I am truly shocked by the ignorance of so many people here. I...

I am truly shocked by the ignorance of so many people here. I have no issue with people airing their opinion, but please people, be willing to educate yourselves, or at the very least consider another point of view.

The European refugee issue is a complex one and is not the fault of any one individual, religion or country.

Let's look at the facts:
- the current borders in the Middle East are a result of colonial powers dividing up a land
- the Arab v Jew issue was created by European colonialists carving out a country - Israel
- Democracy in the region that hasn't favoured the West was overthrown and a [pro West] dictatorship or "Royal" family installed. Furthermore, in many cases these pro-western rulers have resulted in massive ill feeling and in some cases revolt. Look no further than Iran - originally peaceful, a democratically elected (nationalist) ruler elected only to be overthrown with help of Western governments and a "Shah" installed as the leader. When the people of Iran revolted and overthrew a pro western government, the country was hit with sanctions and labeled a terrorist state. More recently, Egypt is another example, the Brotherhood were elected by the people, only to be overthrown by the military (funded by, you guessed it, western aid).

I am told by my parents who worked in Iraq ruled by Saddam in the 70's about how liberal the country was. Did people here know that Saddam Hussein's wife was a Christian? He was the "good guy" while he was fighting the Iranians, but only became the devil when the Saudi's felt threatened.

Christianity went through the dark ages, Islam is going through the post Osama era now. I'm not saying that it is right, but we should be careful not to tar the entire populous of the worlds second largest religion with the same brush.

On the other hand, we have a mass of refugees that are fleeing the region at the moment, who in my opinion cease being humanitarian refugees the moment they choose to flee to another country (from the one they arrive in) for economic reasons.

Many comments here on HC talk about how countries turn to shite once the borders are opened - but that can be said of any bulk migration; the Irish to America, the Greeks & Italians to Australia, etc. let's not forget the atrocities performed by the colonists be they the Spanish in South America, the Dutch is South Africa or the British in India.