Few conflicts in modern times have grabbed the headlines and raised emotions more than that of Israel and Palestine. Many heads of state have tried and miserably failed to broker a peace agreement between these two waring factions and that is set to happen indefinitely.
So, why is it such a difficult and seemingly impossible task to get these two "tribes" to co-habit as decent human beings? This is by any means a complex and historically hate filled battle that ultimately rests with our old friend religion (don't most conflicts?) to a point, but we cannot lay the blame entirely at the feet of a "higher deity" for this is a battle made up of several elements each of which enough to perpetuate the war for many years to come.
All in all the above statement would lead any aspiring vote chasing world leader to run a mile rather than take a chance on stepping in to the eternal ring of fire this conflict hallmarks. The truth of the matter is that this war like all those before them throughout the history of mankind does have a solution, there is an answer to this problem and it should have been addressed many years ago. If you doubt just what I am saying lets use Northern Ireland as an example, it doesn't seem so long ago that the British people were scared to walk the streets of London during Xmas time for fear of being blown to pieces by the IRA. That conflict was ended so if that can be amicably ended why can't this same peace process be rolled out across the border between Palestine and Israel?
If only life (and war) were that simple, alas the Irish battle against the British was simply a religious battle, the land was not such an issue, though it was clearly a part of the campaign and the other thing is there were only four main players in that war, England, Northern Ireland and on the other side the Irish Republic and the United States.
Yes indeed, the United States helped fund the IRA for many years despite openly condemning the violence it supplied money for arms to the IRA with NORAID for many years, although once the brutality of some of the civilian deaths was uncovered during the later half of the campaign the aid did dwindle somewhat.
Anyway, back to the subject in hand, Israel is backed by the United States, it is a very good customer for U.S military hardware and Israel's intelligence service is quite possibly the best in the world, it is the eyes and ears of the U.S in a volatile area. Palestine on the other hand has the ear of the Arab nations, while it may be accepted that their military prowess lacks the discipline of their foes it is more than made up for with their buying power.
So, the issue here is not between Israel and Palestine, but between the United States and it's western allies and the wealthier Arab nations. This is where it gets complicated, the U.S loves oil and it loves selling arms, quite simply its good for business. The Arabs love selling oil and they love arms. This will never change and therein lies the reason why the state of Israel and the state of Palestine have been at each others throats for so long, any other conflict that has been won or lost has been because one of the two sides ran out of supplies of weapons or funds. This will never happen in my lifetime between these two as the current situation stands.
Logically then, you cannot blame religion entirely and you cannot blame the simple hatred these two countries inhabitants have for each other, after all you now have three generations if not more of families on both sides who have lost loved ones during the skirmishes. The blame lies squarely with those who would perpetuate this campaign with funding and weapons, basically the West and the Arabs. Israel has come under huge pressure over the last few weeks for bombing civilians and grabbing land that is clearly not theirs and if you squeeze a race to the point of extinction then it is bound to fight back with every means at its disposal. On the other hand Hamas have sited rockets in civilian areas and then cried "foul" when there are multiple injuries and heavy losses to its people and while that is reprehensible enough, its continued calls for the destruction of Israel without exception or hesitation are clearly undermining any form of talks between the two.
I am afraid that the end to this conflict lies with the biggest aggressor here and that is Israel, it is tactically superior and ultimately a super power because of its Nuclear capabilities, therefore it must make the brave and bold step to step back from the brink and offer the Palestinian people its own state, it must release land that has been settled upon despite the political fall out that would follow and it should be met with financial incentives for both states funded by, yes you have guessed it the two master races that have seen this conflict drag on and ever onwards.
In return Hamas must drop the perennial call for the destruction of Israel and start being a responsible neighbour, namely denouncing acts of terror and policing the many factions that have sprouted up from the numerous families that have seen their loved ones murdered during this bloody stand off.
For any war to end one of the two sides has to say enough is enough and it cannot win. Hamas must realise that it is not going to win by the sword and in fact it would find the higher moral ground if it ceased it's rocket firing. Israel would be very much on the back foot if this were to happen and ironically put under immense international pressure to give Hamas what it really wants and that is the settlements returned to Palestinian governance.
Sounds very simple doesn't it? That's because it is, all it takes is one side to take the lead and as Israel can defend itself better than Palestine it has to be the bigger of the two. That is if Israel wants peace and not more land.
