UN chief says Palestine will join int'l court on April 1

[Morch]

This is not one of your religious threads where you can post silly theories ad nauseam, because there are no facts involved. You simply not know what you are talking about. The Palestinians and Israel are both still bound by the Oslo Accords to this day. The EU's foreign policy chief brought up a possible violation of the Oslo Accords just a few days ago and he is not Israeli.

Baiting for something you can claim is anti-Semitic UG?

So let us say I am wrong and you are right. If Israel are so sure that they are in the right then they would grasp with both hands the opportunity of total vindication would they not. If, as you incorrectly point out, the Palestinians HAVE broken the Oslo accord then Israel cannot be accused of breaking it first.

People often solves issues between themselves such as when you damage your neighbour's fence while backing your car in. You offer to pay for a replacement fence and chuck a couple of bucks as a sorry. Not good enough, the missus has to have the day off work to oversee it was done correctly so you chuck in a days wages and a few more bob for a dinner or something. Not good enough though. Neighbour wants your house in excess of everything else. Rather than get the police involved, take it to court and what they decide will be deemed to be fair you agree to a 5 year moratorium on legal action after which a decision has to be made. No decision is made but his cousin moves into your house, murders your wife and parks on your driveway and is still there after 5 years. You go to complain after the 5 years are over only to be told that the agreement was that an agreement had to be made first and as long as the neighbour doesn't agree it will never end.

It's a blatant con job which is why Israel is so against it going to 'independent' anything. Israel claim that they have an agreement and do not want to break the agreement. BS, absolute unadulterated BS.

I do not think that the issue is which side violated the Oslo Accords. Both did. On numerous occasions. The "who started" thing is not likely to be agreed upon by a long shot, and again - not really that important. It can be safely said that tit-for-tat will not get any party what it wants.

Both sides do not come to the table (or before a court) free of "baggage". There are long standing issues, hatreds and animosity. This is less about justice, and more about winning - and bonus points for making the opponent admit blame. Starting to recount events from a arbitrary points is another issue which makes narratives difficult to reconcile.

The analogy presented is, as usual, over-simplified and one-sided. There's a good (or at least, relatively innocent and passive side) and then there's the belligerent evil one. That works in fairy tales, not in real life.

There is no shortage of BS spewed by leaders of both Israelis and Palestinians. Nothing special about that, they are politicians.

[Morch]

in your dreams. A member state can prosecute any crime since 2002.

Why are the Israelis panicking? Got something to hide?

You don't even keep up with the news. So don't make claims you know nothing about.

Riyadh Mansour told a group of reporters that Palestine’s formal acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction starting June 13, 2014 gives prosecutor Fatou Bensouda a green light to take up the question of alleged war crimes on Palestinian territory without waiting for Palestine to formally become a member of the court on April 1.

Read more: Palestinians say ICC can examine war crimes allegations now | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-say-icc-can-examine-war-crimes-allegations-now/#ixzz3OIey8tJX

Mahmoud Abbas agreed to the start date when he filed the petition for ICC membership.

From the link above:

"President Mahmoud Abbas submitted the declaration to the ICC registrar on Jan. 1, accepting the court’s jurisdiction over its territories, going back to June 13, 2014. That’s the day after three Israeli teens were abducted and killed by Hamas militants in the West Bank, an attack that set off events that culminated in the Gaza war."

Read more: Palestinians say ICC can examine war crimes allegations now | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-say-icc-can-examine-war-crimes-allegations-now/#ixzz3OIodVK8G

This is the pertinent portion:

"accepting the court’s jurisdiction over its territories, going back to June 13, 2014."

The relatively recent date picked got probably to do with protecting the collective backsides of Fatah officials from possible legal backlash. Taking things earlier could put some of them on dangerous ground. Limiting the time frame means that if any issues will be raised with regard to Palestinian actions, then those could, for the most part, be pinned on Hamas leadership.

[dexterm]

Why do you persist with the dishonest posts? .

...because they aren't dishonest

Your credibility was destroyed on this forum months ago.

Says who...you and your Israeli apologist buddies? Well you would say that wouldn't you? Count the likes.

It's much easier for you to shoot the messenger than answer with rational, sourced arguments

Well, ruling out dishonesty does not rule out being misinformed, wrong or having a narrow agenda driven view of relates issues.

As for credibility - repeating the same posts over and over again, as if things were not discussed on previous topics, and were never shown to be less than correct, is not the same thing as being credible. Cherry picking the bits of history fitting the agenda, or ignoring current events and process which are inconvenient does not do much for credibility as well. But, these things aside, what does the number of "likes" got to do with credibility?

