Emotions hit another round of intensity with the uproar from the recently published map of Palestine from the State Information Service. The popular clamor asks, is this the ultimate goal of the PLO - remove Israel from the map of the middle east altogether?
Few can offer even the faintest glimmer of the chances for a peaceful resolution to the full scale warfare that has erupted in this ancient land. But how many people know the history of the last fifty plus years and the background that has brought the world to the brink of the ultimate holocaust? Millions of words have been written about who is at blame and the reasons for this eternal hatred. But a few pictures may explain better than appeals to reason.
Starting with the United Nations Partition Plan, 1947, the original borders for the state of Israel are quite limited. This index illustrates the significant border changes after the 1949 War of Independence, after the six day war of 1967, than after the 1982 return of Sinai and the invasion of Lebanon, and finally after Palestinian autonomy and Lebanon withdrawal in 2000.
But the most notable map is the one that identifies the Israeli settlements on the West Bank. A careful analysis of the locations and the areas that are an effective no man's land, demonstrates the consequences of the expanded settlements. It is hard to believe that Israel will ever agree to remove their own population from these areas.
Read the entire article on the Strappado Wrack archives
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