Continuing to learn about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians I came to find that unfortunately, the conflict has escalted with the recent attacks by Israel on the Gaza Strip in December of 2008. If I had to make an opinion on the situation between the two peoples, I must admit I am more sympathetic to the Palestinains in the area, for they are the ones who have been removed from their homes and packed into small, densely populated areas. Granted, I understand the Israel claims rights to the Holy Land from Biblical Times, citing they received the land from God. Although this may hold true, they were gone from the area that is today Israel for a very long time. Centuries went by without the Jews running back to the homeland they only recently went back to within the last century. I feel that claiming they have rights to the land from almost 3,000 years ago is a weak argument when speaking in terms of politics. Once they were conquered, they lost the rights they had to the land. It has happened to every civilization, and you don't see any country today claiming, "Well we were here 2,000 years ago so we want our land back". No one in the international community would take them seriously. Constantinople, the center of Orthodox Christianity and the window to the East was taken over by the Ottomans and the Christians were pushed out. Still today the seat of the Greek Orthodox Church and it is headed by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who has the status of "first among equals" among the world's Orthodox bishops. He is the leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians, the second largest sect of Christianity behind Roman Catholocism. You don't see Greeks today or other Orthodox Christians petitioning the Republic of Turkey to return Constantinople to its rightful owners. Still to this day in Greece, there is no such place as "Istanbul", it is refered to as Κωνσταντινουπόλεως (Constantinople). Still there are no representatives in the UN or anywhere fighting to make Constantinople Greece again. There are 300 million Orthodox Christians, and only 13 million Jews in the world today. By those calculations, the Orthodox have more of a reason to protest and get Constantinople back than the Jews had to get back Israel. If 13 million can get a state, why can't 300 million get back the place that is the center of their faith?
To provide another example I look to our own nation. If all the Native Americans in this country banded together and demanded they have their homeland returned to them what would our government do? They would laugh at them and tell them their nuts! Now, that seems very hypocritical to me since we can allow the Jews (Who were first in the area/Native American connection) to take back their land from the Palestinians (who came later/ USA connection). The continued support for Israel from this country displeases me more now than I used to seeing what horrors we have seen from the presentations in class. Why is the USA so quick to support Israel? In all honesty it is because the population of Jews in this country is more than 5 million, almost the population of Israel itself. With such a large minority, and since many Jewish-Americans hold many positions of influence, I can see why we are so Pro-Israel. I can only hope that the Obama Administraition takes a harder look at what they're really supporting. At this point, I think they are re-examing the situation and I hope it leads to a different relationship with Israel. We as a country cannot openly support a state that has inflated their borders, responsible for the death of thousands, and cut off vital supplies to many. All of these atrocities have broken many international laws, but no one seems to care because Israel has the support of the USA. If Israel is attacked, not only will the perpetrator be attacked by Israel but have the support of the USA (which means weapons, soldiers, money ,etc. whether or not it is publicly done or in secret).
In conclusion, my goal was not to illustrate a hatred for Israel by any means. I just fail to comprehend how one race of people is able to simply come back to their land thousands of years later and claim they have more of a right to be there than the people who have homes, families, and lives there already. In a perfect world, I would like to see two states created. I think this would satisfy Israel and Palestine, as long as it can be divided equally. Jerusalem should be controlled by neither state and stay as a protected territory by the UN, with a military presence in the city at all times with soldiers from nations across the world. Now as unrealistic as this sounds, again this is in a perfect world. I hope that one day the region will find peace for everyone's sake, but I doubt I will live to see that day with the increasing tension in the area.
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