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Originally Posted by someone123
I'd quibble with the idea that the very complicated path can be reduced to something about treating people like lower class citizens. Palestinian politics and religion also play a starring role in this. They are intransigent about accepting deals (two-state solutions) but then complain as the deal gets worse over time. They have a major related problem with Islamism; the government of Gaza explicitly states that they want to wipe out Israel, which is not a good goal and not practical. Other Arab neighbours contribute to the siege mentality in Israel.
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To be fair, the bolded portions can also be said of the Israelis. You can't ignore the growing role right-wing politics and religion have played in exacerbating tensions, violence and injustices. The Haredim, in particular, who tend to have supremacist ideologies, are a fast-growing demographic group in Israel who make up a larger and larger proportion of the electorate. These are the type that believe all of the West Bank should belong exclusively to Israel and generally support genocidal agendas to that end. They also, unsurprisingly, make up a large portion of illegal settlers in the West Bank, and are often behind violent attacks on Palestinians.
Let's also not forget the role evangelical christians from the US play in all this. They are one of the biggest supporters of Israeli settlement projects in the West Bank, especially in terms of monetary support. It's all aimed at manifesting biblical prophecies - they are literally trying to fast forward to armageddon. There's even a whole tourist industry in Israel that caters to these nutjobs so that they can see this madness unfolding in front of them.
If you want to speak about how religion factors in to all this, you can't ignore the above aspects either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by someone123
This does not absolve Israel of responsibility for their actions but they don't have any good options.
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Sorry, but the bolded portion is absolute rubbish. They absolutely do have better options that at the very least can ease tensions and feelings of resentment towards Israel from the Palestinian side. There's no excuses for what Israel is doing in the West Bank, and it's foolish to think it doesn't play a big role in the ongoing conflict.