What mistake(s) has Israel made with respect to the Palestinian people?

Israel has made several mistakes that fueled the conflict, including expanding West Bank settlements, under-policing settler violence, and sidelining moderate Palestinian leaders like Mahmoud Abbas. It has also failed to promote a nuanced view of Palestinians in its education system, reinforcing divisive “us vs. them” narratives.

This post was edited by Many_Names on Jun 25 2025 11:54pm

It is nice to hear you identify those things.

ok the fact you actually said this is enough for me to behave for a while.

It always surprises me to read how surprised you are that Israelis are very self-aware — as if we’re “confessing” to some great crime.
Let’s be clear: bombing the barbarians is not a war crime. It is a necessity for life in the Middle East.
We have no problem living alongside Arab leaders who seek to harness the power of the Arab world to face the challenges of the 20th and 21st centuries.
We have a very big problem living alongside those who harness the power of the Arab world to try and destroy the State of Israel. These are barbarians who must be struck until even the barbarians themselves feel it’s too much.

but why would you be surprised? you have read the same things he has said that we have all read. I have already said I am giving him a pass, I am not prepared to quote the stuff what he has said repeatedly - I will keep my word. ultimately Iran has to stop funding all these terror groups, in this i believe there is agreement. it gets a bit tricky though when we see Israel doing its thing in Gaza, the West Bank, and Greater Israel, who will help the Palestinians ? certainly not the western world. when you speak of barbarians, I would challenge - they are Iranians. It is problematic to call a nation barbarians - people in glass houses should be careful with such labels as the glass might fall on them.

This post was edited by ferdia on Jun 26 2025 03:40am

“Greater Israel” is Hamas propaganda.

The only conclusion I’ve reached is that it’s nearly impossible to fight in the Middle East while adhering strictly to Western values

They mistakenly view Palestinian society as unified and modern, but in reality, it’s deeply fragmented. There are constant internal power struggles even among themselves, different factions and clans often clash violently.
It’s a tribal society at its core, where loyalty lies with the family or hamula, not a central government. That’s why making peace is so difficult you’re not dealing with one leadership, but with dozens of competing groups and interests.

The term Greater Israel is subject and means different things to different people.

my meaning is: Greater Israel is Israel, including all of Israel (which includes Gaza and the West Bank, and all land which Israel currently holds, and not lands Israel lays claim to but does not currently hold). To be clear my view is Israel holds both Gaza and the West Bank.

If you disagree with this and dont include either Gaza or the West Bank in the definition of the Term "Greater Israel" then all you have to do is acknowledge them as part of the state of Palestine.

This post was edited by ferdia on Jun 26 2025 04:34am

That framing presents a false binary. The fact that these territories are not part of Israel does not automatically make them a functioning State of Palestine. A territory can be neither sovereign Israeli land nor a viable Palestinian state which is, in fact, the current situation.

If Palestinians want statehood, they need to build accountable institutions, unify their leadership, and stop relying on framing everything as Israeli responsibility. Self-determination requires self-discipline not dependency.