The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict...Again
Conflict in the Middle East has once again become front page news. This time the Saudi-backed terrorist group, Hamas, has ignited tensions in the region by firing a barrage of rockets into Israeli territory. This is not the first attack Israel has had to endure in its history. Ever since its founding after the World War II, it has been under constant siege from all of its neighbors. Most recently, in 2006, the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets into Israel, provoking a military response. Today, as Hamas indiscriminately fires rockets into civilian population centers, Israel has again been forced to respond with airstrikes and possibly, in the future, ground operations.
These conflicts have occurred so often that most people in the Western world no longer care to follow the events. And who can blame them? The story is always the same. Some Palestinian or Islamic group attacks and kills Israeli civilians. Israel is forced to respond and targets the groups responsible, who hide in Palestinian civilian areas where Palestinian civilians are collateral damage in the military response. The conflict eventually ends, only to repeat itself months or years later.
Many politicians and academics insist that bringing the Palestinians and Israelis together for a peace agreement is the only way to end conflict in the region. They also insist that any peace agreement must result in a Palestinian nation. Such arguments are not only simple talking points but are short-sided and accomplish nothing as evidenced by the fact that all of these suggestions have already been tried by Israel. Every Israeli president has either held peace talks or worked toward them. Yet no agreement has ever brought lasting peace for Israel. For instance, during Bill Clinton's presidency Yasser Arafat, representing the Palestinians, and Ehud Barak, the president of Israel, sat down for peace talks. Barak agreed to cede 97% of the disputed territory for the creation of a Palestinian state. Arafat decided not to accept the terms and proceeded to order sustained attacks against Israel. Negotiations will never work if one side is not willing to compromise at all.
"Proportionate responses" to attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah is also needed, the experts say. Implicit in that argument is that Israel must only kill the same amount of Palestinians as there are Israelis killed. Such an argument is illogical because, on those terms, the conflict would be no different than the continuous cycle of violence that it is today as each side kills members of the other. In reality, an Israeli military response will never be "proportional" because it will attempt, at least in the near-term, to eliminate the current threat to its civilians.
Unfortunately the only way to end the conflict is for Israel, America, and the Jewish people worldwide to join forces and sustain the political will to defeat the various terror groups that continuously threaten Israel. The individual members of these groups hide amongst civilians. Therefore, military attacks will result in innocent blood being shed. However, the conflict will never cease as long as organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, who have sworn to wipe Israel off the map, exist and have the capacity to kill Israeli civilians. Until these organizations are defeated militarily, Israel will never be at peace. While such a solution seems crude and simple for a seemingly complex issue, all the negotiations and diplomacy in the world cannot change the minds of those who want to bring about another Holocaust of the Jewish people.
Any comments or questions can be received at whyyouareaconservative@gmail.com
~ The Conservative Guy
These conflicts have occurred so often that most people in the Western world no longer care to follow the events. And who can blame them? The story is always the same. Some Palestinian or Islamic group attacks and kills Israeli civilians. Israel is forced to respond and targets the groups responsible, who hide in Palestinian civilian areas where Palestinian civilians are collateral damage in the military response. The conflict eventually ends, only to repeat itself months or years later.
Many politicians and academics insist that bringing the Palestinians and Israelis together for a peace agreement is the only way to end conflict in the region. They also insist that any peace agreement must result in a Palestinian nation. Such arguments are not only simple talking points but are short-sided and accomplish nothing as evidenced by the fact that all of these suggestions have already been tried by Israel. Every Israeli president has either held peace talks or worked toward them. Yet no agreement has ever brought lasting peace for Israel. For instance, during Bill Clinton's presidency Yasser Arafat, representing the Palestinians, and Ehud Barak, the president of Israel, sat down for peace talks. Barak agreed to cede 97% of the disputed territory for the creation of a Palestinian state. Arafat decided not to accept the terms and proceeded to order sustained attacks against Israel. Negotiations will never work if one side is not willing to compromise at all.
"Proportionate responses" to attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah is also needed, the experts say. Implicit in that argument is that Israel must only kill the same amount of Palestinians as there are Israelis killed. Such an argument is illogical because, on those terms, the conflict would be no different than the continuous cycle of violence that it is today as each side kills members of the other. In reality, an Israeli military response will never be "proportional" because it will attempt, at least in the near-term, to eliminate the current threat to its civilians.
Unfortunately the only way to end the conflict is for Israel, America, and the Jewish people worldwide to join forces and sustain the political will to defeat the various terror groups that continuously threaten Israel. The individual members of these groups hide amongst civilians. Therefore, military attacks will result in innocent blood being shed. However, the conflict will never cease as long as organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, who have sworn to wipe Israel off the map, exist and have the capacity to kill Israeli civilians. Until these organizations are defeated militarily, Israel will never be at peace. While such a solution seems crude and simple for a seemingly complex issue, all the negotiations and diplomacy in the world cannot change the minds of those who want to bring about another Holocaust of the Jewish people.
Any comments or questions can be received at whyyouareaconservative@gmail.com
~ The Conservative Guy
posted by The Conservative Guy at
10:59 PM
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