Robert Fisk on the middle east wars

[David Josephs]

Israel's historical amnesia cannot be justified or accommodated by others

"In 1516, the Ottoman Empire invaded the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt, conquering Syria, and incorporating it into its empire"
"By AD 640, Syria was conquered by the Arab Rashidun army led by Khalid ibn al-Walid"
"Syria briefly came under Armenian control from 83 BC, with the conquests of Tigranes the Great, who was welcomed as a savior from the Seleucids and Romans by its people. The Armenians retained control of Syria for two decades before being driven out by the Romans."
"The AchaemenidPersians took Syria from Babylonia as part of their hegemony of Southwest Asia in 539 BC"

Magda, how far back would we like to go? Historical amnesia in Syria is not the provenance of the Israelis... Conquer and expand has been the human condition since the first people picked up a stones or sticks and killed those trying to take their food, or steal their women, or whatever other cause you'd like to name.

No, it is not right or just... yet to start the clock running on Syria the day after Israel declares itself a nation is to push historical amnesia to its limit.

What I get from Fisk's article is that everyone in the region, Arabs, Jews, Beduin etc, have suffered due to the historical meddling by France and Britain.

I'm sorry but that's not what I get when I look at the article as a whole.

I read an awful lot of anomousity toward Israel in that article... with virtually no mention of the long history of abuses to the people of that region from all sides for all of time.

The Assyrian Empire conquered most of the "Kingdoms" in that geogrphical area.... including Israel... should Israel's borders be returned to the days of Solomon and David because of the unjustness of the conquering kingdoms?

the Kingdom of Israel was eventually destroyed by Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III around 750 BCE.

Beginning with the campaigns of Adad-nirari II from 911 BC,[SUP][2][/SUP] it again became a great power over the next three centuries, overthrowing the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt and conquering Egypt,[SUP][2][/SUP] Babylonia, Elam, Urartu/Armenia, Media, Persia, Mannea, Gutium, Phoenicia/Canaan, Aramea (Syria), Arabia, Israel, Judah, Edom, Moab, Samarra, Cilicia, Cyprus, Chaldea, Nabatea, Commagene, Dilmun and the Hurrians, Sutu and Neo-Hittites, driving the Ethiopians and Nubians from Egypt,[SUP][2][/SUP] defeating the Cimmerians and Scythians and exacting tribute from Phrygia, Magan and Punt among others

Magda,
What exactly does one expect within a Kingdom establishing what ultimately would become known as "colonies" after the defeat of another Empire... ?
To me, the article appears to be blaming Israel's current situation on that decision... borders do not define the hatred of a jewish state Magda...

I hope you see that.
DJ
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This is quite a good presentation and gives us all a good idea of the turmoil of that region over 3500 years... including the FACT that a Kingdom of Israel existed over 3000 years before the establishment of an Israeli state and only 2700 years after Abraham. When the Jews finally escaped Egypt, they too fought and founded their own Kingdom... only to lose it to a succession of Empires.

http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/imperial-history.html

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