According to international law, does Israel have a right to build a wall around an occupied people?
542100
No, it is completely illegal.\n\nInternational Court of Justice ruled that the wall was illegal and ordered Israel to tear it down. The Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz, quoting court documents, reported that by a 14-1 vote the judges found the barrier, along its planned route, “gravely infringes” on the rights of Palestinians and cannot be justified by military needs or national security, and violates international law. The lone dissenter was U.S. judge Thomas Buerghenthal. \n\nhttp://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/ipresscom/ipress2004/ipresscom2004-28_mwp_20040709.htm\n\n\nhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1258147,00.html
958396
It belongs to Israel, as it should.\nWhen Jerusalem was in Arab hands, no non-Muslims had access to the holy sites, and the Western Wall was turned into a dump site and covered by garbage.\nSince Jerusalem has been in Israeli hands, EVERYBODY's holy sites have been refurbished, and EVERYONE has access to them, as they should!
753202
I agree with you completely....\nWhen the Muslim controlled Jerusalem, they built mosques over Jewish and Christian holy sites, and covered the Western Wall (of the Temple) with trash by turning it into a garbage dump.\nThey say over and over that they want to push all the Jews into the sea, and that Israel has no right to exist.\nYet the state of Israel INSISTS on negotiating with the poeple who seek its destruction.  ARE THEY NUTS???????
924070
Israel has always held a special position in the world by way of its stranglehold on the US Senate and media. The US says what Israel wants it to say and does what Israel wants it to do.\n\nIf Israel decides to keep its attacks on Gaza quiet, there's not much you or I can do about it. It will be kept quiet. Even in this forum, comments against Israel are suppressed. Just read the previous posts.\n\nBesides, Israeli soldiers murdering innocent women & children in cold blood is nothing new. They've been doing it for 50 years. I've seen footage of an Israeli soldier taking careful aim at a young man running for his life and then firing live rounds. He took 3 full seconds to aim. You do not aim for 3 seconds when you are firing in self-defense. He missed, then he laughed with another soldier who was standing beside him. They looked like they were hunting ducks or something. That's the Zionist mentality. Non-Jews are considered less than human.\n\nOthers have questioned why some say Israeli deaths are acceptable while Palestinian deaths aren't. The difference is that Israelis are occupiers. The land that is now Israel was taken by force from Palestinians. If a burglar breaks into your house and you kill him, it's called self defense. It's the same thing. Israel is the burglar. Palestine is the house.
714071
Personally, I believe Israel has the right to exist but at the same time Palestine's rights are being violated by not existing. If you read Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations", he'll say yes, this war is a clash between Western civilization and Islamic civilization. Much of this conflict, according to him, was brushed under the carpet during the Soviet era both the Islamic World and the West were fighting communism. Do I agree with him? Not really, but he does bring up some strong points.\n\nThe West (particularly the US) interfered to a great extent in the Islamic World in the post- WW2 era and supported some very corrupt regimes such as the Shah's government in Iran. Many of the governments of this time were Arab Nationalist, but people got tired of these governments with their abuse and corruption and turned to Islamist governments. In some instances, the US encouraged the Islamists because some of the Arab Nationalists were too anti-American for their tastes. Israel is the most blatant example of Western interferance because the US uses it as its foothold in the Middle East, to the resentment of the rest of the Arab World especially since they were so thoroughly defeated during the Six Days War in 1967 because throughout most of Middle Eastern history Jews and Christians have lived in Islamic states without a lot of abuse. So, really, the West cannot be considered innocent of the current situation in the Middle East and though, of course, much of it is a reflection of events occurring there, a large part of it is a reaction against the West and Western ideology.
335252
The United Nations seems to think so.\n\nIn 1947, following increasing levels of violence by Jewish militant groups together with unsuccessful efforts to reconcile the Jewish and Arab populations, the British government decided to withdraw from the Palestine Mandate. The UN General Assembly approved the 1947 UN Partition Plan dividing the territory into two states, with the Jewish area having roughly 55% of the land, and the Arab area roughly 45%. Jerusalem was planned to be an international region administered by the UN to avoid conflict over its status.\n\nImmediately following the adoption of the Partition Plan by the UN General Assembly on November 29, 1947, David Ben-Gurion tentatively accepted the partition, while the Arab League rejected it. Several Arab attacks on Jewish civilians soon turned into widespread fighting between Arabs and Jews, this civil war being the first "phase" of the 1948 War of Independence.\n\nOn May 14, 1948, before the expiry of the British Mandate of Palestine at midnight on May 15, 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed.
