Thomas Friedman once remarked how odd the globalized world is. In some places international corporations have car factories that use modern technology while in other places people will kill each other over olive trees. This split between cores and gaps sadly exists today.
A Palestinian man was sentenced to death by a Palestinian (Fatah-run) military court. His crime was selling land to an Israeli (Hat tip: Elder of Ziyon). To his fellow Palestinians who condemned him to die his crime was much more. He was guilty of selling geography. One of the main points which prevent the Palestinians and Israelis reaching accord is where exactly the border will be between Palestine and Israel. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas claims only the pre-Six Day War border will do. However, many in Israel do not wish to give up West Bank settlements. Some are connected to Israel-proper and some are like islands in the West Bank sea. To the military court, the "guilty" party sold hard kept land and turned it into an Israeli negotiation chip.
Land means everything. Land ownership allowed for cities and civilization to grow out of humanities past. It also gives people a government and protects them from the outside world. For some it is to die for, for others it is enough to kill for.
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