If I were living in Israel I for one would be voting for a ceasefire. If i lived in Palestine I would be happy to live next to a neighbour that allowed its people to live in a country it could call its own and in return allow Israel to be a country all its own.
So, why is it such a difficult and seemingly impossible task to get these two "tribes" to co-habit as decent human beings? This is by any means a complex and historically hate filled battle that ultimately rests with our old friend religion (don't most conflicts?) to a point, but we cannot lay the blame entirely at the feet of a "higher deity" for this is a battle made up of several elements each of which enough to perpetuate the war for many years to come.
All in all the above statement would lead any aspiring vote chasing world leader to run a mile rather than take a chance on stepping in to the eternal ring of fire this conflict hallmarks. The truth of the matter is that this war like all those before them throughout the history of mankind does have a solution, there is an answer to this problem and it should have been addressed many years ago. If you doubt just what I am saying lets use Northern Ireland as an example, it doesn't seem so long ago that the British people were scared to walk the streets of London during Xmas time for fear of being blown to pieces by the IRA. That conflict was ended so if that can be amicably ended why can't this same peace process be rolled out across the border between Palestine and Israel?
If only life (and war) were that simple, alas the Irish battle against the British was simply a religious battle, the land was not such an issue, though it was clearly a part of the campaign and the other thing is there were only four main players in that war, England, Northern Ireland and on the other side the Irish Republic and the United States.
Yes indeed, the United States helped fund the IRA for many years despite openly condemning the violence it supplied money for arms to the IRA with NORAID for many years, although once the brutality of some of the civilian deaths was uncovered during the later half of the campaign the aid did dwindle somewhat.
Anyway, back to the subject in hand, Israel is backed by the United States, it is a very good customer for U.S military hardware and Israel's intelligence service is quite possibly the best in the world, it is the eyes and ears of the U.S in a volatile area. Palestine on the other hand has the ear of the Arab nations, while it may be accepted that their military prowess lacks the discipline of their foes it is more than made up for with their buying power.
So, the issue here is not between Israel and Palestine, but between the United States and it's western allies and the wealthier Arab nations. This is where it gets complicated, the U.S loves oil and it loves selling arms, quite simply its good for business. The Arabs love selling oil and they love arms. This will never change and therein lies the reason why the state of Israel and the state of Palestine have been at each others throats for so long, any other conflict that has been won or lost has been because one of the two sides ran out of supplies of weapons or funds. This will never happen in my lifetime between these two as the current situation stands.
Logically then, you cannot blame religion entirely and you cannot blame the simple hatred these two countries inhabitants have for each other, after all you now have three generations if not more of families on both sides who have lost loved ones during the skirmishes. The blame lies squarely with those who would perpetuate this campaign with funding and weapons, basically the West and the Arabs. Israel has come under huge pressure over the last few weeks for bombing civilians and grabbing land that is clearly not theirs and if you squeeze a race to the point of extinction then it is bound to fight back with every means at its disposal. On the other hand Hamas have sited rockets in civilian areas and then cried "foul" when there are multiple injuries and heavy losses to its people and while that is reprehensible enough, its continued calls for the destruction of Israel without exception or hesitation are clearly undermining any form of talks between the two.
I am afraid that the end to this conflict lies with the biggest aggressor here and that is Israel, it is tactically superior and ultimately a super power because of its Nuclear capabilities, therefore it must make the brave and bold step to step back from the brink and offer the Palestinian people its own state, it must release land that has been settled upon despite the political fall out that would follow and it should be met with financial incentives for both states funded by, yes you have guessed it the two master races that have seen this conflict drag on and ever onwards.
In return Hamas must drop the perennial call for the destruction of Israel and start being a responsible neighbour, namely denouncing acts of terror and policing the many factions that have sprouted up from the numerous families that have seen their loved ones murdered during this bloody stand off.
For any war to end one of the two sides has to say enough is enough and it cannot win. Hamas must realise that it is not going to win by the sword and in fact it would find the higher moral ground if it ceased it's rocket firing. Israel would be very much on the back foot if this were to happen and ironically put under immense international pressure to give Hamas what it really wants and that is the settlements returned to Palestinian governance.
Sounds very simple doesn't it? That's because it is, all it takes is one side to take the lead and as Israel can defend itself better than Palestine it has to be the bigger of the two. That is if Israel wants peace and not more land.
If I were living in Israel I for one would be voting for a ceasefire. If i lived in Palestine I would be happy to live next to a neighbour that allowed its people to live in a country it could call its own and in return allow Israel to be a country all its own.
