Politics

[Sideshow]

As I posted previously, there was in fact a deal that the Palestinian Authority (essentially the PLO) jointly negotiated at Camp David with the Israelis and the US. Ehud Barak led the Israeli delegation, Bill Clinton the US, and Yasser Arafat the Palestinians. There were major issues of contention, but a deal was finally hammered out that made no one entirely happy, but would have created a Palestinian State with the Arab quarter of Jerusalem as its capital. Israel's capital at the time was Tel Aviv. At the last minute, Arafat walked away from it. Palestinian revisionist history claims it was because it did not address fully issues like right of return. The reality is that the deal was done, but Arafat could not bring himself to be a great man like Anwar Sadat choosing instead to remain "relevant" as the leader of a group of terrorist thugs.

Other than vocal sympathy, one can trace the political abandonment of the Palestinians by most of the remainder of the Arab world to their frustration with those failed negotiations. Iran stepped in to fill the void for its own hegemonic purposes, using both the Palestinians and northern Shia minorities to sow regional conflict. It is why regional Arab sympathy for the Palestinians remains at a historically low point even following the Gaza campaign.

The Palestinian refugee problem is real, but it is also one in which they played a significant role in their own creation. That somehow the Zionists woke up one morning and drove the Palestinians out is the sort of revisionist history that the ignorant demonstrating millennials and boomers embrace because they have no real education on the subject and are subject to the breathless propagandists on X, Tic Toc, and too many college campuses.

The refugees are a direct result of the 1947-49 war which resulted from the end of the British Mandate and planned implementation of the UN Partition Plan of 1947 which would have created a Jewish and an Arab State with Jerusalem maintained under international administration. Regional Arab leadership rejected this plan leading to the first war of attempted Arab extermination of Israel. Initially a viscous guerrilla war conducted by both sides, that changed dramatically when conventional Arab armies invaded in 1948.

That conventional warfare changed the nature of the conflict dramatically as mechanized military formations from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon attempted and ultimately failed to eradicate the fledgling state of Israel. That of course puts a lie to now pandered "facts" embraced by the chattering class, that a then almost non-existent but somehow all powerful Israeli military machine was used to drive the civilian population out of Israel. A drive along Israeli highway Route 1 (a particularly beautiful forested mountain road) would be informative to those who believe this nonsense. There one can see the destroyed locally armored trucks maintained as memorials that the Israelis were forced to use against Jordanian and Egyptian armor (primarily British) as they fought to keep the supply route open from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

So, what happened and why did roughly 700,000 refugees flee what would have been their homes had they and their regional Arab sponsors simply accepted the UN plan? As I mentioned, the guerilla warfare phase was a particularly dirty war which the Israelis were both willing and able to prosecute as effectively as the Palestinians. Villages and Kubutzes occupied by Palestinians and Israelis were regularly attacked. Unfortunately for the Arabs, the Israelis tended to fight tenaciously and most kubutzes, which became small fortresses, survived. In a precursor to the series of wars to come, the Arab settlers did not, opting to run.

As the war became conventional. major portions of the landscape became true battlefields. Villages were used as strongpoints by both sides leading to their destruction. The Jews stayed and fought because they were fighting for the survival of their fledgling country and the survival of their families, while the Palestinians fled to the shelter of the Arab Armies and Arab States attempting to destroy the Israelis. Their expectations were to return over the bodies of the Zionists to seize all of Palestine however much of it may have been legally acquired in the preceding fifty years by Jews.

To the astonishment of most of the world. and none more so than the Palestinians, the Israelis prevailed. In Israel, the period is called the War of Independence. The Arab world refers to it as the "Nakba" which translates as the Catastrophe. Not surprisingly, Israel has had little appetite to repatriate a segment of the former population that was dedicated to Israel's destruction. Having gone through the Crucible of the Holocaust and War of Independence followed by every action since 49 whether by the PLO in Munich or Entebbe, the rocket barrages from Lebanon and Gaza, or the butchery of October 7th, the Arabs have reinforced that conclusion.

