While its true that Gaza has never been formally ‘part of Israel’, have you considered the fact that when Sam Stone said ‘heart’ he meant it from a geographic perspective (especially the West Bank)? Perhaps if you looked at a map you’d see what he was getting at.
-XT
If you suggest that Gaza is in the West Bank, you need to study that map more carefully.
I never said Gaza was in the West Bank…I’m well aware of the geography of the region, thanks. A clue to this would have been on the map I linked too had you bothered to take a peek. I said that Gaza AND the West Bank could certainly be refered to as the ‘heart’ of Israel from a geographic perspective (which is what I believe Sam was getting at). Look at where Gaza sits along the southern coast…and more importantly look at the West Bank region. It doesn’t take a military genius to see how vital those areas are to Israel, nor to puzzle out why Israel was attacked from both regions in early wars.
-XT
I certainly know what the map looks like :mad: . By no means can one consider a far corner to be “the heart” of anything. The discussion is about Gaza, not the West Bank.
Israel was attacked from all around in the various wars, by every neighboring nation. By your logic, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon are all part of Israel.
If Sam has a clearer, fact-based explanation of his comments to offer, he can do so himself.
What Sal Ammoniac said.
The PA did object to it intially, on numerous grounds. One of the main ones being that it wasn’t part of a larger peace agreement. Why? For the reasons outlined above. They knew they were getting completely outmaneuvered. Of course, it’s not like they could do anything to stop it so they were forced to accept it and help coordinate the pullout in the end - otherwise risk ceding even more control and authority to Hamas in the region.
Hamas didn’t have any objection because they knew that they could spin the withdrawal as a victory for them and to solidify their base, especially in Gaza. Indeed, many top officials in Hamas probably believe their own hype and likely believe that this is proof that they can force the withdrawal in the West Bank, as well - another reason for them not objecting.
I did in fact mean ‘heart’ in a geographic sense, as in slicing deep into Israel geographically.
Most American terrorist have been part of the right wing. Does that mean we should never do anything that supports the right wing? There have been American terrorists shooting abortion doctors. Does that mean we should shut down dialogue regarding abortion.
The only thing any reasonable people want is peace, and we’ve all had plenty of time to learn that “more of the same” isn’t working.
Only by defining “heart” as “the entire thing”, and “deep into” as “into at all” can you include a far corner. :rolleyes:
Now how about your statement that Gaza is a part of Israel? That certainly seems to have been the goal of the settlers, but it still has never been true. :rolleyes:
