Status of the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

Looking Back

mennoman64 — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:31:29 +0000

After creating this blog and following events in the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict, I’ve realized just slowly progress has been going in this issue. From when I first started until now, violence has occured and new leaders are rising to power, but the issue essentially stands in the same place. The great barrier wall continues to be built, Jewish settlements continue to be built in occupied territory, and terrorists on both sides continue to cause incidents. I’ve learned a great deal about the methods each side uses to tackle their problems. The Israelis’ ultimate goal is the protection of their people, and the military will take extreme measures to ensure this. The Palestinians’ don’t have a unified ultimate goal, but some seek a separate state, while others just want equal rights under Israeli law. I’ve found that Israel has trust issues, and justifiably so, but progress towards peace has been hindered because of this attitude. Eventually, the demographic trend is going to force Israel to deal with the issue of Palestinians, because at that point, Jews will not be a majority unless they decide to suddenly have very large families.

So what is there that I’m going to do about this issue after this blog is done? Well I still plan on going on a Christian Peacemaker Teams mission to Hebron after I graduate. Alot of the work that is being done through CPT is accompanying Palestinians to checkpoints to make sure they aren’t harassed by soldiers, being present with Palestinians in the fields were they are exposed to hostile settlers, and escorting Palestinian children to school. Its a very simple concept, the presence of an American seems to be able to deter Israeli soldiers from “acting up” because they don’t want media attention. I don’t think that doing this is in any way supporting Palestinians over Israelis as some have accused CPT of. Its a nonviolent organization supporting human rights, trying to prevent abuse, and usher in a peaceful close to the conflict. The goal is to be a bridge between both sides, but obviously there also needs to be a change in the approaches of governments. I can do my part to help, but for lasting change, Israel is going to need to be committed to a solution, whatever that turns out to be.

2005 Saudi Plan

mennoman64 — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:45:38 +0000

Here is an interesting peace initiative that is in the news again, even though it was apparently proposed three years ago. The proposal states that if Israel abides by U.N. Resolution 242 and withdraws from all territories taken in 1967 (the Six Day War) which would include the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan Heights, then Arab states would do the following things:

1. Recognize the existence of Israel within the 1967 borders

2. Negotiate peace deals and create secure borders with Israel

3. Engage in regular trade with Israel

The withdrawal of Israeli settlements from Gaza did not fulfill the requirements of Resolution 242, since Israel still controls the majority of Gaza’s borders (the Mediterranean border, Israeli border, and Gazan air space). Defense Minister Ehud Barak and President Shimon Peres have expressed interest recently in discussing the plan, however large obstacles still remain. The largest might be the issue of all the Palestinian refugees currently residing in other neighboring countries. If these Palestinians are given the right of return, as the Saudi Plan proposes, the demographics of Israel would dramatically shift, and Israel would no longer have a Jewish majority. Another key part of the agreement is the withdrawal of all Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, which would be a messy business. There are literally cities of Israelis that would need to be withdrawn, and some would had lived there for 40 some years. There are definitely issues to be worked out, but dialogue like this is certainly a step in the right direction.

Is there a place for a Jewish State?

mennoman64 — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 05:29:27 +0000

Thinking about the whole basis of the state of Israel, I came across an article that brought up an interesting question: is there even a place for a Jewish State in today’s world? I keep going back to the point that Israel is an acclaimed democracy, and if this is true, how can there legitimately be a class of Jewish citizens above the Palestinian second class citizens? There are already multiple ethnicities living side by side, therefore it seems logical to therefore create a binational state. Israel can’t (at least I hope) get away with driving away all the Palestinians into other lands. A two-state solution can hardly be expected to work anymore, as there is no way that either side will willingly leave the land they are on. Jewish settlers will not peacefully leave their communities, one needs only to remember the evacuation of the Gaza settlements. Palestinians in Israeli territory would also resist being forced into areas with refugee-like conditions. The idea of a Jewish State being a democracy just doesn’t work, it can’t be both. The road to any solution will be undoubtedly difficult, as it is said that if Israel were to absorb all of the Palestinians, within five years they would lose the Jewish majority. There is considerable difficulty in making a one-state solution work, but a two-state solution might be even more impossible.

Possible Improvements

mennoman64 — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:11:43 +0000

I’ve found with this blog that the only thing I haven’t been able to do that might have improved the quality of the blog is the addition of graphics or videos that could directly link to news sites. I don’t really know how to post youtube videos or anything like that, but I’ve seen other people’s blogs that used them and they help add to the “officialness” of the site. I’m not sure I need these myself, but I plan to look into it so I can possibly add some news videos that will help people visualize the events that are going on in Israel. The videos would bring the issue to the viewer I think, rather than being some conflict happening in a faraway land.

