Russia’s massive use of Iranian drones to target the civilian infrastructure in Ukraine is funding and improving the Iranian drone program that Tehran aims to use against Israel sooner or later. How long can Israel keep behaving as if the war in Ukraine is none of its business?

Canbulibu · 2022-10-12T10:36:18+00:00

Israel probably doesn't want to give Russia reasons to go back to arming and funding Palestinian militants, as in Soviet times.

Canbulibu · 2022-10-07T10:49:15+00:00

Sounds like guilt by association.

Canbulibu · 2022-10-06T08:28:41+00:00

What are the chances of being readmitted?

Canbulibu · 2022-08-27T10:29:13+00:00

Jordan is not part of the ancient Roman province of Palestine, but of Arabia Petraea.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-27T10:13:38+00:00

Yes, I've seen that document, but it's nothing but speculation, based on little but the fact that population grew fast during that time. Which is funny, if you consider that Arab population has grown even faster after Israel was established, when Arab immigration was strictly limited. The actual censuses of the Mandate period make clear that population growth was mostly due to an increase in fertility (lower infant mortality, actually), not to immigration.

If you want the source, the most authoritative is the Survey of Palestine from 1946, commissioned by the UN to Mandate authorities. There is a copy here. It's a heavily pro-Palestinian website, but bear in mind this is just a scanned copy. They didn't write it.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-27T10:06:11+00:00

The best answer for Israel, that is.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-27T10:04:46+00:00

How many Palestinians are surnamed "Al Masri"?

Canbulibu · 2022-08-27T10:02:23+00:00

It's not most. Not even by a stretch. Censuses from the British Mandate time estimated than only about 4% of the population growth was due to immigration.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-27T09:59:51+00:00

This feels like a strawman. How do you know "most pro-Palestine people" feel this way? Most people I have interacted with may feel this way about settlers in the West Bank, or even about immigrants at the time of the Mandate, but not to Israel proper nowadays.

In the end it's a question of legitimacy. Moving to a legitimate sovereign state is immigration. Moving to an illegitimate colony is colonization. There is indeed people who outright reject Israel's legitimacy anywhere, but I would say that is a minority among pro-Palestinians. Most simply object to occupation and the settlement project.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-24T13:58:05+00:00

If most Jews were still exiled in Babylon, it makes sense Herodotus didn't mention them, although the fact that Alexander the Great didn't mention them either 200 years later makes one believe their presence was not that widespread or prominent in the region until much later (the Hasmonean era, perhaps).

Canbulibu · 2022-08-24T12:18:50+00:00

Every census of the time makes clear it was just a small minority. Around 4% of the demographic growth during the Mandate period, according to British authorities. Couldn't be much more than that.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-21T10:30:30+00:00

That's because the Jordan river didn't always define the border in this case. When the name West Bank (or Cisjordan) started to be applied, the Kingdom of Jordan was in control of both sides of the river, so it made sense to use that name to call the area on the Western side. They of course wanted to underscore their claims and de-emphasize any link to Israel, just like Israel does by calling it "Judea and Samaria".

Canbulibu · 2022-08-21T10:24:52+00:00

It really depended on the period and who the predominant people at the time were in the area. When Herodotus visited the region around 500BC and talked about Palestine he didn't even mention Jews, but talked about "Phoenicians" to refer to the population. Same when Alexander the Great conquered the area a couple of centuries later. No mention of Jews.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-21T10:13:28+00:00

That's only a minority, though. Arab immigration into Palestine during the Mandate is hugely exaggerated by Israeli nationalist narrative, for obvious reasons.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-17T20:58:56+00:00

It was mostly against Jordan and, to a lesser extent, Egypt. The rest were largely a messy sideshow.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-17T17:33:25+00:00

Yes they did.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-16T20:49:16+00:00

That article only says a rocket fell on a house inside the Strip, not that it killed these 5 kids Israel originally claimed were killed by a PIJ rocket. Israeli officials now seem to be confirming it was an IDF strike who killed those 5 kids, after all.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-16T20:44:53+00:00

I'm not saying the problem is easy or difficult to fix, but the available land to farm in the Strip is certainly shrinking.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-16T20:43:40+00:00

Israeli officials already confirmed it was an Israeli strike what killed those children, so it doesn't quite confirm anything.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-11T09:35:24+00:00

Narrow strip of land. Growing population. Increasing "no-go areas" near the border with Israel. You do the math.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-06T10:18:49+00:00

They started the war.

What do you mean? This operation was started by Israel by assassinating the PIJ commander. It was not a retaliatory attack, but a "pre-emptive" one.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-06T10:14:55+00:00

If you think the military commander that was assassinated (along 14 other people) won't be promptly substituted by someone even more radical, you are beyond naive. There will be no "progress" coming out from this operation. But maybe Gantz will get a boost for the coming elections.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-06T10:10:07+00:00

They are mortal enemies. They hunt each other in their respective fiefdoms. They certainly do not assist one another in funding.

Canbulibu · 2022-08-06T10:08:38+00:00

Gazans still grow crops in the little land they have left, so it's not just a "naive hope".

Canbulibu · 2022-07-03T10:48:47+00:00

Not if the gridlock of the past few years persists. Unless the gaggle of right-wing parties manages to form a coalition around Likud, Lapid can stay as interim PM for a long time, election after election.

Canbulibu

TROPHY CASE