Obama Endorses 1967 Border For Palestinian State

[mlmpetert]

I honestly have no idea who I side with….. EXTREMELY complex subject/tension/ and history. I just wish we stayed out of it since day 1 when the UN created Israel. All I know is that this has really really pissed Israel off. That combine with all the turmoil in the Middle East, protests aka The Arab Spring, bin Landen done, hummas divided and all the politicking going on over here with which upraises we are going to support and which ones were not could spell the beginning of the end for Israel. Things could (hopefully) become peacefully if things go well….. but things dont really seem to go well over there so I wouldn’t be surprise for things to go really really bad……


If Israel says no to Obama's endorsement and defends their borders, we're talking significant war over there right?

Netanyahu Rejects Obama Call for Palestinian State Based on 1967 Borders - FoxNews.com

[SmootSmack]

Indeed a very delicate and potentially volatile situation. I wish I knew more about the history behind this. I have tried to read upon it, but never enough.

[12thMan]

Here's some good background, but expect the right to attack Obama's position on this issue as they tend to be more hardline when it comes to supporting Israel.

Six-Day War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[SmootSmack]

Yeah I'm talking about history way before that, the Balfour Declaration, the Ottoman rule

[12thMan]

Yeah, I'm not up on that at all.

[saden1]

Is this U.S. support for the 1967 border some kind of new policy?

It is tragic how little people know about the issue 67 border.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by saden1

Is this U.S. support for the 1967 border some kind of new policy?

It is tragic how little people know about the issue 67 border.

Well yes and no. Other former U.S. presidents have basically supported the idea in the past or some variation, but haven't made it U.S. policy. From what I understand, Obama has set precedence here by publicly stating this is U.S. policy going forward.

Personally, I don't see how we can say we're extending an olive branch to the Arab world when we're constantly partial to Israel in almost every circumstance.

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

Well yes and no. Other former U.S. presidents have basically supported the idea in the past or some variation, but haven't made it U.S. policy. From what I understand, Obama has set precedence here by publicly stating this is U.S. policy going forward.

Personally, I don't see how we can say we're extending an olive branch to the Arab world when we're constantly partial to Israel in almost every circumstance.

Agreed. While I support the Israeli state and don't believe we should just cut them loose, to often it seems to be the tail wagging the dog of US middle east policy.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

Agreed. While I support the Israeli state and don't believe we should just cut them loose, to often it seems to be the tail wagging the dog of US middle east policy.

That will never happen; Too much money and the Israel/Jewish lobby has an enormous amount of power and influence in American politics. As miuch as Obama has ruffled feathers, he'll only take it so far.

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

That will never happen; Too much money and the Israel/Jewish lobby has an enormous amount of power and influence in American politics. As miuch as Obama has ruffled feathers, he'll only take it so far.

Yup. I understand that. Hence the tail wagging the dog. The more I think about it the more I back Obama's statement.

Again, the creation, boundaries and existence of the Jewish state in the Middle East really is a tangled web of pre/post WWI European power struggles and emergent Arab nationalism (and factionalism) topped off with some good ole' Cold War surrogatism (yes, I just made that up).

Until the arabic countries formally accept & acknowledge Israel's right to exist, however, whether the '67 boundaries are used or not, there will not be peace. I think that, unlike 20-30 years ago, most of the arab world is ready to acknowledge the fact that Israel is there and is not going away.

[JoeRedskin]

[Deleted as double post]

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

That will never happen; Too much money and the Israel/Jewish lobby has an enormous amount of power and influence in American politics. As miuch as Obama has ruffled feathers, he'll only take it so far.

But since Obama’s made these statements doesn’t that give credibility to any war launched by any arab nation backing Palestine fighting for the lost 1967 borders? Its no big deal if Palestine wants to try and take back their lost land but if Pakistan, Iran, a hamas group, or whatever comes out of Egypt, Syria or Labia (democratic or not) if several of those powers decide to join in at some point to help reclaim some land for Palestine does the US just stay neutral and provide zero support (including humanitarian) to either side?

Whenever I tried to read into this subject I realize its wayyyy to complex and not so cut and dry, so Im like I don’t feel like spending a significant amount of time trying to understand it. So this may be a ignorant statement: I feel like Palestine has never been capable of governing themselves. I feel like they have given plenty of opportunities to create a government and become independent and they always blow it. The land they have held before though and want back is extremely valuable for several reasons though; namely religious, economically and military. So I feel like with all the uprisings and change going on in the middle east they are prime to get exploited by the likes of several countries that could give Israel a decent fight, particularly if someone decides to use nuclear wepons if things get that far. I feel like given the Presidents words he basically said if the arab world wants to try and take back its land; its fair game. As long as it looks like its in Palestine’s interest the US and UN aint gonna step in. We will just let it play out, hopefully nothing really bad happens.

[JoeRedskin]

It's late, haven't checked. Isn't UN Resolution that backs peace based on the '67 borders?

As I remember, pretty much every Arab country is in a declared state of war wth Israel, and have been since the Six Day war. Have the Arab nations agreed to rescind their declarations of war if Israel pulls back to the '67 borders?

[JoeRedskin]

Timeline of the Arab - Israeli conflict:
Middle East Israel - Palestinian Conflict TimeLine

[Ruhskins]

I'm glad a US president is finally calling for the pre-67 borders in this conflict. Unfortunately for the Palestinians, it was the actions of the other Arab countries in the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War that led Israel to take over East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Since 1967, Israelis have been actively building settlement in these areas and kicking the Palestinians out.

I must say that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been seen in the US only through the a pro-Israeli lens. I took a class on the conflict during my undergrad years that gave me the opportunity to see the conflict from both sides. The class was team-taught by an Israeli professor and a Palestinian professor.

I really hope that pressure from the US in these key areas (pre-67 borders, exclusion of Hamas in the Palestinian government, and a recognition of each other's state by the Palestinian and Israeli governments) will lead to a better peace talks process.