Separation of Church/Temple/Mosque and State?

mennoman64 — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:59:30 +0000

This week I’ve been looking at the progress of the Israeli and Palestinian political systems. Neither system seems to have any clear separation of Church and State, and I realized while listening to all the political discussion about America’s next president that we don’t have a good separation of the two either. Being a Christian has never been an official qualification for running for the Presidency, but have we ever had one that wasn’t? All this talk about people still thinking Barack Obama is a Muslim has really started to bother me. What if he was? Would you automatically not vote for him then? Israel insists on remaining a “Jewish State”, but what does that actually mean? Are all religious ethnic groups treated the same under Israeli law? No they aren’t, there are actually separate religious courts depending on a person’s religious background. I don’t believe there is a place for Palestinians in a Jewish State unless they want to remain second class citizens. It is the same if a Jew was living in an Islamic State, and by that I mean run by traditional shariah law. In that case, a Jew would also be a second class citizen. So if Israel is to be the safe haven for Jews, they must provide a safe haven for the people they have displaced. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s impossible to keep religion out of politics if the majority of a nation is in fact religious. If this be the case, then at least the rights of the minorities need to be protected. Protection of minorities and fair representation in government are the hallmarks of democracy.

News Articles

mennoman64 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:00:30 +0000

After updating the last few news articles, I’ve found that the more violence and conflict in the story, the more likely it is to be posted on the front page of the site. I’d like to find more articles that talk of progress, of paths to peace that have shown promise, and leaders that are willing to negotiate with the other side. The most profound story I found recently has been about the city of Acre that has recently suffered from Jewish and Arab clashes. Buildings have been vandalized and people are hesitant to go on to the streets again. This was formerly considered a tolerant city where Jews and Arabs intermingled in daily life. I’m hoping that the people can go back to that again, but there are deeper problems than the fighting, the inequalities in things as simple as Jewish gyms versus Arab gyms make it obvious that this is a segregated society.

Prince Zeid of Jordan

mennoman64 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:05:50 +0000

I’ve just got back from an event in which Jordan’s ambassador to the U.S., Prince Zeid Al-Hussein, discussed the future of the Middle East and U.S. policy there. It was certainly interesting to hear what he had to say, and he did mention the issue of the Israeli/Palestinians Conflict. He seemed to feel that it was the Palestinians’ job to determine whether they wanted their own separate state or not, other nations couldn’t do that for them. He only talked about a two-state solution, however, as being the answer to solving the problem. Prince Zeid talked about how important the solution of this conflict is to the neighboring countries. When Israel finds it can trust it’s neighbors, it won’t be so aggressive with it’s defense policies and thus won’t rile up the neighboring people into retaliation.

Figuring things out

mennoman64 — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:03:21 +0000

I still need to find how to make a link to the homepage. When I first access my site the homepage appears, but when I navigate away from the page I can’t seem to get back to it, so I’ll be trying to find a way to make it a link. Also I’ve been finding it hard to find positive articles about the progress of the conflict. It seems the number of articles on offenses done by one side or the other dwarfs the number of articles that cover promising steps towards reconciliation. I will try to keep a balance on the blog though, not everything needs to be so negative.

Progress

mennoman64 — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:26:02 +0000

Hey everyone,

Well I’ve just updated my breaking news, you should check out the story on Hamas and Fatah. The two factions are trying to reduce tension between them which may be a sign of progress. I will be putting up more newslinks shortly so you can access sites that focus on Israeli and Palestinian news. I’m trying to find unbiased news sites so that I don’t find too much anti-Israel or anti-Palestinian viewpoints. More updates soon to come.

Introduction

mennoman64 — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:49:30 +0000

I chose the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict as the topic for this blog because it is a long standing issue that has yet to be resolved. I have followed the progress of the conflict in the past, but I think it would be useful to have new information on this topic posted on a regular basis. The purpose of this blog is to inform people of what is going on in Israel now, regarding the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict, and provide suggestions on how you can make a difference and help bring this conflict to a peaceful and equitable close. There is alot to understand about the roots of the conflict, claims to the land, beliefs of the people involved, and how these things affect their current actions. I hope, if nothing else, to spread awareness of this issue that has lasted as long as the modern state of Israel has.