After what has been a relatively calm period, the front pages now are littered with the going-ons in the latest Israel Palestine conflict. This part of the world is and will always be near and dear to my heart after spending two of the best weeks of my life both living in Bethlehem in the West Bank and touring around the old country. To see it return to its old habits tinges my heart with sadness as I think about the people who are literally being blown to bits. And nothing sticks out more than this excerpt from an email I get from the heart of Jerusalem each week:
“Life in Israel continues almost normally except that there is concern in the hearts of all the citizens over the safety of Israel’s young men sent into battle to do the job that should have been done long ago.”
What is this job you are referring to exactly? Eradicating a group of human life from earth? I can understand Israel’s hostility to their sworn enemies – giving their precarious position and location in the world, they must be armed and at the ready with dangers possible from just about any angle.
Neither side is free from blame. Hamas decided to start things up once again, firing rockets into the southern part of Israel. The response of the Israelis can be described as a bit over the top. Massive air bombings on the Gaza Strip has left the number of dead in the high 200s. How many of the dead are innocent civillians? That’s the number that can be fudged by either side, and no, I don’t trust the impartial media.
The end result of these latest actions – whatever they are – is that Obama will inherit yet another crisis. Blaming Bush on this one, however, would be irrational and foolish. In my opinion, this age-old conflict will never be resolved. Both sides claim that providence has allotted these lands to them, and neither side seems to want to back down and compromise to a fair level. I pretend like I understand the situation better than most neutral observers, having spent time with a number of Palestinians while in Bethlehem but the truth is that no one outside of those two groups can grasp exactly what is happening. The best to hope for is a swift end to the current conflict and the restoration of peace before too many lives are claimed.
Nice to hear a balanced view on the situation as it unfolds… I have to admit to being on the Palestinian side in the current climate, and many other blogs are fervently pro-Israel, so it’s good you hold an open view.
I have to say though that although Obama will inherit this problem, I predict he will do much to continue the injustices that have taken place. He will afford the Israeli government political cover and continue to sign deals that sees US military hardware extinguish human life in Palestine. I very much hope I am proven wrong, but I doubt I will be.
Bush has done no more or no less than any other US president, so to blame him for this kind of thing would be wrong headed as you outline. I do believe though if the US were to come out tomorrow and uncategorically withdraw their support for Israeli actions (by threatening to hold back military and economic aide) this situation could be over in half an hour. That’s something US taxpayers have to think about, and us in Europe have to lobby our governments to make sure they highlight this with this.
Anyway, good post!