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question for pianojerome
Topic Started: Jul 21 2005, 10:50 AM (167 Views)
jon-nyc
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Cheers
do you think the occupation of the west bank and gaza have been of net benefit to Israel?
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pianojerome
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HOLY CARP!!!
That depends on what you would consider to be 'net benefit.'



Is Israel better off now in its relationship with the Palestinians than it was 30 years ago? Maybe. Probably not.

Did it instigate further, more directed violence? Probably.

Does it humiliate and oppress innocent Palestinians? Probably.

Does it humiliate Israel? Probably.



The fact is, though, that Israel needs to defend herself against terrorism. Was it a good move to separate the terrorists (and, unfortunately, civilians) from good Israelis and Palestinians? Was it a good move to try and prevent the terrorists from terrorizing Israelis AND Palestinians by secluding them and building a security fence to keep them away from the cities?


Who knows? We don't know where Israel and the Palestinians would be today if the occupation had never happened, so we can't say if Israel is better off or not.


But do I understand why they did it, and do I understand that it seemed like a good idea (well, not *good*, but effective at least.)? Yeah.
Sam
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jon-nyc
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THanks for the reply.

What I mean by net benefit is, do you think the benefits of the occupaiton outweighed the costs? I ask you to consider this purely from the point of view of Israel's national interest.

To that end, you did a reasonable job of outlining the costs (perhaps I'd add one - the diplomatic costs).

What do you think the benefits were/are?

And do/have they outweighed the costs?
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