I’ve read about the Israeli Iron Wall strategy which has been implemented since its birth in 1948, but the bigger question is, how will this conflict, which is coming up to be on par with the 100 years war with England and France by my comparison, going to be resolved? It cannot last forever, and in my view I think the main obstacle to a permanent peace settlement are two things
Right of return which is completely unfeasible, letting hundreds of thousands of descended Palestinian refugees into Israel proper? Preposterous.
East Jerusalem, the Israeli attempt to take completely the entire city is doomed to failure, however, I do think that in the event of eventual Palestinian statehood with East Jerusalem as its capital, it will be as divided as Berlin was during the Cold war.
Gaza - how does one of the most poorest regions of the Middle East, with a concentrated population into a small area, even be viable?
Taking this into account, even if Israel and Palestine came to some sort of genuine agreement, there is still the long legacy of war and conflict between them they will have to get ‘over’ and groups willing to try and fight Israel irrespective of this situation.
My personal opinion is that it continues beyond my lifetime. I’m not sure about forever, but I see some form of conflict over there lasting for as long as the world is recognizable.
I think that in the long run, Israel is doomed. The Muslims are piece by piece taking over the world. If the Muslims stick together, Africa, most of Asia, and a good part of Europe will fall into their hands. When that happens Israel will be but a small footnote. Israels only hope is that the various Muslim factions, for example Sunni versus Shitte, start fighting each other.
Anyway, I am, unfortunately, coming to the opinion that the end of the conflict is going to involve a non-official guerrilla genocide by official Israel and/or unofficial Ultradox settlers against the Palestinians. I hate to even think that way (and I IN NO WAY endorse such a thing), but I just don’t think there’s any other ending to this story.
Leaving aside your rather foolish assertions about China, India and Europe falling to the Muslim Considering that there are no Palestinian Shi’ites, or at least virtually none, I’m not sure about the point of your last sentence.
You do realize that many “Sunni” groupings are more hetrodox that the Shia? “Sunni” means “not Shia” in many places.
How will it end. Well eventually the sun will grow so big that it will gobble up the Earth. It WILL end then.
It doesn’t “end.” It’s a classic ethnic-religious pissing contest. Eventually demographics dictate that Israel will have to either become an anti-democratic, militarized apartheid state that disenfranchises Arabs, or a multi-ethnic multi-religious state that is not an exceptional Jewish Homeland but just another country.
Historically, when two alien cultures claim the same land, the solution has been genocide. Nor is democracy a brake on this – democratic states may actually be worse because one way to political power is by ginning up ethnic hatred.
As a guess, I suppose the Arab world will be eventually bankrupted by diminishing interest in their oil reserves, which will modify the situation dramatically.
If we ever go to solar they have a fair amount of sunshine, too.
When the oil runs dry the West loses interest and the Middle East becomes Northern West Africa. At that point it’s a question of whether that part of the world goes to war while the weapons are still fresh or waits a generation and then has to use stone knives and bear skins.
On the bad side, it will be a humanitarian disaster. On the bright side, it will not be our problem.
When I was a kid of 19, I volunteered to work on an archaeological site in Israel known as Tel Dor. A “tel” is a man-made hill composed of the ruins of various settlements. This one was in continuous occupation since the Bronze Age. One find I made personally was a small bronze arrow-head.
On one point of the tel, the crusaders had built a small observation tower. The Turks had modified it for their use, to keep watch for Christian corsars. Now, it boasts a small Israeli radar station …
Point? Well, there is no “end”. In Canada, one can discuss the “end” of conflicts, even the end of history itself, and sound plausible … in Israel, you move there, you are buying into a process ongoing since histiry began.
In my opinion, the only way to end the conflict is for a prosperous, independent Palestinian state to emerge in the region. This will require huge amounts of foreign aid, and having an economy capable of giving employment to all the unemployed young men. The problem is that there are many parties ready to sabotage all of this.
Why would Israel want the conflict to end - Israel is in complete control yet it prospers and expands in territory and population at a huge rate and its funding from the US is maintained as if there is a serious threat?
This is a state of affairs Israel can very comfortably live, and intends to live with.
