tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014661972845014530.post5902004879915697321..comments2023-04-08T02:29:08.117-07:00Comments on Angie's Point: National Identity, the Palestinians, and ReligionAngie Van De Merwehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617299120618867829noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014661972845014530.post-51958371156577326182008-09-13T09:01:00.000-07:002008-09-13T09:01:00.000-07:00Right on.And yeah, exile is horrible whenever it h...Right on.<BR/><BR/>And yeah, exile is horrible whenever it happens, which is one reason I get annoyed with a few people I know (not you) who lament that the Jews lost their homeland but feel perfectly justified in putting Palestinians through the same experience.Cobalthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00276860017599044287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014661972845014530.post-56323488701043653202008-09-13T08:18:00.000-07:002008-09-13T08:18:00.000-07:00I re=read my last entry and it could be misunderst...I re=read my last entry and it could be misunderstood. Identity, of course, is not 'evil' but, when we tie our necks to it so closely that we cannot engage another, then our idenity is too tightly bound to whatever is binding it...be it nation, family, religion, cultural standards...etc.Angie Van De Merwehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12617299120618867829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014661972845014530.post-90905906741793074772008-09-12T22:05:00.000-07:002008-09-12T22:05:00.000-07:00By the way, exile happens all the time, without a ...By the way, exile happens all the time, without a batting of the eye. And sometimes it is due to downright jealousy, envy or what have you...national identities remain as "evil" as individual ones....Angie Van De Merwehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12617299120618867829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014661972845014530.post-79068573255866518772008-09-12T21:18:00.000-07:002008-09-12T21:18:00.000-07:00Thanks Cobalt for your comment. I believe that men...Thanks Cobalt for your comment. I believe that men are short-sighted when it come to justice, as there are so many varibles to consider and many issues are subjectively (experiencially) assessed. There is no "right or wrong" in these cases. It just seems that there should be a little more equality in humane treatment....Angie Van De Merwehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12617299120618867829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014661972845014530.post-59839470946238544412008-09-11T21:57:00.000-07:002008-09-11T21:57:00.000-07:00Whenever the Palestinians come up, I think it's in...Whenever the Palestinians come up, I think it's instructive to remember how long we've been on our land. A paltry two hundred years. <BR/><BR/>The Palestinians were in that area longer than that, after the Jews were forced out. These people have been on that land far longer than we've been on ours, and I think you can imagine the chaos that would result if, for example, the Native Americans suddenly routed us out with full endorsement from the global community. <BR/><BR/>This is the position Palestinians are in. Sure, it's ancestral Israeli land, but it's ancestral Palestinian land, too. The fact that they were driven out and left to sustain themselves (in many cases) in what amount to refugee tent cities... it's bound to create bitterness. We'd be bitter, too.<BR/><BR/>This isn't my area of expertise, since I didn't study the Middle East too much. But I can say that both sides have a decent claim to that land, and that both sides have done terrible things to protect those claims. That's part of why it's such a hard issue to resolve; no one can really easily say "these are the bad guys and these are the victims."Cobalthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00276860017599044287noreply@blogger.com