# Palestinians: Resistence is Futile! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 21, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palestinians-resistence-is-futile/256252 "2004-07-21T22:07:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palestinians-resistence-is-futile/256252/21 "2004-07-22T16:03:24Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > It sure sounds like that, doesn’t it!? Yet this is exactly what the early United States did to Native Americans. Yet today, no one really even cares about that. The first part of the OP is not to literally suggest that the Palestinians give up. I’m trying to debate the relative similarities between what the US did many years ago, to what it is encouraging today. > Everyone seems to be happy about the modern configuration of the US. I in particular had a lovely time partying and gambling until 10:30am last weekend at the Hard Rock Casino on the Seminole Reservation. The entire situation is just eating away at me. I can’t figure out if it’s a good thing. Or a bad thing. Does the ends justify the means? Had the atrosities not been committed many years ago, I would not be enjoying this huge wonderful democracy today. But most Native Americans seem content with the agreement reached so long ago. I’m sure there are those that really hate it, but they’re not out car bombing or anything like that. Well, your argument seems to be built on such flimsy premises that there’s really no substance there. The Native Americans really can’t be characterized as happy; and there’s probably more collective guilt over the treatment of the Native Americans in the US now than there was 150 years ago when we were happily wiping them out and breaking treaties. Even a little Google research will bring up lots of hits on reparations and returning native lands. What the Native Americans can be characterized as is “pragmatic”. After 200 years of fighting ([http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na\_042400\_wars17761850.htm](http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_042400_wars17761850.htm)) , it probably would dawn on anyone that the invaders aren’t going to pack up their 7-11’s and strip malls and go home. So you can either fight useless battles, or take what reparations and land you can and get on with your life. What distinguishes our treatment of the Native Americans from Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians is the relative humanity of Israel’s treatment (even though this will make some of our more anti-Zionist’s posters heads explode). Take the [Trail of Tears](http://www.rosecity.net/tears/trail/tearsnht.html), for example. 150 years ago, it was politically acceptable to invade indigenous people’s lands and massacre them as necessary. Pretty much every major colonizing nation played that game, including the US, France, England, and the Ottomans. Some of them are now Israel’s severest critics. Note that Islam was not shy about extending its borders through warfare – from about 1300-1700 the Ottoman empire was continually threatening to engulf most of Europe and lapped at the gates of Vienna before retreating and resisting populations were often treated harshly. By historical standards, the Palestinians have been treated with kid gloves. The irony of the whole Palestinian situation is that if Israel were actually as brutal as its critics claim, the Palestinian situation would not exist because it would have been resolved in the time-honored traditional manner of holding a massacre long ago. Anyway, to summarize, your OP is actually valid, if inanely phrased. It probably \* would \* be better for all parties involved if the Palestinians just “got over it”, accepted that Israel isn’t going to go anywhere and concentrated on assimilating. It’s difficult to see what the current incitement of hatred against Jews and Israel is going to accomplish beyond a lot of unnecessary deaths and misery. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palestinians-resistence-is-futile/256252.md?page=1)