Interestingly a segment of the Palestinians did remain. Today they make up nearly 20% of the Israeli population (almost 2 million people). They are full citizens with all political and civil rights enjoying every level of Israeli society, including serving as politicians, judges, and in other government positions. The one exception is the military where, like Christians, they do not face compulsory military service like Jewish citizens. However, many voluntarily serve in the IDF. These too are facts diligently ignored by the revisionists.

Thanks for that little very brief history I for one found it fascinating. There’s so many little facets to history that is generally missed in a sound bite to grab a headline. People in general miss that our forget it.

 

[bowjijohn]

I’m pleased to be able to report that I’ve been bite free since that Bwana Mkubwa fly of a couple of years ago

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

 

[Red Leg]

I can't think of anything particularly positive to say about Bill Kristol, but Mark Hertling is one of the finest officers this country has produced in the last fifty years. We were peers, but I never knew him personally very well. I will simply say he was and remains highly respected by the fraternity.

He also has spoken his mind honestly on a wide range of POLMIL issues. For instance, he was very critical of the previous administration for its drip-like support of Ukraine. Like many of us, he is also highly skeptical of the qualifications and capability of Hegseth to be SECDEF. and he is concerned about the politicization the senior officer corps where honest military advice and feedback seems ever less desired or appreciated by this administration.

I should also add, and I suspect Mark might disagree with me, that Miley's clumsy handling of both the Biden and Trump administrations contributed to the current "loyalty" litmus testing that seems to be emerging at the moment.

We have a firmly established system of civilian control of our military which is an important constitutional and ethical precept firmly ingrained into every serving officer. His or her loyalty and oath are sworn to the constitution. Whether the current administration policy creates a cadre of military leadership loyal to Trump's populist and international vision, I have my doubts. But it is almost guaranteed to create a cadre of "yes men" who have learned to not offer their best objective military advice. Those of you have read Anton Myrer's epic "Once and Eagle" will realize that sort of environment encourages the emergence of the Courtney Massengales rather then the Sam Damons.

All that said, this sort of behavior is not new. Rumsfeld was equally notorious for demanding absolute loyalty and he ruined the careers or attempted to destroy the reputations of numerous general officers. McNamara was cut from the same cloth.

 

[bowjijohn]

Politicisation of science, service and judiciary is a concern for us all

We in UK are dangerously infected

 

[BRICKBURN]

This thread was provided to make a place to contain POLITICS from leaching in to other subject areas on AH. I rarely visit this thread and only do so after REPORTS are sent.

Stop the PERSONAL ATTACKS and INSULTS, direct or otherwise.

An internet troll is a person who deliberately posts inflammatory, offensive, or disruptive messages online to provoke an emotional response from others. They may post off-topic comments, spread false information, or harass individuals to derail conversations or cause distress. Trolling can range from seemingly harmless antics to malicious, harmful, and abusive behavior

Reasonable discussion and debate is fine, otherwise an invitation to exit will be provided.

 

[Brent in Az]

Ironic, how 2 Judges rule that the Trump administration must provide funding for SNAP benefits during the shutdown, but they don't rule for the continuance of paychecks for our military?

Just goes to show how screwed up the leftist mind is. Feed the welfare queens, but not the soldiers.

 

[Brent in Az]

I'll be damned.....Dodgers pulled off the win.

 

[Newboomer]

I'll be damned.....Dodgers pulled off the win.

Oh, yes! My boys in blue came through. Touch and go for awhile.

 

[spike.t]

Yet again in UK.......

Nine people with life-threatening injuries after stabbings on Doncaster-London train - latest

Two people have been arrested and police - after declaring it a major incident - say counter-terrorism officers are supporting the investigation.

www.bbc.com

 

[Sideshow]

Yet again in UK.......

Nine people with life-threatening injuries after stabbings on Doncaster-London train - latest

Two people have been arrested and police - after declaring it a major incident - say counter-terrorism officers are supporting the investigation.

www.bbc.com

Yep not good.

 

[Brent in Az]

Notice how they call the attackers "British nationals", instead of what they truly are?

 

[Tanks]

Notice how they call the attackers "British nationals", instead of what they truly are?

