The conflict Must Stop
If we cannot find a middle ground in dialogue, how can we expect Israel and Palestine to find a middle ground during war? After all, peace is what we’re after, right? Right. In full disclosure my analysis is as a human rights lawyer and a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community--a 125-year-old worldwide Muslim organization that arrived in Palestine in 1920. Today, Ahmadi Muslims enjoy generous religious freedom in Israel while facing increasing persecution in Palestine. I present this to emphasize the importance of justice and transparency in dialogue -- even in the face of injustice. Unfortunately, transparency and dialogue are two characteristics perennially missing in the Israel-Palestine conflict. If the end goal is peace, then we must acknowledge some realities of the Israel-Palestine conflict without polarizing one another. Ignoring facts doesn’t resolve differences; it simply ensures differences fester unchecked. If we truly want peace -- and all sides at least profess to want peace -- we must come to the negotiation table accepting 9 facts about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Where Do We Stand? Today, the United States and Israel are the closest of friends and allies. The continued strength of the U.S.-Israel alliance is rooted in the shared values of the two nations.
During more than six decades of state-building, Israelis have looked to the United States for political inspiration, financial and military assistance and diplomatic support. Americans, in turn, have viewed Israel with a special appreciation for its successful effort to follow the Western democratic tradition, its remarkable economic development, and its determined struggle against its uncompromising enemies.
.U.S. support for Israel emerges in several ways: financial, military and diplomatic. While most Americans believe that U.S. foreign aid goes to the poorest people in the poorest countries, Israel (wealthier than a number of European Union member countries) receives 25 percent of the entire U.S. foreign aid budget. Since 1976 Israel has been the highest recipient of U.S. foreign aid in the world. The congressional aid comes to about $1.8 billion a year in military aid and $1.2 billion in economic aid, plus another $1 billion or so in miscellaneous grants, mostly in military supplies, from various U.S. agencies. Tax-exempt contributions destined to Israel bring up the total to
Why does It Carry On
Many attempts have been made to broker a two-state solution, involving the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel (after Israel’s establishment in 1948). In 2007, the majority of both Israelis and Palestinians, according to a number of polls, preferred the two-state solution over any other solution as a means of resolving the conflict.[13] Moreover, a majority of Jews see the Palestinians’ demand for an independent state as just, and thinks Israel can agree to the establishment of such a state. The majority of Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have expressed a preference for a two-state solution. Mutual distrust and significant disagreements are deep over basic issues, as is the reciprocal scepticism about the other side’s commitment to upholding obligations in an eventual agreement. Within Israeli and Palestinian society, the conflict generates a wide variety of views and opinions. This highlights the deep divisions which exist not only between Israelis and Palesti-
The real Cost. A comprehensive collection mechanism to gather land mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualty data does not exist for the Palestinian territories. [276] In 2009, the United Nations Mine Action Centre reported that more than 2,500 mine and explosive remnants of war casualties occurred between 1967 and 1998, at least 794 casualties (127 killed, 654 injured and 13 unknown) occurred between 1999 to 2008 and that 12 people have been killed and 27 injured since the Gaza War.[276] The UN Mine Action Centre identified the main risks as coming from “ERW left behind by Israeli aerial and artillery weapon systems,
or from militant caches targeted by the Israeli forces.�[276] There are at least 15 confirmed minefields in the West Bank on the border with Jordan. The Palestinian National Security Forces do not have maps or records of the minefields As reported by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, since 29 September 2000 a total of 7,454 Palestinian and Israeli individuals were killed due to the conflict. According to the report, 1,317 of the 6,371 Palestinians were minors, and at least 2,996 did not participate in fighting at time of death. Palestinians killed 1,083 Israelis, including 741 civilians. 124 of those killed were minors