Discussions about the Israel/Hamas conflict have been strangely negligible on Takepart's blog pages. It's divisive, controversial and upsetting, so why wouldn't bloggers leap at the opportunity to write about it? Yes, I'm Jewish person (I know a good kosher pickle and the best hummus in my town) who has lived in Israel and believes that Israelis and Palestinians should both have the right to live safely and securely in their own countries (2 states, 2 peoples). Those two things don't make me qualified to be an expert on the situation (and certainly give me a bias), but I'm a concerned, opinionated blogger and so I'm going to take a stab at writing about this complicated international crisis. I'm upset that Israel is being bombed and I'm upset that Israel has invaded Gaza and killed hundreds of civilians.
The UN and international governments failed to stop Hamas' constant barrage of rockets into Sderot and other southern Israeli towns for the past few years. How would the US feel if people in Mexico lobbed rockets into our border towns on a daily basis? Hey, we invaded another Middle Eastern country that didn't even threaten us but supposedly had weapons that could hurt us.
On the flip side, Gaza is one of the poorest places on the planet with one of the highest birth rates and little economic opportunities. Again, this isn't a simple story and this is a blog not a history of the region. However, once again, the finger pointing can be directed at many parties. Israeli policies isolated the region and starved it of basic necessities and economic development. Couple this with Palestinian leaders (PLO and Hamas) who have consistently used its citizens as pawns of their PR campaigns, squandered international aid money and turned down genuine peace agreements (remember Camp David under Bill Clinton?).
What is clear is that Hamas needs to stop launching rockets into Israel and Israel needs to stop its military incursion into Gaza. It's military might ultimately will not stop the breeding of terrorist who hate Israel in the long-term (has its use of force been successful in the long-term at stopping Hamas or Hezbollah in the past which are funded by outside entities like Iran and Syria?) What has helped to bring elements of peace and stability to the region? Yup-negotiations and international engagement (think about Egypt and Jordan which now have peace agreements with Israel).
There are voices from both sides articulating a better alternative to this situation. However, this is going to take more than just sitting down together and agreeing on the best falafel sandwich. It will require a deep commitment by more than just Israelis and Palestinians but also international leaders who have a genuine concern and desire for both peoples to live safely and freely. Learn more from voices for peace whom you might not hear from the polarized talking heads on TV news. take action to with the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and take action with Daniel Levy's Prospects for Peace. takepart to sign J Street's Ceasefire Petition. And, if you have kids, share our conflict-resolution activity guides with them today.
photo: lapidim, Creative Commons
No comments:
Post a Comment