As for shooting the messenger, isn't it the case that when presented by the rather bleak, if factual, sorry state of affairs and the tremendous, but real, difficulties making some rosy visions of the future to be a mirage - that you find fault with whomever points these out?

I would say that when presented with rational arguments the apparent course of action noticeable is to go off on one, rather than actually relate to the issue at hand.

So who are you?

I am not in the least bit interested in digressing from the OP ...got many other things to do with my time and life. Got a feeling this is a full time job for some of you Israeli apologists though. But if the usual culprits drag up the old chestnut deflections I will gladly debunk their myths. If the mods don’t take a post down, it must be fair game and I will oblige in refuting it.

Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.

Better perhaps if we all stuck to the OP in future. I’ll give you a heads up if you are confused next time I smell the stench of red herring.

[dexterm]

in your dreams. A member state can prosecute any crime since 2002.

Why are the Israelis panicking? Got something to hide?

You don't even keep up with the news. So don't make claims you know nothing about.

Riyadh Mansour told a group of reporters that Palestine’s formal acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction starting June 13, 2014 gives prosecutor Fatou Bensouda a green light to take up the question of alleged war crimes on Palestinian territory without waiting for Palestine to formally become a member of the court on April 1.

Read more: Palestinians say ICC can examine war crimes allegations now | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-say-icc-can-examine-war-crimes-allegations-now/#ixzz3OIey8tJX

Mahmoud Abbas agreed to the start date when he filed the petition for ICC membership.

From the link above:

"President Mahmoud Abbas submitted the declaration to the ICC registrar on Jan. 1, accepting the court’s jurisdiction over its territories, going back to June 13, 2014. That’s the day after three Israeli teens were abducted and killed by Hamas militants in the West Bank, an attack that set off events that culminated in the Gaza war."

Read more: Palestinians say ICC can examine war crimes allegations now | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-say-icc-can-examine-war-crimes-allegations-now/#ixzz3OIodVK8G

This is the pertinent portion:

"accepting the court’s jurisdiction over its territories, going back to June 13, 2014."

The relatively recent date picked got probably to do with protecting the collective backsides of Fatah officials from possible legal backlash. Taking things earlier could put some of them on dangerous ground. Limiting the time frame means that if any issues will be raised with regard to Palestinian actions, then those could, for the most part, be pinned on Hamas leadership.

Could also be that the PA have lost count of the Israeli war crimes. Maybe Israel will mend its ways from now on knowing that the world and the ICC are watching. Lets hope so.

[Ulysses G.]

So who are you?

A honest, knowledgeable poster. It is no surprise that you can't even recognize one, considering your own posting history.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[dexterm]

Why do you persist with the dishonest posts? .

...because they aren't dishonest

Your credibility was destroyed on this forum months ago.

Says who...you and your Israeli apologist buddies? Well you would say that wouldn't you? Count the likes.

It's much easier for you to shoot the messenger than answer with rational, sourced arguments

Well, ruling out dishonesty does not rule out being misinformed, wrong or having a narrow agenda driven view of relates issues.

As for credibility - repeating the same posts over and over again, as if things were not discussed on previous topics, and were never shown to be less than correct, is not the same thing as being credible. Cherry picking the bits of history fitting the agenda, or ignoring current events and process which are inconvenient does not do much for credibility as well. But, these things aside, what does the number of "likes" got to do with credibility?

As for shooting the messenger, isn't it the case that when presented by the rather bleak, if factual, sorry state of affairs and the tremendous, but real, difficulties making some rosy visions of the future to be a mirage - that you find fault with whomever points these out?

I would say that when presented with rational arguments the apparent course of action noticeable is to go off on one, rather than actually relate to the issue at hand.

I beg to differ.

Personally I find your posts sometimes very interesting, because you seem to be very close to events, and you're often very good on the small up to the minute details.

But consequently I think you can't see the wood for the trees. You can't stand back and see the tremendous injustice that has been done to the Palestinians. You lack vision for the resolution of the conflict...can't think outside the envelope of immediate political life.

[notmyself]

This is not one of your religious threads where you can post silly theories ad nauseam, because there are no facts involved. You simply not know what you are talking about. The Palestinians and Israel are both still bound by the Oslo Accords to this day. The EU's foreign policy chief brought up a possible violation of the Oslo Accords just a few days ago and he is not Israeli.

So let us say I am wrong and you are right.

