The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has of course been in the news again here recently. The Israeli attacks have sparked a renewed outcry, which is the catalyst for my addressing the subject. I understand Israel wanting to put an end to the rocket attacks, but the conflict isn’t so simply nor is it just part of a cycle of retaliation. Now I don’t pay much attention to the main stream media, but it has been accused of reporting from Israel’s side. Whatever the case is with the media, the U.S. has certainly been far from an unbiased mediator. From what I’ve heard, the pro-Israeli lobbyists are so powerful, that they have forced the president of the U.S. to back down from some semi-critical statements he made regard Israel.
As mentioned, the problem is not just a cycle of violence. It really is about racism, and has been called Apartheid. I have first hand information from my brother, who lived in Israel for two years. Israel is really methodically trying to get rid of the Palestinians, at least from the areas they control. To this end they are making life miserable for all the Palestinians. To give one example, the wall that Israel has built is not just on the border between Israel and Palestinian controlled areas, but cuts off some Palestinians from others.
The majority of Palestinians are normal people just like us, who just want to live in peace and freedom, and are minding their own business. Of course most Israelis want to live in peace too. But the problem is that Israel is occupying land that wasn’t originally within its borders, and the occupation is far from benevolent. I’m not about justifying violence, but that’s what Palestinians attacks are about: the oppression they are experiencing at the hand of Israel. They are not just random acts of terrorism because Palestinians are violent and just want to kill all Jews (though there are certainly—on both sides—those who would like to use violence to eliminate the other side). However Israel slyly uses this to justify their oppression of and violence against the Palestinians. (The violence against the Palestinians is often beyond that of reasonable military targets.)
The problem for us is that Israel is able to do all of this mainly due to our (the U.S.’s) support. In other words, we haven’t been supporting peace and equality, no matter what our rhetoric is. The U.S. has been very much on Israel’s side for a long time, and is the main reason we haven’t been popular in the Middle East. We need to stop being biased towards one side, especially when that side is racist and violent. We should use our power to help bring peace and human rights to this area in an unbiased way if we’re going to be involved at all. To this end, I am signing a petition to urge our government to do these things, and I ask you to consider doing the same.
