posted on Sep, 7 2004 @ 12:12 PM
For majority of this conflict (at least while I've been alive) I've sided with the Israelis, because it appeared to me that they were making the
best attempt at civility. Last week that changed for me. Until recently I had no idea that the Israeli government was hiring Bedouin as soldiers to
patrol the borders. For many centuries the Bedouin have been hired as merceneries in that region, as they had a reputation for being some of the
fiercest warriors in the world. They'll fight for anyone willing to pay the right price and they fight against anyone whom they're paid to do so.
Just last week I saw a documentary that was put together by a team of British journalists. In one scene from this documentary, these Bedouin soldiers
(in Israeli uniforms) approached the border at night and began harrassing the Palestinians with loud music and taunts. The British journalists thought
that they'd like to have an interview with these a--holes, so they crafted a small white flag and began to approach the soldiers. Even though they
were carrying a white flag and yelling CLEARLY that they were British journalists... the Israeli soldiers shot the cameraman in the neck and killed
him... intentionally. After seeing and hearing these things, I've changed my position in this conflict. To make things worse... the Isreali
government refused to admit their mistake and no compensation of any kind was offered to the family of the victim, and the soldier who fired the shot
was never punished... at least not publicly.
I can't have sympathy for either side any more, as they've both shown themselves to be capable of very nasty things. I say wall both of the groups
in and let them fight like cats and dogs. That seems to be what they want at least... So sad