He was living in the same building for one year.

[Dondilion]

Samir Kantar really got comfortable; he was living in the same building for one year.

http://news.yahoo.com/hezbollah-says...054136540.html

[bobabode]

Oops. Sammy go boom.

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Oops. Sammy go boom.

It seems the Israelis have both long memory and long range.

[merrylander]

Sammy forgot that the Golan Heights was to be part of Israel but Lord Balfour gave then to his French friends who then controlled Syria. One must know one's history.

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Sammy forgot that the Golan Heights was to be part of Israel but Lord Balfour gave then to his French friends who then controlled Syria. One must know one's history.

Your scholarly historical references are always most appreciated, Rob. Although, they get the "ancient history" dismissal by the typical usual suspects hereabouts. But such is life on the internet political forum, where ideologically convenient history trumps pretty much all other history.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by Ike Bana

But such is life on the internet political forum, where ideologically convenient history trumps pretty much all other history.

Irony alert.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Sammy forgot that the Golan Heights was to be part of Israel but Lord Balfour gave then to his French friends who then controlled Syria. One must know one's history.

The Balfour Declaration was in essence a British letter of intent. It established nothing and delineated no territorial boundaries. (That was Sykes-Picot.)

In the end, it took another World War and the actions of the United Nations to establish a Jewish state within recognized borders. Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan weren't encompassed by those borders.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Boreas

The Balfour Declaration was in essence a British letter of intent.

And an unofficial one at that. The entire "Declaration" was contained in a letter from Balfour to Lord Rothschild. Here it is:

November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild.

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours sincerely,

Arthur James Balfour

That's it. That's the whole thing, a letter from one person to another. As I recall, the letter was published in the papers at that time but that doesn't make it any more "official".

Honestly, the flap people create over this letter is absurd. It is not a "founding document" of the State of Israel. At best it's a precursor but really it was a club used more than 30 years later to compel Britain to cut Palestine loose, in other words, "Look, you said you'd do it!" (They didn't, really.) "Now do it!"

If the Balfour Declaration ever had any relevance, it doesn't any more.

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Irony alert.

Like we say at the 12 step, finn...you spot it, you got it. indeed.

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by Boreas

If the Balfour Declaration ever had any relevance, it doesn't any more.

Of course...so you keep saying.