Palestinians and their Placards...

Passing by the BBC in Manchester earlier and noticed a load of Palestinians and their sympathizers waving placards around - you know, the usual, poor widdle us, nasty Israelis...

Now, I have some sympathy for the Palestinians, but it's tempered by the fact they're largely architects of their own downfall.

Take the demand for their own homeland. They have one. It's called Jordan. It was the two-thirds of the Palestinian region given for one, or more, Arab nations. Why don't they live there now? Black September. Apparently trying to make regions of a nation autonomous, whilst using them as a base to attack a neighbouring country, offends said nations leaders. Who knew?

Shooting themselves in the foot goes back even further, back to the riots and massacres in the late 20's, which led to Haganah forming - the precursor to the IDF. In short, the Arabs and Palestinians in the region spent decades making the lives of Jews hell - the entire problem boils down to one set of bullies getting out-bullied by their victims and crying foul now they've got the shitty end of the stick.

Now I'm not saying Israel has done no wrong - they've shown themselves to be a bad faith party in negotiations and treat both civilian and paramilitary Palestinians with equal contempt - but what do you expect when spend decades oppressing, then declaring war, on a group? You end up with a merciless, hardened people who shall do unto you before you do unto them.

Of course the converse is true, just as the Palestinians created the modern harsh Israeli political outlook, so Israel is creating the same of the Palestinians. It offers a dire future for even a 2-party solution if you ask me, especially with Iran's nuclear ambitions - Tehran has learned from what happened to Iraq's nuclear program, and made it incredibly difficult for Israel to bomb their sites. Should Iran successfully become a nuclear power, then I suspect the Palestinians will rise up against Israel, even if they do have their own nation at the time.

I would hope a peaceful solution can be found, but the realist suspects it'll all end rather badly.