I am an atheist goy with more sympathy for the Jews than the Palestinians. I was sent there in the early sixties to train programmers, living there for about 15 months. The Israeli DOD had bought a large mainframe.

This issue is a real mess. From a pragmatic view, it seems silly to try to establish claims based on history. No way will we give USA back to the Indians. Spain will not give Spain back o the Basques. Neither Turkey nor Iraq will turn territory over to the Kurds. You get the picture.

The answer is fight or negotiate over more current issues.

Frankly, if given Carte Blanche to settle the problem, I know a solution which would work but would never be allowed to happen.

Utterly destroy the Dome of the Mosque, the Wailing Wall, the remains of the Jewish Temple, and everything else on that 2-3 acre piece of ground. Allow the US to bury most of their radioactive waste there and cover it with concrete. The site would be uninhabitable for thousands of years. The religious fanatics might visit it anyway and die from radioactive poisoning (This might help defuse the situation). At any rate, the site would not be available to either side. Threaten to do the same with any other disputed religious site. This might get the fanatic religious beliefs out of the way, allowing some sane solution.

On to some details from the past 50 or so years.

The current issues seem to be as follows.

The Jews had been promised a country of their own some time prior to the second WW, perhaps about the time of the first WW. Palestine was declared an independent country in 1947 or 1948. At that time, it had both Jews and Arabs living there. I think it was to be under Jewish control with civil rights for Arabs. I do not know the details of how the original state was to be set up and governed. It was put under British control after the first WW broke up the remains of the Ottoman empire, creating a lot of countries in the Middle East.

The Arab countries were not willing to tolerate a Jewish state in their midst. As soon as British forces withdrew, the Arabs attacked. They encouraged the Palestinian Arabs to flee, claiming that any who remained would be annihilated as Jewish collaborators. Many fled. Some were driven out by the Israelis.

I was told this by a wealthy Syrian Arab who choose to stay in Israeli. He said he hoped to be able to bribe Arab conquerors in the event of an Arab victory. He had a successful business, land holdings, and bank accounts. He was unwilling to leave, fearing that no matter who won, he would not get his assets back after the war. There were many Arabs who stayed. To some extent they are treated as second class citizens, but are protected by a constitution which grants them citizenship. It is similar to, but not as bad as racism in the US.

The above suggests that the oil rich Arab counties had a significant responsibility to provide a home in Arab countires the Palestinians they had encouraged to flee. Instead, they used the Palestinians as political pawns. This solution is probably no longer a viable option.

Now there is a vastly larger Palestinian population (I think it tripled since 1948) with neither autonomy nor country of their own. They are being exploited by a corrupt leader who would probably lose his power (and mega$)if peace broke out. Their side is driven mostly by a desire for a place to call their own and religious fanaticism deliberately encouraged by cynical political forces.

For many years, the Israelis were pretty much unwilling to make many, if any, significant concessions. They annexed part of Jordan (The West Bank territory) after winning a war. Jordan sided with other Arab countries, and probably got what they deserved. The Israelis took over various other Arab lands due to concern over security. For example, artillery fire and missiles were launched from the Golan Heights, taken over by the Israelis when negotiations with Syria fell apart.

The Israeli attitude is partially due to outrage over legitimate grievances, partially to holocaust backlash, partially due to religious fanaticism, partially due to not wanting to give up anything they had won in the various wars with the Arabs.

Since about 1993, the Israelis have softened their position and have made significant concessions in the interests of obtaining a peaceful settlement. They have offered to give up significant territory. The Arab side has tended to be unyielding, accepting all concessions, conceding little, and now resorting to violence when o further concessions are being made.

While the Israelis do not have clean hands, the Arab side (except for Egypt) has never been willing to forgo its stated desire to wipe out the Israeli state. In particular, Arafat has never been willing to formally recognize Israeli's right to exist.

It looks to me as though the Israelis have made significant concessions in the interests of making peace, after many years of not willing to negotiate much. The Arabs seem to have viewed the concessions as a sign of weakness. Perhaps Arafat is merely afraid he will lose power & Big Bucks if a peaceful settlement occurs. Religious fanaticism on both sides is a serious problem.