umm...Muslims?

[SH]

about saudi arabia and other gulf allies?  i don't think the US will be as supportive as it is now.

about israel: i don't think our support of israel is really related to petroleum issues as it is related to the establishment of and support for a jewish state.  even when the oil runs out, i'm not convinced the anomisity between israel and its islamic neighbors will wane.  in fact, i'm apt to believe that the animosity might intensify.  once oil-rich islamic countries run out of the very resource that accounts for much of the country's income while israel continues to prosper (in part due to US aid), i think relatively poorer islamic neighbors will resent israel even more.

In part due to US aid?
does anyone know who the top recepient of aid from the US is?


The Palestinian/Israeli fight is not about religion. It is about LAND, and the consequences of unfair actions. Equality and Equity were ignored and dismissed

As Xony said, there were Jews before 1948, and the whole conflict...and there will be jews after.
There are PLENTY of jewish people who do not believe in the whole zionist movement...

What I never understood is, well, i do understand, nevertheless, when the UN says that Israel is doing wrong...how the Americans somehow still find a way to support them.

This does not mean that Jewish people are bad, this does not mean that Muslim people are bad, nor does it mean Christians are bad.  It means the respective governments of the countries in question need to be whipped and given some Abu Ghuraib treatment just to let'em feel the pain.



I still do not understand the whole Trinity issue, and I don't think it makes sense...especially when Christians themselves can not explain it.  I don't know how some ( I said some) christians ignore the crusades but jump fast on the whole "hate muslim" bandwagon...with the last messenger and Prophet of God, came the faith of Islam.  Since that day when Islam was implimented properly, it hasnt been that long (relatively speaking) ...any history majors around who can tell us what Christianity was like in its "middle ages" 



Anyhoo......we all believe in the Same God....Palestinians and Israelis are not fighting about religion, George Bush is a moron,
and I agree with La-man about the whole "fighting in the name of God" issue...

why cant we all just get along??

[Alamss]

SH where are you from? Ethnically speaking...

[SH]

Err Edit times two...too late

Afghanistan!

[Alamss]

oh ok, my native neighbor 

[SH]

Oh yes, I guess i missed your post earlier brother.

Thats coo

[InVinoVeritas]

israel receives more US foreign aid than any other single country. 

isreal's prosperity is due in part to US aid, but also due to having a more dynamic, non-natural resource based economy. 

from a political standpoint, i think part of the support israel receives from the us is due to shared political values, e.g. during the cold war, israel and the US were more often of like mind than not, as opposed to countries like egypt, syria, etc.  also, there's a powerful lobby in the US geared toward supporting the israeli cause; i don't think there's a lobby promoting palestian or larger arab causes that comes close in terms of influence.

[SH]

Thank you!

and what do you think those shared "political" values are?

(btw I loved that movie)

[SH]

oh and I noticed you mentioned WAR in your post 

[InVinoVeritas]

as i said, in my post, both the US and Israel were politically closely aligned during the cold war.  also, israel has a long-standing democratic policitical system.  on a broader level, both countries partly share a european intellectual heritage that the US doesn't share with Israel's neighbors.

[Alamss]

I have to say though:

Arab states right now are acting like BUMS, they are just using up their natural resources without building infrastructure or vital and strong economies. Saudi Arabia for example just imports all its labor from foreign countries, gets foreign companies to drill its oil and the monarchy is just chilling out. I would agree that their governments are running their own people into the ground. They definitely need some economic and political reform. I am very much against Israelis occupation but still you have to be impressed by Israel. They are very high tech and have a strong infrastructure, and that is not solely based on US aid. Even though Israel gets a lot of aid, so do Columbia and Egypt, these are the top three recipients. The latter two don't have that capacity. There is definitely a certain amount of self-initiative that carries people through and to the top, and I think we (the ME nations) need to get off our ass catch up, in many senses.