Palestine and Israel

I’m American

At this point, there is no other word for this other than a MASSACRE.  There is no way anyone can call this self-defense; there are videos of people literally just standing around that get shot.  This will not bring peace. There is no excuse for this type of violence.  Why does the international community remain silent? America didn't hesitate to barge into Iraq to fight the non-existent weapons of mass destruction nor did they hesitate to attack Syria, so where are they now? How are there people out in the world that actually support this violence? Someone needs to step in before this situation gets worse- enough of the bloodshed.  

While a one state solution has some potential benefits for both sides, I believe that this is a clear example of why a one state solution will not work.  If we put people from both sides to live together, there will be violence from both sides towards the other.  In my opinion, attacking religious sites is the lowest thing one can do; and clearly some people have no trouble doing that which further shows how dangerous it would be to have just one state for everybody.  As things continue to heat up, I hope that people stop these acts of violence so that we can begin to work towards peace.  

Throughout my life of being affected by this conflict, I’ve learned one extremely important lesson that many people wouldn't think about- rhetoric is EVERYTHING.  In this article that I chose to post about today, the New York Times seems to have conveniently forgot how to use action verbs.  Sentences like “Nearly 1,000 protesters were wounded, including 223 from gunshots, the Gaza Health Ministry said” and “By nightfall one man was reported killed in the demonstrations, which had claimed dozens of lives on the two previous Fridays” fail to mention the cause of these atrocities.  It should read, “Israelis wound 1000 protesters” or “Israelis shoot 223 protesters” and so on.  This is important for any issue, not just the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.  Media needs to tell it like it is.  The way things are written in this article makes it seem like it was a war or some might argue that Israelis were the victims here.  The Palestinians have blood on their hands, but in this situation, the Palestinians are the victims. The counter-argument is there is footage of people burning tires and throwing molotov cocktails and this was seen as Palestinians trying to cross the border fence.  There are thousands of people at these protests, if the Palestinians were going to cross the fence, it wouldn't be a few men with a burning tire at the fence; everyone would be storming the fence.  My opinion is clear that these Palestinians should not have been shot, but the point of this post is to call on the media to report facts as they are, not to twist words around.   

I do not see the point of not permitting this man to get the medical treatment he requires and I do not see how this is benefitting Israeli security.  The man already had his one leg amputated so how would he be a threat? If it were the other way around, Israelis would be able to get the medical treatment they needed immediately and they might not have had any legs amputated in the first place.  Furthermore, I don’t understand why the international community is not getting involved.  The people in Gaza are humans too. We need to stop the killing as soon as possible so we can start moving in the direction towards peace. 

At the time this video was taken, Ahed Tamimi was just 16 years old.  In my opinion, 16-year-olds shouldn't be jailed, especially treated as an adult; but furthermore, she shouldn't have had to undergo interrogations like this especially at such a young age.  I am impressed with her ability to maintain her composure throughout the interrogation.  I don’t understand how this interrogation is constructive to the situation and how the ultimate goal here would be to achieve peace (it clearly is not).  In addition to all of this, a 40-year-old Israeli citizen slapped a prosecutor in the Tamimi case and only got 2 days in prison.  With a situation like this, the only word that comes to my mind is apartheid.  

While everyone is discussing Israel bombing the Syrian air base, this video surfaced of an Israeli shooting a Palestinian who was literally just standing there not doing anything.  Followed by the shooting, the Israelis are heard cheering. The IDF’s response to this video was they think it’s possible that the video was from a few months ago instead of now.  My question is what difference does it make? There is always a better way of handling things than shooting someone who is just standing there.  I don't know how this is supposed to bring peace.  And by why the Israelis were saying in the video, it sounds like they weren't interested in peace to begin with.  It’s sad because there are so many Israelis and Palestinians out there who want to live together in peace but we have a few who ruin it for the many.  Palestinians seeing this video are only going to get more and more angry and are most likely going to retaliate.  Unfortunately, I think it’s going to get uglier before it gets better.  

I’m very interested to see how this plays out.  Israel prides itself on being a Jewish country, but there has to be a point where you have to drop parts of religion and establish laws not based on religion. If people only strictly followed religion without establishment of other laws, evil people would get away with a lot more. Israel already struggles with being a solely Jewish nation because of the large number of Arab citizens. A situation like this will either only validate that Israel cannot be a solely Jewish country, or it will take a step in the direction of getting rid of the democracy that Israel prides itself on having.

This is the best headline I’ve seen for what happened in Gaza on Land Day.  Many stories are titled with something about “clashes in Gaza”.  There were no clashes.  Palestinians were protesting and Israeli soldiers shot them and threw tear gas at them while they were still on the Palestinian side of the border.  I don't understand why the Israelis were shooting at the Palestinians. There are many videos of unarmed people running away only to get shot.  I, along with so many others, just want peace in the region.  At the very minimum, the killing needs to stop.  I’m worried about what the future will hold as the anniversary of al-Nakba is approaching.  I think this is just the beginning of a violent time, but I hope both sides can come together and prove me wrong.  

This story worries me.  Tensions are high between Gazans and Israelis. Tensions are also high between Hamas and Fatah.  Land day is approaching and no one knows how much violence there will be but I’m willing to bet that there will be violence. In addition to all of this, the anniversary of al-Nakba is approaching (May 15th) when the Americans will move their embassy to Jerusalem and there will be escalated violence without a doubt on that day.  This situation we’re in today makes me wonder what the end solution is.  In the next few months, it is clear that many people will be victims of more violence from both sides, so where will this take us? Will there be a change to anything? If anything I hope this conflict quits snowballing; all we need is one step in the right direction that could eventually lead us to peace.  Until then, Hamas and Israel need to eliminate the tension to avoid more lives lost. 