We don't need to just "say" it. It is a fact. Both the Palestinians and Israel are still subject to the Oslo Accords and you posted erroneous information claiming otherwise.

OK. I am wrong 100% yet you competently fail to address any single thing I addressed after that.

Let me try and word this so as to not fall foul of forum rules.

Because the majority of TV is open access there are various rules regarding usage of language etc. I accept this even though no evidence has ever been presented (anywhere) to suggest that words have a magical meaning. In order to avoid contravening age related guidelines, members have to dumb down their posts to at least some degree. You frequently claim which are supposedly common knowledge yet on inspection are ******* rubbish. You are repeatedly called out on this yet continually put your ******* fingers in your ******* ears in order to la la la la.

I nominated you to go for poster of the year because you have been willing to offer a reason why you believe whatever it is. I often disagree (as does logic) but nevertheless you were willing to at least attempt a reason for it.

Answer the piece you decided to omit from my post.

[Ulysses G.]

This is the post that I was addressing and I DID answer it. It is complete nonsense, for reasons which I and other posters have already pointed out. Quite honestly, IMO, most of your posts are in the same vein and , IMO, are mostly a waste of time. I have no idea what you are going on about above or what you are trying to say. Both you and dexterm pad pretty much every post with a whole load of off-topic smears against Israel going in a million different directions. I am not going to waste my time addressing every one.

If you keep posting incorrect information as "facts", I will keep correcting you and sorry if I am not particularly polite about it. You should not be posting on topics that you know nothing about, if you do not want to be embarrassed.

There was no "agreed five years", except as an interim period, before negotiations would determine a final peace agreement to resolve the major issues: final borders, security arrangements, Jerusalem, whether the Palestinians would have an independent state, Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, and Palestinian refugees' claims to land and property left behind when they fled Israel. None of those things have been determined and the Palestinians and Israel are both still bound by the Oslo Accords to this day.

This is just what Israel claims but it wouldn't stand up in any court which is why the Palestinians are going in the direction they are and why Israel is so fervently opposed to ANY independent judication on the matter.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[Morch]

Why do you persist with the dishonest posts? .

...because they aren't dishonest

Your credibility was destroyed on this forum months ago.

Says who...you and your Israeli apologist buddies? Well you would say that wouldn't you? Count the likes.

It's much easier for you to shoot the messenger than answer with rational, sourced arguments

Well, ruling out dishonesty does not rule out being misinformed, wrong or having a narrow agenda driven view of relates issues.

As for credibility - repeating the same posts over and over again, as if things were not discussed on previous topics, and were never shown to be less than correct, is not the same thing as being credible. Cherry picking the bits of history fitting the agenda, or ignoring current events and process which are inconvenient does not do much for credibility as well. But, these things aside, what does the number of "likes" got to do with credibility?

As for shooting the messenger, isn't it the case that when presented by the rather bleak, if factual, sorry state of affairs and the tremendous, but real, difficulties making some rosy visions of the future to be a mirage - that you find fault with whomever points these out?

I would say that when presented with rational arguments the apparent course of action noticeable is to go off on one, rather than actually relate to the issue at hand.

So who are you?

I am not in the least bit interested in digressing from the OP ...got many other things to do with my time and life. Got a feeling this is a full time job for some of you Israeli apologists though. But if the usual culprits drag up the old chestnut deflections I will gladly debunk their myths. If the mods don’t take a post down, it must be fair game and I will oblige in refuting it.

Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.

Better perhaps if we all stuck to the OP in future. I’ll give you a heads up if you are confused next time I smell the stench of red herring.

For someone who is "not in the least bit interested in digressing from the OP" you exhibit a distinct tendency to go on about aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which are often not directly connected to the topic at hand. Most of the relevant OP do not, as such, touch on detailed historical accounts, Zionism, and rosy visions of imagined future. The "I'm only responding to others" bit might convince someone who is not following these topics.

Not sure if I'm in the "Israeli apologist" category, but I do resent the implication that I engage in anything resembling a full time job - this would amount to defamation for someone holding my capacity for idleness. But since you press the issue, it isn't too tasking to compare the ratio of posts vs. membership time - you were saying...?

[Morch]

You don't even keep up with the news. So don't make claims you know nothing about.

Riyadh Mansour told a group of reporters that Palestine’s formal acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction starting June 13, 2014 gives prosecutor Fatou Bensouda a green light to take up the question of alleged war crimes on Palestinian territory without waiting for Palestine to formally become a member of the court on April 1.

