Originally Posted by the_13th_redneck

All I have to say is although many of us here are sympathetic towards Israel for many other reasons, the evidence against Israel in terms of "rights to the land" seems to be bordering on overwhelming.
There's been a lot of other things that I've had to change views on in light of new evidence... this would be one of them. Every time it happens it's difficult to accept but somewhere along the line you just have to admit that you may have been wrong and see what is closer to the actual situation.
It doesn't matter so much that the Palestinian nationality was created as a reaction to the creation of Israel. Most of the Arabs I've met who weren't from North Africa didn't seem to care particularly as to which Arab country they were from. I had this one friend from Bahrain who told me that the Bahraini military is manned significantly (if not mostly) by non Bahrainis. Not surprising considering how small the country is. He never considered the non Bahraini Arabs serving in the military there as mercenaries. He said they're just Arabs helping defend other Arabs.
May explain why the Arabs in Palestine didn't have much of a sense of nationalism until they had a common problem in their hands.
Do I want Jews to vacate Israel ASAP? No.
But I think to reach a common understanding about the situation is a step in the right direction for both parties.