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Mark L's avatar

Am Yisrael Chai

Happy New Years Day

Now and Forever

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Charna Syposnik's avatar

Well, I'm a little shocked myself. I have no idea what came down with Clinton and why Arafat would turn that down but I'm sure there was a good reason. I don't know, Maybe by that time he had dementia. When I went to Cochise College in 81 my best friend there was Palestinian and we used to have these great conversations and he would say to me you think the way Arafat thinks and I'd say well then he must be a pretty smart guy. I wonder what really made him say no.

I just came to the realization that I can't find like any smiley face icons or anything on this stupid phone. I sure like my last phone better

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Russell Gold's avatar

The error is in believing that Arafat had actually ever wanted a state alongside Israel. Had he done so, he would have been teaching his people cooperation with Israel, and that Israel had a right to exist. He didn't, because his goal from the start was only to negotiate as much additional territory from which to continue his attacks - and then use that land to put a stake in Israel's heart.

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David Eichler's avatar

Many people are not aware that Netanyahu thought Hamas could be contained and managed, and he arranged for Qatar to fund Hamas once Hamas became the government of Gaza. This was a cynical ploy to play Hamas off against the Palestinian Authority. Had Netanyahu taken on Hamas much earlier, before they were able to build so many tunnels, perhaps the loss of civilian life would have been much smaller.

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Russell Gold's avatar

If only he had known the future...

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