Read more: Palestinians say ICC can examine war crimes allegations now | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-say-icc-can-examine-war-crimes-allegations-now/#ixzz3OIey8tJX

Mahmoud Abbas agreed to the start date when he filed the petition for ICC membership.

From the link above:

"President Mahmoud Abbas submitted the declaration to the ICC registrar on Jan. 1, accepting the court’s jurisdiction over its territories, going back to June 13, 2014. That’s the day after three Israeli teens were abducted and killed by Hamas militants in the West Bank, an attack that set off events that culminated in the Gaza war."

Read more: Palestinians say ICC can examine war crimes allegations now | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-say-icc-can-examine-war-crimes-allegations-now/#ixzz3OIodVK8G

This is the pertinent portion:

"accepting the court’s jurisdiction over its territories, going back to June 13, 2014."

The relatively recent date picked got probably to do with protecting the collective backsides of Fatah officials from possible legal backlash. Taking things earlier could put some of them on dangerous ground. Limiting the time frame means that if any issues will be raised with regard to Palestinian actions, then those could, for the most part, be pinned on Hamas leadership.

Could also be that the PA have lost count of the Israeli war crimes. Maybe Israel will mend its ways from now on knowing that the world and the ICC are watching. Lets hope so.

Well, if they would have indeed "lost count", it would have made sense to pick an earlier date, so as not to miss out on anything really juicy. Additionally, appealing for court intervention is not, normally, done by presenting a detailed account of the supposed crimes rather than a generalized mention of evil doings.

I am not party to the above demeaning view of Palestinian officials handling these issues - they know their stuff.

[Morch]

Why do you persist with the dishonest posts? .

...because they aren't dishonest

Your credibility was destroyed on this forum months ago.

Says who...you and your Israeli apologist buddies? Well you would say that wouldn't you? Count the likes.

It's much easier for you to shoot the messenger than answer with rational, sourced arguments

Well, ruling out dishonesty does not rule out being misinformed, wrong or having a narrow agenda driven view of relates issues.

As for credibility - repeating the same posts over and over again, as if things were not discussed on previous topics, and were never shown to be less than correct, is not the same thing as being credible. Cherry picking the bits of history fitting the agenda, or ignoring current events and process which are inconvenient does not do much for credibility as well. But, these things aside, what does the number of "likes" got to do with credibility?

As for shooting the messenger, isn't it the case that when presented by the rather bleak, if factual, sorry state of affairs and the tremendous, but real, difficulties making some rosy visions of the future to be a mirage - that you find fault with whomever points these out?

I would say that when presented with rational arguments the apparent course of action noticeable is to go off on one, rather than actually relate to the issue at hand.

I beg to differ.

Personally I find your posts sometimes very interesting, because you seem to be very close to events, and you're often very good on the small up to the minute details.

But consequently I think you can't see the wood for the trees. You can't stand back and see the tremendous injustice that has been done to the Palestinians. You lack vision for the resolution of the conflict...can't think outside the envelope of immediate political life.

As someone engaged in the proverbial building-a-house-in-Thailand ordeal, let me share this bit of wisdom - them little details are what actually holds the whole thing together. Having a vision of one's dream house does not make it an attainable reality.

One of the main reasons that negotiations. proposed peace deals, signed agreements fell apart was ignoring realities on the ground and aiming too high.

Having a rosy vision based on partial information favored with biased interpretation is not a recipe for either real life solutions.

Sort of like short time visitors to Thailand, who get all politically savvy and opinionated after meeting a few locals and doing some internet background reading. Their insights as how to best solve Thailand's political issues are usually afforded the respect they deserve.

[dexterm]

Morch,

I am always distrustful of false analogies to sweep the truth under the carpet...what building a house in Thailand or neophyte tourists have got to do with the OP I dont know.

I congratulate the Palestinians on their forthcoming membership of the ICC. The spotlight will be focused on Israel when its war crimes in Gaza last year are investigated. The whole world will be watching. I hope Israel’s largest trading partner, the EU, in particular is watching and that when Israeli crimes are exposed it will eventually lead to EU sanctions against Israel.

[Morch]

Morch,

I am always distrustful of false analogies to sweep the truth under the carpet...what building a house in Thailand or neophyte tourists have got to do with the OP I dont know.

I congratulate the Palestinians on their forthcoming membership of the ICC. The spotlight will be focused on Israel when its war crimes in Gaza last year are investigated. The whole world will be watching. I hope Israel’s largest trading partner, the EU, in particular is watching and that when Israeli crimes are exposed it will eventually lead to EU sanctions against Israel.

