. Following these books made Jews into people of the book. In the diaspora strengthened ethics and the lack of power held violence in check. Rash aggressive qualities were held in check for so long in the face of violent persecution that Jews were seem as meek. Terrible massacres were seen as judgments from God. This meekness had to be changed of overcome once Jews in Palestine faced Arab rioters. By 1948 the Jewish warrior had arrived yet that character type still faced the now pervasive ethics setup. It created a new compromise we see not only in Israel but spreading into Diaspora. The meekness that characterized Jews exists more in the eyes of Jew haters than reality.
The Arab ethics makeup on the other hand is far different. The Quran has no commentary to guide it, It's freely open to a wide range of interpretations. Today several fundamentalist interpretations dominate especially Wahhabism. That originated in the early 19th century and was the point of view of tribal people with tribal values predating Islam. This aggressive type of Islam contrasts to the intellectual and mystical variants like Sufism (which also predates Islam).
Arab Islam never faced reform in the face of modernity as Judaism and Christianity had.During the Islamic Empire of the 700's-800's Islam was an intellectual religion which readily absorbed Greek ideas of classical times. In in contrast to the Dak Ages in Europe. But a slow decline ensued partly to dynastic breakups of the Caliphate and conquering by Seljuk and later Ottoman Turks from central Asia.
Turkish rule let the Arab version of Islam relapse to pre-Islamic tribalism. There were flowering of Islamic culture like Abassid Baghdad. But Ottoman isolation did not challenge the religion. So it remained on a cocoon preserved in its medievalness,
And then came the rude awakening starting with the French landing in Algiers in 1830. The British took Egypt in 1878. The French took Tunisia.And later with the Spanish took Morocco. Italians took Libya. In World War 1 the British and French tok the rest of Turkish lands of the Arabs. But already Zionist settlers were
in Palestine, as the British called it, 37 years.
Arab culture reaction was first to to incorporate European values but see Islam crumble before them revived fundamentalism. Without a reform of an enhanced Qur'an Islam had no flexibleness to counterbalance the values of the WEST. And these values have been shown to erode and/or destroy native cultures all over the world. There were efforts to reform Islam but retrogression of tribal fundamentalism trumped all.
In British Palestine violence broke out unlike when it was Turkish Syria. Arabs actually attacked Jews for being who they were. They were importers of Western values who might outnumber the Arab. Arab aggression increased in leaps and bounds is all Arab lands where European influence existed. First Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon achieved semi-independence promised by the colonial powers. After World War 2 the Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and the semi-independence in the East ended with full independence. All started as attempts at democracy but all lapsed into dictatorships. preserving power was more important than spreading it around. What was particular about the Arab outlook was its aggressiveness in destroying the Jews in Palestine. In succeeding years many alliances tried to destroy Israel. In that effort the Arab State created by the UN in 1947 was totally ignored and dismembered with parts handed to Egypt and Jordan.These Arabs didnt even have an identity for at least 16 years when Yasir Arafat created "the Palestinians". Violence prone attitudes of Arabs made for an alliance of Arab Palestinians (later Palestinians) and the surrounding Arab states in the form of fedayeen raids from Jordan and Gaza. They were almost always attacks on civilians as the Israeli military was protected against attacks, This policy continues today as PLO attacks (Black September and many other groups) and later Hamas (and others like Al Aqsa, Islamic Jihad, etc) attacks were always against civilians. Civilians like the Olympic athletes in Much, airline passengers in Entebbe and many similar attacks. Arab violence went up a notch during the First Intifada. As reckless rock throwing children and adults were allowed to attack IDF troops. So when the Oslo agreement was reached the Arab effort to drive the "Jews into the Sea" fell unto Hamas. They upped the ante by introducing suicide bombing. People usually uninformed indoctrinated youth were made into living bombs and sent into Israel. During the second intifada other groups joined in this effort thinking they could get the Jews to leave.
Israelis reacted by building wall and ended their 2nd intifada. But the new Arab philosophy of self sacrifice manifested itself in Gaza and the West Bank, It became standard policy for the Palestinian militants (or terrorists) to try to get as many of their fellow Palestinians killed in battles with the IDF as possible. So today they fire from mosques, apartment buildings, schools shelters, crowds, markets, stores in an effort to get the Israelis to fire back on their positions.Ammo caches are kept purposely in civilian areas. Israel must manuever to pinpoint neutralize the opposition. Thats not easy. Colonel Kemp of the British forces in Afghanistan in studying the situation remarked the Gaza operation was the most humane military operation in HISTORY! But in war many civilians still died. Much less than Iraq or the Lebanese Civil War. But the world puts the Israeli arab in a different category quite unfairly.The Arabs feel the perception of themselves as victims rather than the true picture as aggressors is more important to the Palestinian (really Islamic ) cause than the lives of Gazans/Palestinians. This strategy was very similar in the Hezbullah Lebanon war. There Hezbullah had ammo caches in apartment buildings as well. It's obviously a desperate strategy this disregard for human life. This aggressiveness has spread once again around the globe in the Al Qaeda movement where bombings, plots as well as indoctrinated lone mass shooters have rained violence from the Philipines to Denmark and the USA. The Qur'an itself has been interpreted to reveal an afterlife of 72 virgins in a luscious paradise to ever person to sacrifices his or her life for the jihad against the values of the WEST and the Jews.The Prime Minister of Israel remarked in 1969 on the Arab disregard for their own children in the struggle against Israel, This is chillingly prophetic with the suicide bombing strategy 26 years later.
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