Re: Those who do not learn history...
"Yes Israel, I'd apply this to you too."
The Jewish settlers from Europe bought their land from the then current owners - usually absentee landlords of the Ottoman Empire. Much of what they bought was considered worthless by the locals eg the Hula Valley was a malarial swamp.
It was the surrounding Arab states declaring war in 1948 that caused Arabs to flee areas with a Jewish majority. Those Arab states have also ejected most of their own long-standing Jewish populations.
The 1967 war was an Israeli pre-emptive strike on the same Arab states who were preparing to attack again.
After the Arab states declared war in 1973 - the dominant political parties in Israel are now often people descended from Jews forced out of Middle Eastern countries. The Middle Eastern political philosophy of "winner takes all" has slowly superseded the European one of potential compromise.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
