Bluster

I think we have to thank ‘The Gathering’ promotion for most of the success this summer. Ok the weather helped but who books a holiday to Ireland with the expectation of decent weather?
I think, though, we should be fairly cautious about these results as there is the potential of ‘The Gathering’ being a double edged sword…. Anyone who might have been planning on coming to Ireland in the next couple of years may have decided to come early. I don’t think we’ll have as favourable numbers in the next couple of years (speaking from experience of our ‘gathering’ party and the feedback from my rellies from abroad who came to visit early)

Did Israel pay for the Palestinian people ‘removed’ from their homelands to return too?

Actually they did.

No waaay! I stand corrected.

Good man jm. And them silly arabs arguing for right to return

They were given good prices for their property at the time. Once the Israelis actually made something of their arid desert land through irrigation and industry the Arabs suddenly realised they got a raw deal. Sad but true.

I must read up on the consequences of the Balfour Declaration again.

You’re a well informed chap – even those aambassadors of truthful reporting, the israelis dont say that – you should remind them. And that traitor michael collins traded northern ireland for some bubble gum fairy beans. True story!!! s

Here’s some facts for you:
In the aftermath of WW2 Jews were paying between $1000 and 1100 per acre in Palestine for mostly arid land. By comparison, the price of land in rich soiled Iowa was 110 per acre.
Most of the land was not owned by Palestinians, in fact by 1946 Arabs owned only 20% of the land, 75% of whom did not live there. Jews owned 10% and the British owned 70% most of which was arid desert land.
Mostof the Jews in Israel were in fact kicked out of Arab countries, in fact their property losses were ten times that of Arabs in Palestine.
Up until 1979 Israel had a policy of repayment or replacement for anyone who could prove his claim.
These are the facts and you can read up on them if you want instead of swallowing pro Palestinian propaganda whole and accepting it as fact!

OK
This is becoming somewhat personal. The whole Israeli-Palestinian “issue” is very complex, and very sad. Both sides have suffered. My knowledge of Middle Eastern affairs is limited, but I know this much: the establishment of “ownership” of land is not clear cut. To compare values of land with Iowa or anywhere else is not a relative assessment. The value of land will always depend on supply and demand. In relation to the distribution of ‘ownership’ in the context of our commentary, the word in itself is a provocative one. The term “occupation” is now more commonly accepted.
I daresay, none of us is equipped with the lexicon, the objectivity or the nous to resolve the mess that exists in the West Bank. Let’s leave it at that, and be thankful that Ireland is a relatively safe destination for the majority of its inhabitants, and, for those who chose to spend time here.

This started as me merely using Israel as an example of one way we could connect with our diaspora and boost visitor numbers. Obviously people didn’t agree with my suggestion given all the red thumbs, which I can accept, but it was you who made it political. Then you asked me if Israel paid Palestinians to be removed and I said they did and later backed up my statement as many others somehow felt I was lying. The West Bank situation today is far from ideal, maybe it would have been resolved decades ago had the Arab nations agreed to accept the Israeli invitation to discuss terms. Of course the Arabs refused to enter any sort of dialogue with the Israelis. I think originally Israeli only wanted to make a demilitarised buffer zone of the West Bank in the aftermath of the illegal Jordanian attack on its borders, whilst returning the West Bank into Arab hands. It seems like a fair compromise to me.