205873
I dont think there should be any Israel because its unfair to take others land.I agree that Israel was origanally created from the Ottoman Empire but that was also a muslim country.Lets think of it from thier side,if the Japanese were able to take control of some land of USA in world war 2 then would we let them have it until today??.The answer is absolutely not.So why should the arabs let jews take control of their land.\nIf they return the land back to muslims,i am sure they will  give the jews citizenship.\nThe existance of Israel is also very harmful for ordinary people like us living in thr US.What do you think the 9/11 attack from Bin Laden was for?I am sure the arabs will get back that land sooner or later because today there is one Bin Laden,tomorrow there will be a hundered.Why dont we peacefully give the land back instead of all that fighting when we know the arabs are gonna get hold of it after all.
8260
Every person of any nationality has a right to live in peace. By simply stating Israel stole Palestinian land and using that as an excuse to fire unguided missiles or blow themselves up with the intent to murder indiscriminately is wrong. To not want Israel to live anywhere in the world is the goal of certain Palestinian groups. In fact, that is overwhelmingly the viewpoint. Only a few months ago Palestinians stated that peace could be obtained by Israel leaving Gaza. Now as you can see, there is no chance of that happening. If I were Israeli, I would build huge walls and not allow any Palestinians work visas. There is no chance of peace ever.
483857
Yes.  Isreal is defined as a Jewish State, so therefore granting voting rights to Jews only will preserve the identity of the State of Isreal as a Jewish State.\n\nMore important than an ethnic majority, however, is a cultural majority.  A nation must define a culture and demand investment in that culture by its citizens.  The more dynamic the culture, the more dynamic the society.\n\nA nation is defined by its borders, its language, and its culture.  Detstoy any one of these three pillars of the tripod, and the whole thing comes tumbling down.
965223
hellooo - the Jews do not "occupy" Israel - another myth.  A Zionist is someone who believes that just like EVERY OTHER person on the planet, they deserve a homeland where they can fell free and safe.
490398
I'm confused by your question.\n\nFirst off, a Zionist is a person who believes that the Jewish People should have a homeland in the Holy Land.\n\nSecond, I don't know of any time where there has been illegal migration into the Holy Land by Zionists. From 1017 to 1917 the Ottoman Empire let anyone come in except during WWI when they excluded all citizens of Allied countries regardless of their views on Zionism.\n\nFrom 1917 to 1945 the British administered the Holy Land pursuant to a League of Nations Mandate that the Holy Land be a "homeland for the Jewish People".  By virtue of that mandate, any restrictions the British tried to put on Zionist immigration were illegal, not the other way round.  In 1947 the UN voted to divide the Mandate Territory into a Jewish State and an Arab State, pursuant to which the Jewish community in the Holy Land declared a State, Israel, which was admitted to the UN.  As a sovereign state established in accordance to international law, Israel allows immigration of Zionists.\n\nUS problems with immigrants to the US is just not on the radar for Israelis, and they don't have views.  Persons living in the US who favor a Jewish Homeland in the Holy Land, or part of it, may have views on immigration, but those views vary from person to person.
259219
it's called both "making aliyah" or "zionism"\nmany people argue on the meaning of zionism and the limitations of it's original definition.  in the beginning, it was a movement by ben-gurion(? i think) to create a homeland for the jews.  after Israel won it's independence from Britain, it went through a sort of identity crisis as the UN tried to deal with the different cultures all occupying the same area in the middle east.  part of the question was to decide who would be allowed to live there and part of it was the question of government structure. So people disagree currently on whether or not Zionism can even axist now.  the people who say it does defend it by claiming that those that fight for the homeland's contnuing security and protect it's existance in one form or another. anyways i'm getting off topic. making aliyah is when the person decides to go to israel and stay to be adopted into the government as a citizen.
