Looking on from both sides of the fence
Posted in General Chatter, Opinion, World Issues on Apr 4th, 2008 by Bill
Admittedly, the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank isn’t really a major political news topic. Still, it is an important issue in U.S. foreign relations (as evidenced by President Bush’s increased interest in brokering a peace deal in the region - though this isn’t an unusual goal of outgoing, lame-duck presidents), and it is an issue that will no doubt come up more and more as the campaigns go on, and as the violence in the region gets worse.
Yet, for such an important topic, it feels like the big thing lacking from media coverage of the conflict is objectivity, or at least an attempt at it. While this isn’t entirely true, I’ve often wondered what actual people on the ground thought about the conflict - people who live with the bombings, rockets, and so on day in and day out.
It’s from that mindset that I was recently surprised to find the BBC publishing several interviews and articles about the Palistinian conflict that are entirely from the viewpoint of the people on the ground.
The most recent story is a series of letters written between Anav Silverman, who works at the Media Centre in Sderot, Israel, and Mona Yousef, a freelance translator who works and lives in the northern Gaza Strip, gives a great view (I think) of the mindset that many Palestinians and Israelis have about the entire situation.
In many ways, the two sides ARE dinametrically opposed: the Israelis take the stance that everything is Hamas’ fault, and if they would just be reasonable none of this would be a problem; and the Palestinians feel that they are under constant threat and attack from an aggressor who cannot be placated, that they have no protection, and that the ‘terrorist’ fighters are really defenders. Both views have some validity to them - Hamas’ attacking Israel does force them to act defensively towards Palestinians, but at the same time, their measures often violate the basic rights of Palestinians, and cross the line between defense and collective punishment.
But as the older of the two stores shows, everyone (or so we hope) involved in the conflict has one desire -peace. While for some people, that peace can come only with power, many people on the ground are willing to give and take a little in order to attain it. One the heels of a poll published in the Israeli Newspaper Haaretz that indicated a majority of Israelis wanted to open real peace talks with Hamas, the BBC’s Editors Blog featured two bloggers - one Palestinian, one Israeli - that met and now run a joint blog. The bloggers focus on the struggles of life in Gaza and Sderot, providing an often absent viewpoint on the conflict. They were recently interviewed on BBC Radio 4 (Listen to the interview here), and you can find the blog here.
What do I think? Personally, I think the fault for the conflict is on both sides. Ignoring the fact that the creation of Israel itself was a risky move that was asking for trouble, Palestinians (and the entire Arab world) need to realize that Israel is here to stay. Hamas needs to stop firing rockets into Israel for no good reason (defense against a military force is one thing, shooting rockets at schools is another, and ‘revenge’ is never a good reason), recognize Israel as a legitimate nation, and sit down to peace talks along with the West Bank’s PLA.
At the same time, Israel must start respecting the basic rights of Palistinians - stop invading people’s homes without warrent or probable cause, stop military incursions into Palistinian territories, stop killing civilians (accidents happen, yes, but in Israels case, they seem to happen alot), end what is effectively a siege of Gaza, and provide humanitarian assistance to the people.
Ultimately, what Israel needs to focus on is the people. If Israel wasn’t so deeply hated and resented by the Palestinian people, Hamas and other extremist groups wouldn’t have the support they do. It may be painful, it may cause a few more attacks at first, but there is a way to bring about peace and security without turning Gaza into an open prison, without causing so much suffering.
What do you think?