Reply #15: Australia didn't invade and occupy East Timor... [View All]

That was Indonesia, not Australia. It's just that yr first paragraph sounds as if you think it was Australia that occupied East Timor...

Of course there's differences, though. Indonesia never built settlements and never moved its citizens there in order to try to change the demographics of the territory. Unlike Israel, Indonesia wanted both the territory and the people living in it to be part of Indonesia. Oh, and there's a shitload of oil in the Timor Sea that was a bit of a factor in how other countries responded to things....

But in other areas the similarities are striking. Just like Israel, Indonesia had the backing of the US for many years, which allowed it to carry out its occupation with impunity. Just like Israel, Indonesia killed foreign journalists. Just like the Palestinians, East Timorese were slaughtered in the name of 'security'...

Yr claiming some Palestinians have said they'd prefer continued occupation to what's happening now? Got any links? I honestly find that very hard to believe...