I can’t understand the British liberal mind. They had a great example of what unfettered uneducated Arab immigration in France where one cannot go to certain neighborhoods of Paris, even cops. They have their own little country there with their own laws.

And instead of learning from it they decide to repeat it. Add to that the birth rate among the migrants, in a few generations Britain will have the same demographics of the Middle East.

 

[spike.t]

Trump tells military to plan for 'action' over his claim that Nigeria allows killing of Christians

The US president says his threat is over killings of Christians - though experts say there is no evidence they are disproportionately targeted.

www.bbc.com

 

[Altitude sickness]

I can’t understand the British liberal mind. They had a great example of what unfettered uneducated Arab immigration in France where one cannot go to certain neighborhoods of Paris, even cops. They have their own little country there with their own laws.

And instead of learning from it they decide to repeat it. Add to that the birth rate among the migrants, in a few generations Britain will have the same demographics of the Middle East.

Then in a couple hundred years those non assimilating interlopers will be claiming British soil as their own. “Protesting from the Highlands to the River Thames”

 

[Altitude sickness]

The current health care debacle that is keeping our government closed is due to Obama handing over the keys to insurance companies. Obama had insurance company reps write most of the ACA.

Then when Republicans protested and declared that Obamacare would cause costs to skyrocket. They were viewed as obstructionists because they wanted to end or fix the ACA.

Like most government programs. Obama care keeps costs less disastrous by subsidies, carve outs and hand outs.

So if you have a beef with the cost of health insurance thank Obama and his tribe.

 

[rookhawk]

The moment I realized the British are ruined was when I was a young adult and they had that school shooting in Scotland. The anthem of ALL the Brits, including what I would call the incredibly leftist leaning Tories, was "Something must be done". The mass hysteria exists everywhere in the world, but the US system is designed for perfect inefficiency. It takes us months or years in committee to get a bill pushed forward, reconciled, passed, and signed. But under the British parliamentary system, they can kneejerk react by creating laws with shocking speed.

From that day onward, any tragedy or problem results in "something must be done" and immediate reaction to creating laws rather than analyzing root causes, taking an emotional pause so a wave of reason can pass over people weeks later, etc.

Sadly, the only way the UK can reform itself is if problems get so large that their society collapses. Hard times make strong men, but the UK has had 50 years of weak men. The US is better off by our superior government structures, but is about 20 years behind circling the drain.

We both need hard times to find our values again and reform our countries. It gets worse before it gets worse, however.

 

[Red Leg]

I can’t understand the British liberal mind. They had a great example of what unfettered uneducated Arab immigration in France where one cannot go to certain neighborhoods of Paris, even cops. They have their own little country there with their own laws.

And instead of learning from it they decide to repeat it. Add to that the birth rate among the migrants, in a few generations Britain will have the same demographics of the Middle East.

It is absolutely a form of cultural suicide. There are enough Muslims in Europe now that the more radical Imams are bragging bout the eventual conquest of the continent. There seem to be two convergent thoughts abetted by authoritative censorship that are preventing any reasonable assessment of what is happening or potential outcomes. One, common among the left here as well, is a self-destructive empathy that will lead to the eventual eradication of the empathetic. The second is an apathy among those who suspect or know better to exercise their collective power.

The most recent YouGov survey in the UK (July 25) determined only 21% of the population felt Islamic immigration was having a positive impact on the country while 43% saw it as negative. The remainder were ambivalent. In Germany, only 21% believe the Muslim presence as greatly or slightly enriching the society, while fully 52% see it as a menace and the remainder or ambivalent. German conservatives have the collective muscle to actually do something about it, but because the AFD has been so successfully villainized by both the left and moderate conservatives, that strength is dissipated giving the German left outsized power with regard to such cultural issues.

It is a cultural suicide pact.

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

Promoting climate hysteria must not be as profitable as it was four years ago.

Bill Gates says climate crisis won’t cause ‘humanity’s demise’ in call to shift focus to ‘improving lives’

Billionaire’s statement comes a day after UN said humanity missed 1.5C climate target and warned of devastation

www.theguardian.com

He published this in 2021.

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Brent in Az]

Sounds like this Nigeria thing might be a good job for Delta force