Imagine, if you will, a terrorist group in a zone within Mexico. The citizen of that area have elected a government bent on destroying the United States.

Really bad analogy. Here, I’ll fix it for you.

After centuries of persecution, atheists were recently the target of attempted genocide in some militant country in the Middle East. A group of militant atheists decide they want to form their own country so they could have their own homeland where they can escape persecution. They unilaterally declare independence and claim the land from Boston, MA to New York. The next day, Americans invade to protect their interest. The atheists receive aid from Russia and China including vast sums of money and some very high tech equipment. The atheists fend off the American “invaders” and push deeper west and south to create a buffer zone for protection should the Americans decide to attack again. Atheists went as far as Maryland and even declared Washington, DC the capital city of Atheistland even though the UN explicitly forbade them from doing so numerous times. Atheists claim, of course, that Jefferson was an atheist so they have a rightful and historic claim to the city as their capital. For the next 50 years, atheists and Americans have fought a few more wars with the atheists prevailing each time due to massive support from Russia and China. Naturally, Americans are furious over the Russian and Chinese support and they are eventually also seen as the enemy as well. Each war, the Atheistlanders took more and more land and despite the UN’s objections, have continued to build illegal settlements in occupied territories.

The atheists systematically removed Americans and other non-atheists from their houses and deported them into bordering states or sending them to live in ghettos. In the many negotiations that have taken place, the Atheistland government has always objected to the idea of reparations for those removed from their homes or their right to return.

In addition to the handful of declared wars, a number of militias have formed with the goal of restoring the land to Americans. Some of these militias are more militant than others. Some take up arms against their occupiers. They feel they are justified because they are merely defending their land. Compared to the Atheistland military, these militias are poorly equipped and funded so they resort to tactics of asynchronous warfare. Atheistlanders (and the Russians and Chinese) call these militias terrorist while Americans call them patriots.

Over in Russia and China, the governments are very supportive of the Atheistland government. However the people are increasingly becoming disillusioned as the Internet is being used to get alternative viewpoints out of America and Atheistland. Anyone who speaks out against the actions of the government of Atheistland are typically labelled Anti-atheists which is about the worst thing you can call someone. People can’t seem to see the difference between being anti atheism and being against the actions of the state of Atheistland.

Are all the Palestinians getting killed guilty of firing rockets, supporting Hamas? I don’t think so, but these people are treated like Jews would be by Israel. They’re treating as sub-human, they’re not factored into the equation.

No other state is given the “right to exist”, that right is not a normal right. Israel is expanding its settlements in the West Bank to this day. Israel has never been within the borders of the 1947 UN resolution, and it’s never going to be.

writerdd,

If there was no such thing as religion, would this fighting still exist?

Would Israel have been created in Palestine?
Would there be claims to land, settlements in Gaza (forcibly removed) and the West Bank?
Would there be support for Hamas from Iran and Hezbollah?
Would Rabin have been killed?

How much does religion influence recruitment to terrorist groups?
Is religious text affectively used to justify violence?
Do people claim rights to the land from God?

Israel isn’t on anyone’s land. Demographics change everywhere for numerous reasons

Excuse me? Doesn’t this whole mess exist because Jews bitched, moaned, whined and complained for a couple thousand years or so about losing their homeland, until someone gave it back to them? Some of the Palestinians who were kicked out and had their land stolen are still alive. That’s a far more legitimate claim than the Jews now living there have.

I think the answer, sadly, would be “yes”. Megalomania needs no religion. There will always be politico-military “messiahs”, and there will always be masses ready to follow them into (figurative) hell.

The US government repeatedly warns that continued shelling will result in a harsh response. The rockets continue to be launched into Texas.

Finally, the US gives us on talking and retaliates BIG TIME, to protect its citizens and ensure that the group who is behind these attacks is weakened, if not obliterated.

If this was really happening, and the US was experiencing missiles from Mexico or Canada or Cuba being launched into its territory, how long would anyone expect the US to sit back and “turn the other cheek?” And why should Israel expected to do otherwise?

Israel is a legitimate nation created by a legitimate vote of the United Nations. The first step in resolving this crisis long-term is for every one of Israel’s neighbors to admit that Israel is here to stay; it is not going away, and it will not fold if attacked. If they could only accept Israel’s right to exist, I have no doubt that within a few years, Israel would feel safe and secure enough to withdraw back to its original borders.

But the first step has to come from its neighbors. And you will note that most of them, fearing that groups like Hamas could rise within their own borders, are being unusually quiet about the attacks on Gaza this time around.