Thanks Loads Hanaq

Your contributions are very valuable and rewarding.

Thameen

it is easy to focus in on this or that settlement, and one can write reams on the suffering of unarmed civilians, whether they be Arab or Jewish. Ultimately, though, this is a clash of civilisations; both lay claim to the same piece of land, and there is no way out until one side attains its goal.

Contemporary Arab practice is to deny any ancient Jewish settlement (Jesus was presumably a muslim), although it is striking how many Arab settlements have names derived from the older Jewish ones. From a Jewish perspective, the (ancient) tradition records that after the destruction of the temple and the exile of the Jews, the Arabs will be given control of the holy land for a limited time period. As the exile draws to a close, and the Jews return to the holy land, the Arabs will oppose them. This continues until their alloted time span runs out. So here we are.

Aniksker, you paint a picture that is a "lose lose" situation, with both sides convinced that there must be confrontation in order to get to the goal...total control fo the Land.

I believe there are other options...

Prezionist Jews new to wait for the Messiah, and Zionists, secular and religious, have known that the goal of Political Zionism is an independant state in PART of the Land of Israel and not control over Israel in its Biblical Borders.

The Temple and Total return are dependant on the Messiah..and he is dependant on people being ready..not on people warring. We have so much Good to do before he comes,

Many Christians who believe that "Jews must be saved" have learned to wait for the second coming....they too have learned patience.

So, while you are right, to an extent, that there is a clash of civilization, as the worlds traditional religions learn to live within the framework of modern reality (Pls..people...learn a little quicker) we begin to share more values that can lead to cooperation and mutual respect.

This sounds overly optimistic...Granted, it is to an extent..but it is the challenge facing us..the only option we have.

Dear All,

This thread is specifically a tool for Palestinians add data and information about sites associated with villages they lived in prior to 1948.

It also is an opportunity for us all to discuss how this project can develop alongside an understanding that cooperation between People's is of utmost importance.

The moderators have been very lenient in allowing this thread to continue..and this is good.

One poster, jo_raedtaha76 , posted a mesage or two that have been removed..perhaps by himself or by the moderator. The posts had to do with his vision of the future, an Islamic Republic where Moslems, Christians and Jews could live.

I believe his vision is very problematic to say the least...but i felt it was coming from an honest place that deserved to be addressed in a respectful way--but with the sincere and firm warning that trying to fulfill these types of dreams in this world..will suredly turn them into nightmares.

It is too bad that his posts have disappeared..I fear that the vision, the dangerous vision has not disappeared with the post.

During these difficult times for the entire region...my blessings to all.
myron

Myron,
Naive you may be, but I only wish there were enough of the naive ones on both sides to outweigh the fanatical ones.
We can count, analyze and display for all world to see the knocks and bruises sustained in this fight untill hell freezes over, but it will get us no closer to the solution. If we keep taking an eye for an eye - it will just be a fistfight of the blind. Several times in the recent years Israel made serious and material concessions with the hopes of repairing the peace and against the will of a big portion of its own people. Every time their opponents proved the opposition to such moves correct. The emotional and mental healing and forgiveness has to begin in the schools and through responsible parenting. I see a distinct lack in both and threads such as this one do nothing to help, in my view. I asked the author about that and he didn't answer, but I think I know the answer already. I think your input into this board is invaluable, because it does represent the view of many Jews. For that alone I might agree that this thread is not a complete waste of electrons. There is however another side to Israel's stance and that is that he who comes with a sword shall himself die of the sword and that has to be clear, too.
Be safe and let the hope die last.

It's very easy to lay claim to this particular strip of land. So easy indeed that I am surprised the likes of Macedonia, Italy, France and Turkey haven't done that yet. You can't look to the past for proof of your right of ownership of the land - not this land. That is why, again, the good that this layer might be doing to remembering the past seems far outweighed by the damage its propagandist nature will likely cause to the future.
You might be right in that it would take a (Chinese?) empire conquering the Holy land to put out this fire (for a while at least).

My posts were removed by the moderator.
Well, my first post was thanking Thameen for his effort and the second one was a reply for Myron.

May be the moderator thought that the second post is political and removed it,, ok I agree with him, but I really did not know why he deleted the first one!!!

Any way I had wrote some of my thoughts and visions regarding the future of the Middle East and would love to share it with you people, suggest a place where we can discuss it where moderators delete only impolite language!

Thanks,

Hi jo_raedtaha76,

I remember, in one of your erased messages, you gave the name of your forefather's village, telling that it was not far from Thameen's placemark. Can you put a placemark, so we can discuss where the village exactly was? It would be sad if you or your children or grandchildren, when the day comes, would rebuild your house in the wrong village.

Hanaq

Hi Hanaq....

I am imagining a smile on your face as you say:
It would be sad if you or your children or grandchildren, when the day comes, would rebuild your house in the wrong village

I am not sure what kind of smile though .

Tonight I will remember a destroyed house as well ..the Jewish Temple, whose two destructions (thanks to our misdeeds ) are commemorated on the tonight on the 9th day of the month of Av.

I remember..i ponder...i hope and pray for a different, more worthy future...

But to make that future happen calls for::
1. Looking into ourselves
2. Opening ourselves to each other
3. Understanding that we must build something NEW, in place of the old:
Your grandparents old house, the old Temple.

You see, I will not, can not and do not want to destroy anything to build something new.

Can we build something new and .not try to rebuild the old..not to relive the past..a past that is strife and rejectionism?

Our New Buldings will be based on a combination of our dedication to the past and our open hearts.

I'm an American Jew that recently went to Israel. I had the good luck of leaving about the day before the rockets started coming in by the 100s. It seemed quiet and then exploded the day I left. Anyway, I would like to point out that while in Israel I saw many good signs as well as the bad signs for a day that Jews and Muslims could live together at peace. In one of the large cities of Israel, either Jerusalem or Tel Aviv-Yaffo, my group (all Jewish, the tour guides Israeli) went to a falaffle resteraunt. The people who ran the resteraunt were Palestinians, and they were very friendly and sociable in addition to serving the best falaffle I have ever eaten. In addition, my group went to a Bedouin encampent to spend the night. The Bedouins are a very polite and had great hospitality. Also, these Bedouins were concerned about the first Israeli that kidnapped. They worried it was a relative of their's, a Bedouin who had volunteered in the Israeli Army (Bedouins can volunteer to be in the IDF and Druze are required{the Druze wanted this} and the Bedouins are often employed as scouts due to their skills at Desert survival.). Anyway, I just wanted to show examples of Muslims living in harmony with Jews in Israel. Its not completely hopeless, though the rockets are not helping right now.
PS: I will soon be doing a post on my visit to Israel, eventually including pictures also.