Someone Aware Me Please?

[pocaracas]

On the crap going on in Israel/Palestine/Hamas?

Can't say I'm an expert on the thing... but let's see how many things I get wrong...

Literally all I know is that brown people in the eastern Mediterranean are blowing each other up. I feel so lost when people talk about this. Help a brother out.

Yeah... it all seems pretty idiotic, at this stage...

First off - What the hell is "Palestine" anyway? A nation-state by Israel? A city in Israel? Another name for Israel? And who are Palestinians? Are they Jews? Muslims? A mix?

Palestine is the country that was in that region, before Israel settled.
When did this happen? After World War II, there were a lot of jews released from concentration camps with no where to go. Their former homes, destroyed or a memory of the germans who imprisoned them... not a good place to get back to, so... they asked the allies who won the war for a place to go... but where?
Why not their ancestral home? Israel! The biblical Israel!
There was a little detail about that region being in the hands of muslims, but heck... "we've just won the WAR, we can do whatever we want!"
So they sent the jews into that region, helped them settle and form a nice country for them, a few military here and there... and that was it.

The trouble is, as I said above, there was already a country in that region called Palestine. And the people of that country didn't like this intrusion upon their territory... who would?!
So, once the americans were gone, they started showing their discontent.

And then the whole thing just snowballed!

Secondly - What is Hamas? It's just a Muslim sect? Are they state sanctioned? And if so, by what state?

I'm not sure... the ruling political party in Israel? Israeli military?
I guess a short wiki visit can solve this doubt... lol... so wrong was I "Islamic Resistance Movement". Vive la resistance!
The original "troublemakers" (western point of view).

Third - why are these guys fighting? Who started it, and why? Is it only religious fervor, or is it more about territory/resources?

I guess I've answered it above...

Fourth - who does the US government tend to support, and how?

The alies who won the war were.... US, UK and a few more rag-tag countries. Guess who the US supports.

Fifth - could this bullshit spread and suck in other powers?

Israel has A-bombs.
The other guys don't.. or aren't supposed to. But their friends in Iran (and other nearby islam theocracies [like Iraq has nuclear bombs under Saddam, or so J.W. said]) may have, so it's best to lay low on that front.

So it's essentially a stupid cyclic guerrilla warfare on the part of the palestinians... and military counter-offensives on the part of the isarelis (western media POV).

Or it's a fight for independence by the palestinians and a struggle to hold on to "their" land by the israelis.


If you ask me, both sides are stupid.
Israel would do well to admit they started the whole thing and, as such, should be the ones to stop it.
Easier said than done, but heck... they should try to stop and coexist peacefully.
Instead, they build walls to keep palestinians out.

The palestinians keep bombing stuff up, further contributing to the israeli need to have more protection in place.

Then, on the individual level... "they killed my [insert family member/loved one]! theywill pay!", repeat ad nauseum for both sides.