Could somebody explain what is happening in the Middle East- Israel Lebanon Palestine?

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summabreeze

hey hon i live in beirut leb and i can tell you they're beatin the hell out of us with their bombings-well, if i look at the bright side my cousin can now stay back in quatar cuz the airport is closed!yay!

Rimmer

There is way too much history to explain all this.

Archer Christifori

They are at war. The radical Palestinians in charge of the governments live under the creed that all of Israel especially Jerusalem is theirs and that anyone not a Muslim is defiling that land and must be eliminated.
They are born and raised on this creed(Jihad) and will die to achievethis goal and there is no reason that can sway them. Its a fanaticism unrivaled anywhere the closest was the Kamikaze pilots of Japan during WW2.

rattwagon

Isral is going overboard trying to exert their authority. Pretty much, when Hamas won elections in Palastine, it was a new diplomatic ball game. Hamas has called for the destruction of Israel and was active in promoting suicide bombings. Further, they are funded by Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorist group. So, Hamas started some trouble with Israel by capturing one of their soldiers. Then, Israel demanded they return the soldier. When Hamas wouldn't, or couldn't arrange it, Israel started marching into parts of Gaza and threatening the destruction of Palestine if Hamas wouldn't relent. Hezbollah got involved, too, by helping Hamas repel Israel's military advances into Gaza. Somewhere in that process another 2 Israli soldiers were captured, reportedly by Hezbollah. Since Hezbollah is in Lebanon, and the government supports Hezbollah to some extent, Israel is trying to whoop Lebanon's butt for the release of their soldiers. A lot of Palastinians do not support Hamas, nor Hezbollah. But both those factions gained traction due to the US's invasion of Iraq. So, it's back to the 6-day war era in 1967 when Israel pretty much took over a few countries without even really trying. American weapons really do work well!

So, expect everyone in the Middle East to be pissed off and angry. More anti-American sentiment should be expected because the guns they are getting shot with by Israel comes from the US. It'll probably come down to Jordan to try and calm things down. But who knows. This could be really significant and cause widespread carnage in the Middle East. For instance, there are a lot of governements that are just barely holding off religious militants. If a few of those governments were to let go, you have the US and Israel fighting off a whole entire continent.

Thumbs up bushie. Try to solve this one! Remember when Clinton had Arafat and Rabin talking together and shaking hands? And, remember how the middle east peace process was starting to stabalize? You can thank the invasion of Iraq for all of what's going on now.

EDIT

I hate to be a pain but there are a few discrepancies that need to be resolved.

> Palestinians are trying to take land that doesn't belong to them.

Israel was founded by the United Nations after World War II in order to find a home for displaced Jews across Europe and Russia. The UN partition plan approved in 1947 mandated a Jewish only settlement area in the middle of Palestine. Palestine was previously controlled by the Ottoman Empire up to World War I, then assigned to Britan. Think about it this way, you live in an apartment for 20 years in the best unit in the building, and then your landlord kicks you out without notice and moves in a homeless man that he felt sorry for, how would you feel? Further, your 'new apartment' is in the basement where it's moldy and funky. You'd be a bit pissed, too. Right?

> For years Israel has been defending their Land. Palestinians want Jerusalem.

Yes, this is true. But the Palestinians were there 'first'. They were pushed out by the UN mandate (see above). However, there has never been a Jewish State in Israel before the UN mandate, so even previous ownership claims could not be made. Israel has been controlled by the Romans (Byzantine Empire), Muslims, and then the Ottoman Empire. That accounts or 2000+ years of non-Jewish control, or governership.

> They had a treaty, I believe it was called Road Map.

There have been many road maps and both sides have been working towards that. The recently democratically elected Hamas government put a new wrinkle in the current road map. Since Hamas called for the destruction of Israel and would not repent those views, worldwide aid to Palestine has ceased and Palestinians are more isolated than they have been in years, but only to an extent. Syria, Iran, and other â€œradicalsâ€ have pumped aid into Palestine, along with their own rhetoric.

> Lebanon got in the middle of this whole mess and Israel retaliated back with full force. (Lebanon stroke first and Israel responded).