"I am always distrustful of false analogies to sweep the truth under the carpet..."

Being "very good on the small up to the minute details" as you put it, couldn't but notice that you actually approve of analogies, when they seem to support your agenda (more out there):

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/785296-israel-dismisses-palestinian-peace-deal-plan-as-gimmick/?p=8829250

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/753213-gaza-conflict-truce-ends-amid-fresh-fighting/?p=8271179

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/788942-israel-withholds-palestinian-tax-revenues-after-icc-move/?p=8900799

Back to reality -

To date the Palestinians did not launch an appeal to the ICC regarding any specific case. Hence, the ICC did not even start the process of considering whether such a hypothetical case will be taken. Further, that "war crimes" were committed according to international laws is yet to be demonstrated rather than being a foregone conclusion.

[notmyself]

The Palestinians finally choose diplomacy over confrontation and Israel goes nuts.

[Chicog]

The only people who fear a court are the guilty.

Then the Palestinians are not smart enough to realize that shooting rockets at civilians, sponsoring suicide bombers and using your own people as human shields are all war crimes.

As are such things as destroying and then bulldozing buildings full of civilians and indiscriminate execution of boys throwing stones.

If you want to deal with all the war crimes committed by both sides, that court is going to be busy for decades. But let's not paint this as the good guys against the bad guys please, they both deserve a right kicking.

[dexterm]

Morch,

I am always distrustful of false analogies to sweep the truth under the carpet...what building a house in Thailand or neophyte tourists have got to do with the OP I dont know.

I congratulate the Palestinians on their forthcoming membership of the ICC. The spotlight will be focused on Israel when its war crimes in Gaza last year are investigated. The whole world will be watching. I hope Israel’s largest trading partner, the EU, in particular is watching and that when Israeli crimes are exposed it will eventually lead to EU sanctions against Israel.

"I am always distrustful of false analogies to sweep the truth under the carpet..."

Being "very good on the small up to the minute details" as you put it, couldn't but notice that you actually approve of analogies, when they seem to support your agenda (more out there):

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/785296-israel-dismisses-palestinian-peace-deal-plan-as-gimmick/?p=8829250

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/753213-gaza-conflict-truce-ends-amid-fresh-fighting/?p=8271179

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/788942-israel-withholds-palestinian-tax-revenues-after-icc-move/?p=8900799

Back to reality -

To date the Palestinians did not launch an appeal to the ICC regarding any specific case. Hence, the ICC did not even start the process of considering whether such a hypothetical case will be taken. Further, that "war crimes" were committed according to international laws is yet to be demonstrated rather than being a foregone conclusion.

Are you sure you know what a false analogy is. I can see a metaphor "skyrocketing real estate prices' if peace comes to Israel, and of course "sweeping the truth under the carpet" that's all.

Edited January 12, 2015 by dexterm

[Ulysses G.]

As are such things as destroying and then bulldozing buildings full of civilians and indiscriminate execution of boys throwing stones.

I've never heard of Israel bulldozing buildings "full of civilians". Sounds like a load of crap. Any buildings bulldozed would be emptied of people first.

I'm pretty sure that those boys were throwing the stones at the soldiers and trying to injure them, which has happened numerous times. According to Darwin, if you purposely throw rocks at someone with a gun, you probably deserve the consequences.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[notmyself]

The only historical claim Israel has to that squalid piece of land that has no oil under it is because it was supposedly given to them by the god of Abraham. After the Exodus (zero reason to believe it ever happened) the now free slaves rummaged around the desert for a few decades (zero reason to believe it ever happened) toward land occupied by the Amalekites who were not all too happy about the Hebrew invasion and frequently attacked them.

What ever happened to the Amalekites and why are they not claiming the land as theirs?

[Ulysses G.]

More ignorance on your part. The Amalekites died out long ago.

The Jews have kept a well-documented, unbroken presence in Israel for more than 3,000 years, starting in the 2nd millennium B.C.E. and carrying on under a long series of Jewish kingdoms and foreign rulers and through to the modern State of Israel. Conquerors, diplomats, pilgrims and visitors throughout history have left numerous references to the Jewish communities living there. Israel is packed with archaeological and historical sites which affirm to Jewish life over the centuries. Even the Muslim Qur’an refers to the Jewish people as the “Children of Israel”. THAT is their historical claim.

[up-country_sinclair]

The Palestinians finally choose diplomacy over confrontation and Israel goes nuts.

