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I don't support their hatred of the Jewish people, but I do understand why they're pissed about having a contrived nation forced into the middle of lands previously owned, occupied, and settled by Muslims.

Most Muslims don't hate Jews specifically. They have big issues with Zionists, and with Israel by extension of that, but in general there's an sense of uneasy familiarity between the two religions.

Hell, in parts of the world where one group where one group has a significantly larger population than the other, it's quite common to see Jews and Muslims living very closely together because our dietary and other cultural laws complement each other so well. When you're a Muslim in a Jewish neighborhood, you thank Allah for the kosher butcher.

You clearly know nothing about Middle-Eastern history.

Except that the terms under which the Israeli state were founded tend to undermine that notion. The zionists, with US backing, jumped the gun and preempted a UN compromise, and in the process a lot of innocent people were left displaced and angry. For half a century, Israel has struggled with an internal split between those who favor compromise and reconciliation in the name of peace, and hard-liners who advocate a single-minded Israel-first vision which has only hardened feelings towards Israel from her neighbors.

There had never, before 1947, been a Jewish nation in the Middle East.

Well, that's not exactly true. There were 3 Jewish kingdoms extant between around 1000 BC and 700 BC. Before that, the area was a mishmash of Semitic tribes, and afterwards passed hands between many groups from the Assyrians to the Romans and eventually the Ottoman Empire, which collapsed in modern times.

Edited, Oct 13th 2008 1:48pm by Mindel

Interestingly enough, even the name of the article you linked was "Jews in Arab Nations."

History i think will disagree with you there Ash.

King Joshua established a kingdom in the area in about 1250BC and you can't get much more Jewish than him.

That kingdom devided into Isreal and Judah about 350 years later.