Velshi On Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Right To Exist Goes Both Ways | MSNBC

Israel has a right to exist and to defend itself. That’s a fact. The same is true for Palestinians – that point seems to get missed.
Palestinians are, at best, third class citizens in the nation of their birth. The Israeli government, on an ongoing basis, declares parcels of land on which Palestinians live to be either of military or archeological importance, causing residents to be evicted. Sometimes there’s a court case, and almost always, the Palestinians lose. Yet months or weeks later, that same “important” land suddenly becomes home to a brand-new Israeli settlement. As more and more Jewish settlers take over land on which Arabs lived, the Occupied West Bank becomes de facto more Israeli and, in the explicit hopes of the Israeli government, more Jewish. This is a long-standing and deliberate attempt to force Arabs – who have lived in that land sometimes for hundreds of years – out. It is an attempt to dilute their presence, because to have Arabs as full participants is, in the opinion of the Israeli government and courts, diluting Israel.
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67 comments

  1. Thank you….. Let’s start calling the real terrorist’s out, both in this country and in the Middle East.

    1. @Quit work, Be happy! this is old get a smarter the apartheid regime of Israel created hamas

    2. @Orfeous IDF is the most civilized military in the world, and answers to a democratically elected government of it’s people.

    3. @Quit work, Be happy! Thats what their propaganda says. Occupying what once was Palestine, displacing people from their homes, doing ethnical cleansing, removing Palestinian human rights by Israel and droping bombs and banned white Phosphorus by Geneva convention on foreign media building, kids and innocent people is definetly “civilized” get your s*it together.

    4. @Bend Dover This isn’t “OUR” government. This system was created by some of the most foul individuals to walk the earth and anyone who associates themselves with it will go down flames just like it.

  2. Equal access to the land and resources is rarely spoken of, and I appreciate you touching upon it

    1. @Ral Deform Palestinians don’t have land ownership legal documents to the houses, Jews do, so let them move out… if they have nowhere else to go they don’t get the right to live in somebody else’s property, without even paying rent… would you let somebody do this to your property in USA? If you leave it locked up and come back after a few yrs to find its occupied by somebody else, would you not get them evicted by court order? If you won’t, please let us know your home address and when you’re planning your next family vacation…

    2. @Ral Deform historically they held it for 70 yrs. But by their logic it should go back to rome which held it for 150 yrs.

    3. @Deborah Freedman very sad to hear this from educated people. I live in USA and this my home. How can I claim land where my forefathers used to live. This is very absurd.

    4. @D Pearson what about pagans who used to live before Abraham?. Dont they have right on the land. It is very sad that such educated people are stuck with ideas supported by some false prophecies.

    5. @Arshad Mahmood i think youre missing what im saying. The Israelis have no right to Palestinian land. What i was saying is if Israel wants to say they have claim then why cant rome or Egypt say the same thing because babylon and rome held that territory for far longer.

  3. Mean while 50 million Americans religious nuts somewhere in the south/Midwest: BuT hOw ElsE WoUlD wE StarT tHe APoCaLyPsE!?

    1. @A Tax Collector Its called dark humor. I’ve had a dozen coworkers commit suicide. The fact I still believe in God and don’t hate Him amazed even my family.

  4. thank you velshi, it’s a shame and disgrace how the palestians are being treated by their neighbor israel, god created every person and we are called to love our neighbors, it’s just common decency, there’s no excuse, the new command we’ve been given is to love our neighbors, god bless you velshi:)

  5. This is an excellent summary of the situation in Israel and the plight of the Palestinians.

  6. Uggh! I will be so relieved when we understand our oneness, moving forward from a place of tolerance and understanding that our differences are what make us so unique in the universe…

    1. @طــارق الكـبـــش in 2020 the 🇺🇸 gave Israel $3,800,000,000 in military aid and $8,000,000,000 in guaranteed loans.

    2. @طــارق الكـبـــش I agree why are we giving Israel aid or any other nation that does not benefit the U.S.A money for? Israel drags the U.S.a in all their wars….

  7. What a profound statement! I wish we had known that before WWI, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, etc…….

  8. Cannot believe this is on mainstream media. I literally had to watch it twice to see if I heard it correct. It’s SAD that we are surprised to see objective reporting on Palestinian issue.

    1. It’s because Bibi is not listening to Biden. Once he understands the message, this will end. Enjoy it while it lasts…

    2. @طــارق الكـبـــش Biden is not saying anything that would force “bibi” to do anything different anyway

    3. @Lore Lange That would be a mistake. If Joe ever woke up he’d better say something.

    1. Right. Can we take a second to say Brock Ali Velshi for having the integrity to tell the truth on mainstream TV? 👏🏾 This is pretty rare.

  9. Absolutely excellent piece to see on mainstream media. Please keep this up, you speak the truth and the truth needs to be heard and not covered up. The moderate media channels need to get this right. You can not be upstanding on the likes of trump, fox news, racism etc and not speak the truth here

    1. I’m sorry, but did I just hear him defend Hamas launching over 1000 missiles into Israel’s millions of citizens? Thanks.

    2. @MilkCow No. he explicitly said that it’s an indisputable fact that Israel has the right to defend itself.

      His criticism was about the current Israeli Government and some previous governments unequal treatment of people living in Israel based only on ethnicity and religion.

      The points he raised were specific about eviction of Arabs from their homes to replace them with Jews and denying Arabs access to medication by restricting their movement all of it really basic stuff from the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Please refer to Articles 1 and 2 for principles of dignity, liberty, equality as well as Articles 12–17 that set forth the rights of the individual including freedom of movement and residence, the right of property and the right to a nationality.

      Basic stuff really

      Many Jewish academics have been saying that for years I highly recommend you look into the work of Noam Chomsky, Miko Peled and Ilan Pappé among others

      It’s basic stuff really

    3. @MilkCow ,..One question though.. Did Hamas chief wake up one morning and said Come on guys, let’s launch some rockets on Israel? For no reason? Did history start when the rockets start falling? Did you even bother thinking about what happened the week before in Sheikh Jarrah and the week before? If you don’t see a cause and effect here than maybe you need to check your brain, you may need a lobotomy.

    4. And another question for you MilkCow..Do the Palestinians have the right to defend themselves or is it something exclusive to the outlaw state of Israel?

  10. This was shocking to hear on a mainstream outlet. Didn’t think they’d actually have someone tell the truth so very unfiltered before. He’s definitely going to get threats from people after this. Good on Velshi here.

    1. @Lex Ruptor What bias? Telling the Truth is “bias”? Get a grip on your own bias instead of pointing the finger because you don’t like the Truth.

    2. Where do the rockets come from that are fired into Israel?
      Egypt and Lebanon appear to be complicit but are not being held accountable?
      Israel has a “duty of care” for Palestinians. There’ll never be any resolution whilst Bibi and the military are in control.
      Bibi uses the Palestinians as a means of perpetuating his own power, regardless of the allegations of his corruption.
      Why do these corrupt leaders continue to receive unqualified support?
      Yes, this is the truths that Velshi has reported.
      Will it make an difference?

    3. Land is only your land if you can control it. This idea that people “deserve” land is absurd

    4. @Mathy Don The idea that a group of people “deserve” land is the basis for Israel’s existence.

  11. I have never heard such an unbiased reporting for a long time in a mainstream media outlet. Truth always prevail and falsehood will ultimately perish. Thanks MSNBC for your fair reporting.

  12. This man is the definition of bravery! I know that saying such things in the mainstream media is almost unthinkable! Love and support from the biggest open air prison in the world (Gaza)

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