I am usually pretty understanding of the Palestinians and the decisions they make and the reasons behind them, but this time I am at a loss.  I’m caught up on just one thing in this article and that is the fact that the Palestinians declined the invitation to this White House meeting about Gaza.  People are dying in Gaza and the Palestinian representatives just want to be petty about this Jerusalem problem among other and not show up when their people are in need of desperate help?  The title of this article talks about the White House wanting to end the Palestinian cause, but when they act like this, can you blame them? If the Palestinian leaders and representatives acted more mature about everything, then maybe people would support the Palestinian cause more.  I’m curious to see what moves the international community will make about Gaza and how the Palestinians will react to it.  

This article really struck a chord with me.  I have watched the series Fauda, and I completely agree with what is being said about it here.  In this article, we hear about how the Israelis pose as Palestinians to make arrests or they recruit Palestinian collaborators.  If this conflict does ever reach a solution, the Palestinians will need decades to reestablish trust between each other. Just last night I was sitting with my Arab friends and we were discussing Palestinian personalities and behaviors.  We talked about how Palestinians can be less than pleasant people in general.  After talking through it, we came to the conclusion that we can’t blame Palestinians for being this way due to the environment they are coming from.  ANYONE they know could be working with the Israelis against them.  No one can be sure of anyone’s intentions anymore so now the Palestinians are conditioned to never trust anyone. This is really detrimental to a society, and I hope that once a solution is reached with this conflict, the Palestinians will work immediately on rebuilding that trust with each other.  

I’m pleased to see that this is what the Palestinians in Gaza have resulted to.  When it comes to Gaza, I am often worried that they will choose to result to violence as the Palestinians in Gaza have a tendency to be more aggressive than the Palestinians in the West Bank.  I just hope that these protests don’t turn violent.  As long as the Palestinians stay near their tents and the Israelis don’t fire tear gas and shoot at them, this whole thing might have a peaceful outcome and we could start stepping in the direction of peace instead of the direction we seem to be going nowadays.  

I find this extremely concerning.  When the US decided to move the embassy on Israeli independence day, they seemed to not take into consideration the name the Palestinians have for that day.  The Palestinians call this day al-Nakba, or the catastrophe, referring to the many Palestinians that died by Israeli massacres and the 3/4 of a million Palestinians that were expelled from their homes.  Moving the embassy on this day is a slap in the face to Palestinians.  The Palestinians have been on edge lately, so moving the embassy to Jerusalem on this day is a HORRIBLE idea because it will not bring about peace.  The Palestinians are already calling for violence on this day and they have 2 whole months to plan it.  I strongly feel that if the US picked any other day, the situation wouldn't be as bad as it is going to be now.  To make matters worse, Trump now wants to go to Israel for the embassy opening.  On a day that is so emotionally charged for both sides, I worry that both sides won't be able to think rationally.  There is no way that Trump chose to open the embassy on Israeli independence day with the intention of bringing peace to the region.  Now, more people will die and more hate will be created on both sides and this conflict will continue to spiral downwards. I was planning on visiting Palestine and Israel in May, but I now will most likely cancel my trip with tensions this high.  I hope both sides will be able to put their feelings aside and at the very least, stop the killing.  

So what’s the problem here? Ahed Tamimi is 17 years old and is being jailed for slapping a soldier.  Sarah Silverman is speaking out against some clear wrongdoing by the Israelis.  Why are people attacking Sarah? Sarah supports Israel’s right to exist and supports her sister who is a rabbi living in Jerusalem.  No matter what side you are on, it is important to speak out against wrong done by both sides.  Sarah was asked on twitter why she didn’t mention the attack that Ahed’s cousin was supposedly involved in. Why is that relevant to Ahed being jailed.  If your cousin does something wrong, how would that make you responsible for it? The fact is that Ahed is a teen that is in Israeli jail for slapping a soldier.  To get to the root of the problem and move closer to solving it, keep asking questions such as why did Ahed slap the soldier? Or what were the soldiers doing near her home in the first place? The soldiers claim that she usually is a nuisance to them, so ask why the soldiers are so often near her home.  What does Ahed’s anger stem from?  If the international community, and Israelis themselves, keep asking questions, everyone will be closer to getting to the bottom of this problem.  In the meantime, leave Silverman alone and let her speak against injustice.

This is another perfect example of how weak the Palestinians actually are.  While 160 Palestinians were stranded at the airport for two weeks in less than humane conditions, Gazans were busy firing a rocket into Israel that has been met with retaliation from the Israeli (not a surprise there) and now the Gazans are at a worse place than where they started.  Instead of trying to help their own people, they’re busy making things worse for themselves.  And what about Abbas? Surely he could’ve made an effort to get the stranded Palestinians in Egypt to a better situation? Or at least speak against what they were going through? But no, Abbas what busy doing whatever Abbas does (that usually isn’t beneficial for the Palestinians).  If the Palestinians want any hope for their own government, they need to start working together and cleaning up their act.  Only then would they be able to start negotiating peace with the Israelis.

Why is Israel beating up children? Who is this going to help? If they want peace in the future, they need to realize that children are the future.  Making them angry now will only make things worse for everyone in the future. It will just bring about more violence. There are more constructive ways to deal with children.  By breaking their shoulders and blindfolding them, for example, they are going to traumatize the children instead of getting more positive results.  If Israelis say that they are nice people and that’s what they want the children to believe, they need to prove that when dealing with them.