1044335
Ok, If you want to learn then let me start with a brief history. Palestine was occupied by the Zionists in consequent steps after the Balfour declaration in 1917. Since then the Palestinians (Muslims, Christians and Jews) have been in struggle to free their land from what was then called "Israel", yet they were always willing to accept any reasonable solution to the crisis as long as it takes into consideration their basic rights including the rights of 7 million Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in the so called "Israel", a right that is stated and ensured by the UN and international law. However, the Zionists want the whole Holy Land "Palestine" for them alone, and that's why they kept attacking Palestinians and committing massacres in them even after the 1948 war. In 1967 Israel took over the rest of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip) in addition to the Sinai desert from Egypt, the Golan heights from Syria, South of Lebanon and west of Jordan.\n\nThe Palestinian resistance never stopped and will never stop until the land is freed. Unfortunately the global media is mainly owned or run by Zionists who succeeded so far in hiding the truth of what is going on in Palestine from the rest of the world.\n\nWhatever the Palestinians do it should be understood as a resistance and fight for their just cause. How would you react to someone who would kick you out of your house and occupy it by force?! It is more of less the same thing.\n\nAlthough for Palestinians any Zionist living in their land is part of the brutal occupation, they the resistance groups (led by Hamas) agreed 18 months ago not to attack Israeli civilians (this does not include Settlers living in illegal settlements in the West Bank or Gaza Strip), an agreement which Hamas respected disregarding the thousands of violations of that agreement from Israel through the past 18 months. It wasn't until 2 weeks ago when Al-Qassam Brigades decided to stop the cease-fire after the Israeli army killed a whole family while they were enjoying their time on the beach of Gaza (I won't be surprised if you told me you haven't heard abou this massacre at all).\n\nAl-Qassam, along with other brigades, attacked a military point on the border of Gaza and captured an Israeli soldier from the site. Such an attacked is very justified considering the daily attacks of Israeli on Palestinian cities by tanks and air fighters, killing and injuring hundreds every month, if you are in the United States or in Europre then most likely you won't receive any news about these attacks as it the media duty their not to disturb your peace with such bloody news! If you don't believe me on this you can conduct your own research on who owns and runs the American media (including Fox news) and their political and ideological interests.\n\nIt is war, and inter-attacks on military forces from either sides should not be interfered by International law, specially when the one taking action this time are the people of the right, the Palestinians.\n\nThe Palestinian resistance groups captured an Israeli soldier, and what they asked for before they release him was to release around 500 women and children prisoners from the Israeli prisons. Is this too much to ask for? And has anyone asked themselves how did those go into prison at the first instance?! Israel justifies it by saying that even the children are terrorists!!! (And by the way, according to the Israeli law, a Palestinian is considered adult from age 16, so when we talk about children here we actually talk about les than 16)\n\nIn addition to those there are more than 12,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli Jails, some of them have been there for 30+ years many have been charged with hundreds-of-years sentences, just ridiculous!\n\nPalestinians would love to live in peace and take their kids to school and go to universities, but what would you say if you know that in average Palestinian stude
701769
Nope, Israel has the right to defend itself from the Palestinian aggressors who are sponsored by Arab extremists who want all JEWS dead. Jews do not want ALL Arabs dead. Jews do not want ALL Muslims dead. Nowhere do you  see a Jew, A  Rabbi or otherwise standing in front of a congregation or crowd, screaming through megaphones calling for the death of all ARABS, the way the MUSLIM CLERICS DO calling for murder of all JEWS..  This is a right to defend the JEWS as A Nation of people who only have a Tiny piece of land.  The PPalestinians are all MUSLIMS why do they not accept that they will have to live peacefully next to the Jews if they want to co-exist, Because they do not want to coexist. Most Israelis recognize the alestinian right. But when they encourage the homicide bombers from the age of 2, then they become unacceptable neighbors. Jews do not teach hate to their children, they teach love kindness and self defense.  Muslim extremists , Palestinians teach hate and murder to very young children.   You CANNOT teach love and hate at the same time.  \n\nGOLDA MEIR was asked, when do you think there will be peace in the middle east. She said when the Arabs start to love their children as much as they hate the Jews.\n\nSHALOM. SALEM
412442
No.\nThe land was stolen from the Palestinian people. \nThe original idea was to create a state for both peoples.\nTwo fundamentals for the creation of Israel:\nthe bad conscience of the European governments about what happened yo the Jews in world war 2.\nthe desire of large groups in the European population to see the Jews leave.\n\nI was in a catholic school in western Europe when I was young. The teachers told us several times that Jews were bad and got what they deserved.\n\nMost Jewish people who were killed during the war did not have a dream of a new nation, only a small minority did.  The victims of the concentration camps were mainly normal people like you and me who went about their jobs and tried to give their kids a good education. On their terrible fate the state of Israel was founded.\n\nShould Israel have become the king country in the world about human rights and defended the human rights universally, the world would be in a better state and the case of Israel would have been stronger now. Instead they have chosen for a policy of apartheid, discrimination and the creation of ghettos. The victims have become the torturers.
788181
No it is not offensive and you should protest that violation. You are well within your rights to call Israel a terrorist state based on the actions of the country since its conception. I hope you do not just accept this violation. This is no way an epithet or a slur, you are merely stating your opinion. Unless for some reason the country of Israel itself, turned into a person capable of using Yahoo Answers and is now asking and answering questions, then maybe they could be offended. In reality it was probably just someone who was offended by it and was like ohh that is so wrong.
373627
It depends how the egress was granted.  You must allow them, but that doesn't mean you must allow people other then them depending on how the egress was worded.  Without that it's sort of hard to determine what "rights" she was granted.