Hezbollah got in the middle of it. Theyâ€™re a paramilitary group based in Lebanon, perhaps tolerated and supported to a degree by the Lebanonâ€™s government. But itâ€™s a thorny issue. Hezbollah does not speak for all of Lebanon.

> Israel got tired of getting punched. It's decided to fight back. That's how wars end. Not by diplomats, negotiations, or peace talks, but by crushing the enemy.

There wasnâ€™t a war before, but now there is â€“ or could be. A military victory is different than creating a stabilized region of peace and prosperity, void of tensions and radical factions. Reference Iraq, â€œMission Accomplishedâ€, October 29th, 2003.

martin b

Boy there are some ignorant people on this website. Palestine is trying to steal Israel's land. Right. Palestine started this by kidnapping a soldier. Right. See how many soldiers and civilians Israel is holding, many without charges or trial. For the last year Israel has sent troops in to Palestine and taken people into custody for various offenses, some as simple as 12 year old kids throwing stones at tanks, or women that happen to be married to the wrong men. Are these not kidnappings? Are these people not also being held hostage?

Ragriav

Israel and Palestine are fighting because Israel says that Palestine abducted one of their soldiers, so they are sending part of the military in to recover him. Israel and Lebanon are having conflicts because a Lebanese terrorist group (forgot the name) killed 8 Israeli soldiers and kidnapped 2. In return, Israel is mobilizing forces into southern Lebanon

saasay00

Palestine and Israel have been enemies for a long time now, and both keep on stealing e/o soldiers and citizens. Its both of their faults, not just one country's, so now I think they have a war, they declared it yesterday, and it might spread to other countries.

Kelly,TX

Palestinians are trying to take land that doesn't belong to them. For years Israel has been defending their Land. Palestinians want Jerusalem. They had a treaty, I believe it was called Road Map. They have tried to settle this in many ways. Israel pulled last year from Gaza as part of the treaty for them to stop the violence. Palestinians did not honor the treaty so now Israel is taking back Gaza and other Territories. Lebanon got in the middle of this whole mess and Israel retaliated back with full force. (Lebanon stroke first and Israel responded).
Palestinians want to have Land, There isn't a Palestinian country or state and they are trying to steal Israel.

This all started with Abraham and his 2 sons, one that had the blessing, and the servant's son who was kick out of the Land.

Jack

Sure. Israel is fed-up with Arab extremists kidnapping it's soldiers and firing rockets into its territory. They are not going to negotiate for the return of the kidnapped victims and give into the terrorists demands.

So, they are taking apart the infrastructure used by the terrorists to move weapons, ammunition and supplies. They are blockading to prevent the entry of more weapons and the transfer of the kidnapped soldiers to other countries, like Syria or Iran.

Mr. Hendricks

Israel is kicking lebanon's butt because a terrorist organization kidnapped two of their soldiers.

CrashCondon

just go to CNN.com

MyStErY wHiTe BoY

Its all cracking off thats what

retrotrancer

Israel got tired of getting punched. It's decided to fight back. That's how wars end. Not by diplomats, negotiations, or peace talks, but by crushing the enemy.

Israel has decided to end the war. The enemy is getting crushed.

gorg515

You've got 3 major religions and ethnic groups that have been vying for the same piece of land for centuries. Both think they are right and the other is wrong and no one will turn the other cheek. or simply stop attacking when they have the upper hand.

Mohammed R

Actually, none of the people above has the right explanation.

Israel should have given up all of the west bank in accordance with UN SC resolutions and it's own agreements with Palestinians.

That never happened. And as a result, we have had suicide bombings, the second intifada, the election of Hamas, all of the current situation.

The Palestinian are sick of negotiating over what is considered by UN resolutions there own land. Would you negotiated with someone who steals something you own?

What did the negotiations and the fateh government bring to the Palestinians, absolutely nothing, zero. That is why they chose to go with Hamas. I do not like Hamas, but the previous Palestinian government was very corrupt and could not achieve anything for them because Israel used negotiations to waste time and had not intention of going anywhere.

This is totally understandable. Why should Israel change it's behavior when it has full US backing(almost full).

I am not the best person to write about this, to get better info, check the following blog/blog portals:

www.jordanplanet.com
http://lebanesebloggers.blogspot.com/

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