I would seriously like to know what everyone- anyone- thinks of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. No subject has earned me more troll ratings than this one around here, and for a viewpoint I don't even consider too extreme. As I see it, there are several strains of thought on this issue. One is the far-right Israeli settler belief that Gaza and the West Bank are all historically promised to the Jews and therefore should be taken by the Jews. I don't think too many of those people post here. Then.....
there are those who think that because Israel is a democracy and an ally, we should support it in that region no matter what, including whatever dealings they have with the Palestinians. The third group are those who think that both groups have problems, but whether they admit it or not think the Israelis are more advanced and less likely to commit atrocities. Then there are those who think that Israel has the right to manage Palestine because Palestine is a clear and present threat to Israeli security, those who think that while Israel had no right to settle in the territories, they've been there too long to really expect them to leave, and finally those who think that the Palestinians, not the Israelis, are largely in the right.
I view the current government of Israel the same way I view neo-cons in America. I do not think Israel has any right, legal or moral, to have a single settler in Gaza or the West Bank and support any plan to remove them. I think Sharon and company are involved with a dangerous cocktail of nationalism, religious fervor, and the ideology that a security need, no matter how minimal, trumps the rights of ones neighbors and the rule of law, no matter how grossly they are violated. The rule-of-law issue is the most troubling. Take the separation wall. I object in principle to the idea, because it implies to me that by walling off Palestine Israel can pretend it doesn't exist. However, I have to accept the reality that the wall is apparently cutting down on terrorist attacks inside Israel. So Israel has every right to build a wall on their border. But Israel isn't building it on their border, they are building it inside the green line by a number of miles in some cases, walling off Palestinian land (to all purposes annexing it) and in some cases just appropriating and bulldozing farms. If Israel wants to build a wall on their territory right along the border it's their own business. But they are blatantly ignoring the rules to build their wall inside Palestine. Similarly, the settlements are also blatantly illegal under international law. Their are too many tales to count of Israeli soldiers and settlers mistreating palestinians, in some cases killing them, land grabs, deaths because of ambulances being stopped at security blockades, and Israeli policies of economic starvation aimed at the Palestinians.
Many people, quite rightly, respond to such claims by pointing out that Israeli civilians are the victims of Palestinian terror attacks, whereas Palestinian militants are the targets of the IDF. They are correct, and I would never support or approve of suicide bombings and terrorism. But a dead body is a dead body, and the number of Palestinians killed in both intifadahs has far outstripped the number of Israelis. The heavy-handed way Israel has responded to the situation has denied tens of thousands of Palestinians education, health care, and a chance at prosperity.
I think the reason the "pro-Palestinian" side of the left gets so angry is because in this country especially the bias towards Israel is present EVERYWHERE, especially in the news. I honestly think- and I'm sure I'll catch some flak for this- is that a lot of people simply assume that Israel, a white, western-style democracy, must be in the right, and that the arabs, who are all terrorists, must be in the wrong. I do not in any way think that support of Israel is automatically due to this. But I think it explains a pervasive bias we have. I respect the view that Israel is the aggrieved party in this conflict, even though I do not share it. I hope whoever wins this election does not face Hamas trouble, works with the Israelis fairly, and is worked with fairly to reach peace.
And for the life of me I cannot understand why people troll rate other people so much over this topic.
Anyway, what do you think- on the elections and the crisis in general?