We always hear about the power balance between the two super powers US and Russia. In the future China maybe one of the superpowers. Each superpower needs to keep as many allies and areas of influence as it can. Who is first at the arms race? Who is best at space exploration? It is a fine balance.
These superpowers have their blocks of supporters in the United Nations. Many of our world's conflicts are fought over in this organization. One of the conflicts we hear about most is the Israeli Arab conflict.
To try and understand this conflict I have started with the Jewish history highlights. (one of my earlier posts.) The Jews call this country their home as they have no other home.
Let's check the balance here: There are 20 million Jews in the world. The number of Muslims is close to a billion. That is a thousand million! The number of Muslims keep growing. Out of these 400 million are Arabs.
This map shows the areas where Arabs and Jews live:
The Jews represent the idea of one god but they also have the story of exile and persecution. This idea of one god was further evolved by Christianity and Islam. There were many cases where Jews were converted to Christians or to Muslims.
Jews like those in my family who migrated to Mashhad refused to convert. For them being Jewish in unchangeable.
The balance of these two ideas is that the Muslim world is unable to accept an independent Jewish state. The conflict is going on for 67 years and there are still refugees from the 1948 war.
There are certainly Israeli Jews that are extremely radical. They settle in the west bank and the government supports them despite Israelis public opinion. But have a look if these Jewish radicals are in any balance with Muslim radicals around the world. There are certainly friendly Arab nations and enlightened Muslims. But all I hear is constant bashing of Israel. Demonizing Israel to the point of sanctions and boycott of Israeli academic institutions.
And there is Iran with its own history of glory and defeat. Iran is the country where my family came from. These people who are considerate and polite, people who speak Farsi and love it. Iran joins this Israel bashing full force. "Death to Israel" is declared in every speech and written on signs in every mosque. One US senator came up with the point that Iran should recognize Israel as a Jewish state in order to end the sanctions against it. This simple point is considered a "poison pill." My question is why? Why is it so impossible for them to accept a small state representing such a small part of the earth's population?
When are we going to reach a balance here?
These superpowers have their blocks of supporters in the United Nations. Many of our world's conflicts are fought over in this organization. One of the conflicts we hear about most is the Israeli Arab conflict.
To try and understand this conflict I have started with the Jewish history highlights. (one of my earlier posts.) The Jews call this country their home as they have no other home.
Let's check the balance here: There are 20 million Jews in the world. The number of Muslims is close to a billion. That is a thousand million! The number of Muslims keep growing. Out of these 400 million are Arabs.
This map shows the areas where Arabs and Jews live:
The Jews represent the idea of one god but they also have the story of exile and persecution. This idea of one god was further evolved by Christianity and Islam. There were many cases where Jews were converted to Christians or to Muslims.
Jews like those in my family who migrated to Mashhad refused to convert. For them being Jewish in unchangeable.
The balance of these two ideas is that the Muslim world is unable to accept an independent Jewish state. The conflict is going on for 67 years and there are still refugees from the 1948 war.
There are certainly Israeli Jews that are extremely radical. They settle in the west bank and the government supports them despite Israelis public opinion. But have a look if these Jewish radicals are in any balance with Muslim radicals around the world. There are certainly friendly Arab nations and enlightened Muslims. But all I hear is constant bashing of Israel. Demonizing Israel to the point of sanctions and boycott of Israeli academic institutions.
And there is Iran with its own history of glory and defeat. Iran is the country where my family came from. These people who are considerate and polite, people who speak Farsi and love it. Iran joins this Israel bashing full force. "Death to Israel" is declared in every speech and written on signs in every mosque. One US senator came up with the point that Iran should recognize Israel as a Jewish state in order to end the sanctions against it. This simple point is considered a "poison pill." My question is why? Why is it so impossible for them to accept a small state representing such a small part of the earth's population?
When are we going to reach a balance here?
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