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Revision as of 13:11, 3 October 2005 by Marsden (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)"If the mat is not straight, he does not sit." -- Kung Fu-Tze
"... but sometimes he tries to straighten the mat." -- Marsden
"Honest people of good will can only promote things which will not be overtly opposed to this system, because the system is very strong." -- Israel Shahak
Why They Are Evil
"They," in this case, are the many Wikipedians who are trying to alter the terms of discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in ways that will make an Israeli land grab in the Occupied Territories more acceptable to the distracted observor. You know who you are. Among the particular efforts in this regard are attempts to claim that "Disputed Territories" is the NPOV term for the Occupied Territories and ignoring the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in defining the borders of Israel.
So why are they/you evil?
It has become the case, in spite of decades of prejudicial immigration policy, that the Jewish population of Israel and the Occupied Territories is now in the minority, or will be in the minority within the next few years. This makes untenable, everything else being equal, the current status of Israel being both (a) a Jewish state, and (b) a democracy, except by excluding the Occupied Territories from Israel. At present, this is done by maintaining the West Bank in particular as an occupied territory, where the residents have no general right to participate in the government of the occupying power.
But this cannot go on forever.
So, either the Occupied Territories can be spun off into a separate state, or Israel must eventually abandon either being a Jewish state or being a democracy.
"They," however, see another possibility: the Occupied Territories will be incorporated into Israel, but Israel will remain both a Jewish state and a democracy. Hasbara cadabara!
The omitted detail in this, however, is what will happen to the resident Palestinian population in the Occupied Territories, and possibly even in Israel itself: they won't be there anymore.
How do you suppose that would happen?