CNN has recently reported that Israeli war planes recently bombed a Syrian military base. Officials of the US government have said that the attack was to stop weapons get in the hands of terrorists in Lebanon. With the recent de-escalation of US tensions with Syria, I feel that this attack is going to hurt peace talks that are already in progress. This is one of the many cases of Israel showing itself to be brash in terms of dealing with other nations. I think that Israel is acting a little to brash in the area of the world that they are in. This is mainly because they try to act like the victims, when they are the aggressors for a lot of conflict in Southwest Asia. Their other problem has to do with Palestine, and the treatment of the Palestinian people.
A lot of Americans see one side of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and that is the attacks the Palestinians carryout, but they ignore the issues that Israel causes. With the increasing amount of West Bank Settlements that Israel continues to fund, the country is placing itself in the role of the villain more, and more. The West Bank is supposed to be private Palestinian land, there has been no protection for this land, and Israel has been allowed to make illegal settlements. This is to me shows Israel ignoring established International norms that deal with sovereign land, and with their reaction towards Palestinian attacks being at the most conservative a ten-fold reaction, it seems that they are not even respecting norms on war.
Violence has begun to spring up on the West Bank, but on the Israeli side. The Israeli people within these settlements have begun to be violent to the West Bank residents that are Palestinian. The attack in the talked about in the article is one where some Israeli's burned down a mosque. This is a weird turn of events, because it would seem that Israel has an Israeli terrorist problem, which should mean that they need to focus on their country, and their people before they do things like attacking other country's military base.
I agree. Israel is sponsoring state terror and should be held accountable for their actions in the international community. This is a very controversial issue that must be addressed before it escalates into a larger international problem.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Israel is sponsoring state terror and should be held accountable for their actions in the international community. This is a very controversial issue that must be addressed before it escalates into a larger international problem.
ReplyDeleteIf defending your nation against hostile nations and terrorist organizations may be called terror then there is no nation in existence which is not guilty. The object of a government first and foremost is to ensure that no foreign power invades and kills its citizens, which Jordan Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, and Syria have all done, repeatedly. The United States has no rational need to fear any Canadian military equipment or weaponry which may be near the border because we are allied, trading partners, and haven't had an armed conflict against each other in well over a century. On the other hand, Israel is only 65 years old and has already fought off multiple invasions from multiple hostile nations, meaning it has a clear and present need to have an active military presence in the region. Also, there is precedent for this strike: an Israeli airstrike against a Nuclear weapons production facility is the reason why the United States was unable to find any WMDs in Iraq. By preventing Saddam Hussein from acquiring nuclear weapons Israel saved itself and the surrounding nations from a possible NUCLEAR WAR. I will admit that the missiles that Israel just took out did not have the equivalent destructive potential as a nuclear weapon, Russia/USSR does have a significant history of providing Israel's enemies with the guns, tanks, planes, missiles, explosives, et cetera that were the very tools used to launch wars against Israel. Furthermore, this strike is justifiable because it was a limited, precise strike against weapons that would either have been launched against itself or a town in rebellion in Syria. In either case, the strike is responsible for saving lives.
DeleteFurthermore, the claim that the Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal is simply preposterous. The West Bank is the property of Israel, akin to how Puerto Rico is the property of the United States. The regions are extended the protections of residency, and the territory is not sovereign. Israel has largely established settlements for the Palestinians within the West Bank and grants those residents a great degree of autonomy, however, this does not infringe upon Israel's right to develop its property. The primary post claims that Israel has been "the aggressors for a lot of conflict in Southwest Asia" but Israel was the instigator of only One war, and it lasted a mere six days. In other words, not much conflict.
The post also condemns Israel for it's treatment of Palestine, but again, this is a skewed perspective. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not recognize the sovereignty of Palestine in precisely the same manner in which President Abraham Lincoln did not recognize the sovereignty of the Confederate States of America. Also, the problem with the discontent Palestinians should have in theory been solved when Israel completely renounced all claims to the Gaza strip and designated it as a homeland for the Palestinian people, but instead, the result was a terrorist organization, Hamas, being democratically elected to power in the very first election. Israel will not have a great incentive to cede more land to Palestinians if the appointment of terrorist rulers is the result. It would violate every instinct for self-preservation. Additionally, the emergence of an extremist faction amongst Israeli West Bank Settlers, a tiny fraction of a small population to begin with, is only in response to an increase in violence committed by West Bank Palestinians, and the incessant shelling of southern Israel by mortars from Gaza continues to go unpunished. If any sovereign nation were to begin organized shelling of the United States, war would be declared in a heartbeat, but it is of the inherent need for peace in the Middle East that this affront is overlooked. Russia and Iran, the two nations which currently supply the vast majority of weaponry to Israel's enemies are the true State Sponsors of Terror.
I like your reply Josh, well spoken. Israel's top priority is security and I think that a state acting in it's own interests in a dangerous situation like this is rather warranted. Israeli diplomat Zalman Shoval said, "Security for us is the alpha and omega, if we can satisfy our security concerns, the rest will be easier to resolve" (Washingtonpost). I don't think that it will be possible for the Palestinians and the Israelis will be able to feel a comforting sense of security any time soon, even with the current peace talks.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-feels-pressure-to-show-progress-in-peace-talks-between-israelis-and-palestinians/2013/10/31/07c6ce96-425f-11e3-a751-f032898f2dbc_story_1.html
So what your saying Jacob, is that as long as a country is acting to keep themselves secure they should be able t do whatever we want. By that logic you are saying that it would be a good idea for the US to kill Snowden, then we should bomb wherever he lives in Russia, and then we could just chalk it up to protecting the information that he has not leaked from getting into the wrong hands. This isn't the first time that Israel has ignored a country's borders. And why do we let a country act the way that Israel to a portion of their population?
ReplyDeleteThis is a hard issue to deal with. Conflicts like this always can be seen by both sides as the other sides faults. I think that Israel made a shocking decision to engage in those activities but ultimately the U.S. will have to keep a close eye on the conflict to make sure it does not spark up something much bigger.
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