The current Israeli regime is not interested in diplomacy because it is not interested in peace with the Palestinians. The Palestinians had no choice but to join the International Court.

[ggold]

The Palestinians finally choose diplomacy over confrontation and Israel goes nuts.

The current Israeli regime is not interested in diplomacy because it is not interested in peace with the Palestinians. The Palestinians had no choice but to join the International Court.

And just how does that help the arabs get a state? You really think all of a sudden that Israel is going to give land to the Arabs because of the ICC! The arabs have set back any chance of a state.

[Ulysses G.]

Joining the International Court is the latest in a long list of foolish mistakes. The U.S. contributes around $440 million a year in economic aid to the Palestinians and that aid comes with strings attached. By law, it will be halted if the Palestinians take action against Israel at the International Criminal Court. On top of that, The Palestinians will be responsible for loads of war crimes themselves.

Nevertheless, the Palestinian leader thinks he has found new leverage with Israel, while the prospects for a Middle East accord seem destined to go downhill.
This won't get the Palestinians to their goal, an independent state. That will come only through direct talks with Israel and a cessation of Hamas-directed violence. The Palestinians have to demonstrate that they can be peaceful neighbors.

It's better to deploy lawyers rather than missiles, but this only hurts the Palestinian cause. Mr. Abbas, call it off.

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-82461585/

Edited January 13, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[Chicog]

Joining the International Court is the latest in a long list of foolish mistakes. The U.S. contributes around $440 million a year in economic aid to the Palestinians and that aid comes with strings attached.

Approximately the equivalent of the pocket money of your average 1st or 2nd level GCC Shaikh.

Whoop de doo.

[notmyself]

More ignorance on your part. The Amalekites died out long ago.

How or rather why did they die out? It's well documented using the same text you claim is evidence.

[spelling]

Edited January 13, 2015 by notmyself

[Rimmer]

An inflammatory post has been removed

[chuckd]

More ignorance on your part. The Amalekites died out long ago.

How or rather why did they die out? It's well documented using the same text you claim is evidence.

[spelling]

Actually they didn't really die out.

They evolved into pedantic atheists so they could pester their landlords.

[ggold]

How or rather why did they die out? It's well documented using the same text you claim is evidence.

[spelling]

The Amalekites were a nomadic people who's origin is uncertain but they occupied an area of the northern part of the Sanai desert. They first came into contact with Israelites, when they attacked the Israelites who were freed from slavery in Egypt. They died out because unlike the canaanites who turned to Judah they did not, they remained as nomads and were destroyed by David.

The thing is they never had any territorial claims to Israel, as they were desert nomads in the Sanai so if they were still around as a people it would be the Egyptians they would need to talk to about getting their land back.

Edited January 13, 2015 by ggold

[Morch]

The only historical claim Israel has to that squalid piece of land that has no oil under it is because it was supposedly given to them by the god of Abraham. After the Exodus (zero reason to believe it ever happened) the now free slaves rummaged around the desert for a few decades (zero reason to believe it ever happened) toward land occupied by the Amalekites who were not all too happy about the Hebrew invasion and frequently attacked them.

What ever happened to the Amalekites and why are they not claiming the land as theirs?

Well, Israel is a fact, even if some are still bitter about it. Not likely to change, certainly not due to citing pseudo-historical evidence one way or another. Got to wonder what is the point of such posts as the one above.

Even if there will be an ICC investigation concerning any of Israel's actions, it will not amount to shutting the country down as if it never existed.

The Palestinians and the Israelis will eventually sort things out, one way or another, but this could take much longer.

[Morch]

The Palestinians finally choose diplomacy over confrontation and Israel goes nuts.

The current Israeli regime is not interested in diplomacy because it is not interested in peace with the Palestinians. The Palestinians had no choice but to join the International Court.

Not contesting the view that the current Israeli government is not really interested in meaningful peace.

What I do question is how someone seem to understand the difference between Israel as a whole, and its current government as an instance, can at the same time relate to the Palestinians as being of one voice, in the face of obvious realities.

[Morch]

Joining the International Court is the latest in a long list of foolish mistakes. The U.S. contributes around $440 million a year in economic aid to the Palestinians and that aid comes with strings attached.

Approximately the equivalent of the pocket money of your average 1st or 2nd level GCC Shaikh.

Whoop de doo.

Yeah, so where are all these millions promised to the noble cause of Gaza's rehabilitation?

As far as I am aware, there were no public assurances from any country to pick up the tab and fill the potential hole in the Palestinian budget.