Told you so

[Melanie_]

Can you really tell the difference between Irish and Scots? Just by a look? My heritage is English/Scots, and I can't tell the difference.

I didn't mean to suggest that all Arabs are the same, and I'm a little surprised and taken aback by your statement that I'm passing judgement. You seem to be passing some judgements yourself. I did not suggest that any one nation absorb all of the refugees.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Maybe I wasn't clear; we make a greater distinction between the culture of Ireland and Scotland (as an example) than between Middle Eastern cultures, or African cultures, or Islamic cultures, etc.

I was being harsh, probably more as a reaction to another poster on this thread, not you. My apologies. (You seem to have gotten that more than once here for some reason.) But I stand by the argument that the Palestinians should not have been made into an obligation in the first place - they were displaced with no real plan for where they would end up, just the assumption that other Arab countries would accomodate them.

[Guest eureka]

The Arab states are separate, sovereign nations (so far as we have allowed them to be) There is not the English/Scots crossing of institutions and local cultures and regions.

The regions are not analogous. Arabs share a religion with many sects and schisms, though,and a language that is common to the educated but unintelligible to many localities. Some might say that of Scottish English but it is not quite that bad.

The history of the Arab World is one of wide diversity and disparity. The Koran bound it together in language and faith but not much else.

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear eureka,

The Arab states are separate, sovereign nations (so far as we have allowed them to be) There is not the English/Scots crossing of institutions and local cultures and regions.

The regions are not analogous. Arabs share a religion with many sects and schisms, though,and a language that is common to the educated but unintelligible to many localities.

Further to that, One of Saddam's highest ranking ministers, Tariq Aziz, was a Christian. I'll bet the US won't have a Muslim 'Secretary of Defence' anytime soon.

[Black Dog]

Until people who don't live with suicide bombings want to complain about Israel's solutions. Nonsense.

No, your formulation is nonsense. The occupation and refugee problem preceed the first suicide bombings by mor ethan 25 years. To argue that Israel's "solution" (land seizures and colonization) is a response to terrorism is to be utterly ignorant of the history.

Got me there. I'm not particularly in favour of state religions, though to be fair Israel isn't the only country in the world, or even the Middle East, to have one.

No, but Israel is the only country in the Middle East claiming to be a democracy.

Then you are also aware that the entire point of the exercise was to give European Jews a homeland to move to, and that the population at the time of the partition was therefore irrelevant.

So the institutionalized anti-semetism of the western nations is to blame?

[Montgomery Burns]

I can't imagine how the left will spin this.

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45877

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45859

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They'll find some way to blame it on President Bush.