| The only long term solution to Islamic terrorism is a resolution of the Israeli conflict and the end of Western exploitation of the Middle East. |
| Islamic terrorism, both in America and abroad is a larger manifestation of the conflict between Jews and Palestinians in Israel. The problems in the Middle East, and even the bulk of the problems between America and the Arab world, revolve around the conflict between Israeli Jews and Palestinians. The current population of Israel is 5,300,000. Of these, roughly 82% or 4,346,000 are Jewish and 16% or 848,000 are Palestinians. In addition, there are approximately 3,000,000 Palestinian refugees and their descendents living in surrounding countries. The total population of Jews and Palestinians in the region is approximately 8,300,000. There are roughly 6,000,000,000 people in the world, of which roughly 0.14% are Palestinian or Israeli Jew. The nation of Israel itself consists of approximately 8000 sq miles (20,770 sq km), slightly larger than the state of New Jersey. (Source of data: http://www.acu.edu:9090/~armstrongl/geography/israel.htm and http://www.raceandhistory.com/worldhotspots/Israel.htm and http://www.1uptravel.com/geography/israel.html ) These two tiny groups and their disputed homeland get a lot more attention than they warrant or deserve. The migration of Jews to the region which had begun after the first World War under the authority of the British accelerated dramatically after WWII with the encouragement of the United States. The conflict stems from the decision by the victorious Allied powers after World War II through their influence in the United Nations to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab sections, thus establishing a homeland for the Jewish people in 1948. Most Arab residents left Palestine and became refugees in neighboring Arab countries. The definition of the borders of these two sections, and the rights of one people to live in work in the other section are the crucial issues that divide the various factions to this day. Essentially, two nations are assigned to one area of land. There is no question that the Palestinians are the group favored by virtually all nations in the region. Arab support for a Palestinian state has been unwavering since the founding of the Jewish state of Israel. Were it not for the support of the West (primarily the United States), the state of Israel would have been overrun by Arabs decades ago. Today, US support for Israel is between $3,000,000,000 and 5,000,000,00 per year, depending on whether loan guarantees are included. This constitutes a huge percentage of US foreign aid. This is more foreign aid than is received by the next several countries combined. (Sources of data: http://www.state.gov/www/budget/fy2001/fn150/forops_full/150fy01_fo_spigots-fy99.html ) Many of the worlds problems today stem from the Arab reaction to the occupation by Israel of the country formerly known as Palestine. Among these problems is terrorism carried out by Arabs around the world, who site Israeli presence in the middle east as a primary reason for their anger. It has been 55 years after the implementation of Israel. How do we regard the attempt of the Jewish people to establish a homeland in that region? What criteria do we use to decide whether that endeavor is a success? What milestones do we set in an attempt to integrate the Jewish people into middle eastern culture, what is the end goal and how do we define success? Can the Jewish people of Israel be truly and peacefully integrated into the middle east in a reasonable amount of time? What are the other alternatives? Assuming that the Jewish people have a right to establish the nation of Israel (which most of us do assume), is there a better location for it than the former nation of Palestine? Is it time to reassess our policy towards Israel? Is it time to consider and even insist on other alternatives to the current location? |
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| Keluar #9 O Jerusalem, Take Heed by Amitakh Stanford 12th December 2009 O Jerusalem, take heed. The current situation in Israel is untenable; there is an unending conflict between the Palestinians and the Jews. Jewish inhabitants distrust the Palestinians, and vice versa. The age-old struggle between them has cost many lives, much hardship and untold sorrow. The conflict has generated tremendous anger, hatred and distrust – forcing them to live under a single umbrella has proven to be a formula for unending friction. In order to allow a chance for peace in the Middle East, something has to give. Wars will not bring an end to it, as they have been going on for centuries with no resolution. Negotiations and mediations between the parties have not worked either. The two peoples cannot continue to be forced to live together in the contrived single state of Israel. THEY NEED TO BE PERMANENTLY SEPARATED. A new state needs to be formed for the Palestinian occupants of Israel. The only practical solution is to have the new state created with continuous borders and a sea port. The Gaza Strip is already populated by Palestinians, and it has a sea port. The West Bank is also populated with many Palestinians, so the two should be connected with land. This means that there should be no reason for a citizen of the new Palestinian state to have to cross into Israel to reach some part of his or her country. Likewise, there should be no reason for Israelis to need to cross the Palestinian borders to reach any part of Israel. This will eliminate much of the friction at the borders. Also, neighbouring countries should consider granting some land to the Palestinians, so that the new state has enough land to reasonably house its people and become a viable nation state. Jerusalem is a major sticking point in regard to a two-state solution, which affects not only the parties, but peace in the region. Both sides have long-standing reasons to be inflexible regarding the city. Both sides have long historical, cultural and religious reasons for their intransigence regarding Jerusalem. This has led many people to insist that the two-state solution have a shared Jerusalem. That is, severing Jerusalem in twain, part to one nation and part to another, or granting co-ownership of the city to both nation states. Are either of these proposals wise? The twentieth century saw what happened when secular powers divided up Berlin into sections. The situation was so bellicose that the Berlin Wall was erected to section off the city. For decades, the Wall divided the people and caused tremendous misery until it was finally demolished. The same mentality of erecting “Berlin Walls” is very active in modern-day Israel, as is seen by the walled-off sections of the West Bank. Fencing off sections of Berlin did not work, and it should not be encouraged in Jerusalem. Further, if there are national borders running through the city of Jerusalem, it will guarantee that there will be continued friction and bloodshed in the city. It is understood that neither party wants to relinquish all rights to Jerusalem, but, in reality, to have lasting peace in the area, is there any other choice? I suggest that there is not. Many centuries of conflict support my position. Therefore, in my opinion, Jerusalem should either be wholly within the nation of Israel or wholly within the newly created Palestinian state. To accomplish this, one side or the other would necessarily have to relinquish Jerusalem voluntarily, if it is to be settled amicably. It should be realized that the side that vacates Jerusalem should be amply compensated for it when boundaries for the two newly-formed nation states are drawn. Clearly, both parties’ claims to Jerusalem are heavily based on religious grounds. If neither side will voluntarily relinquish the city, then, after solemn prayers, a lot should be cast over which nation state will house Jerusalem. Those who sincerely believe in the Divine should accept that the lot will result in the Divine’s will being carried out. I have seen the future for the area presently known as Israel if a two-state solution is not soon implemented, with one of the nation states having exclusive control and ownership of Jerusalem. The future will certainly be filled with many more tears and much more sorrow for everyone in the area. This future can be changed if Jerusalem is given over to one side or the other, and two separate and independent nations are created soon. If this does not happen, I have foreseen that one, later to be known by a name that sounds something like “Ahmad Mahmud” will emerge and take Jerusalem down, and nobody will have it ever after. © 2009 Amitakh Stanford | 6/9/2010 | |
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