Week 5 Discussion Response

Unfortunately I was quite sick this week and only made it to half a class (yay, the flu!). But even the half of class that I made it to today was fascinating. I had never heard of Ir-Amim before this class, so when I realized what it was all about, I was excited for today's speaker. Hearing her talk about not just the settlement construction, but also the highway construction and the way it physically divides Palestinians from other Palestinians and at the rate at which Israelis are working to push these projects forward was alarming.

As I listened to her speak, I tried to put myself in the shoes of the Israelis to figure out the motivation to push these projects forward so rapidly. Of course they want to push Palestinians out of Jerusalem, but why not negotiate first? Why not use the desire to push these projects forward to propel motivation for peace talks? Why not compromise, like Palestinians pushed for with moving the highway construction? I have not come up with any answers that put Israelis in a positive light. Israelis pushing Palestinians into small, unsafe neighborhoods is a blatant slap in the face to them as human beings. It shows that they clearly have no intention of sharing Jerusalem and no intention of working for the welfare of both groups of people of the region. While the Israeli government's duty is to its own people, it also has the duty to be respectful of its neighbors. Israel does not recognize Palestinian sovereignty and does not have an intention of doing so based on its actions. It's incredibly sad to see this horrid mistreatment of another group of people, perpetrated by a government that receives unconditional support from the United States (and, by extension, its taxpayers). This in no way excuses violence that Palestinians use against Israelis, but it most certainly explains their motivation for using it.

This makes the discussion of peace more complicated. How can one ask two groups of people to negotiate when there is no respect between the two groups? And no desire to work together to end the conflict? It's incredibly difficult to bring Israelis and Palestinians to the table with this type of behavior. It seems almost childish to me that one government is bullying another group of people for their own gains. However, this is nothing new. Israelis have continuously mistreated Palestinians, just as other states around the world mistreat their neighbors. Again, I am not saying Palestinians share no blame, because they do. But they did not bring Israeli settlements, highways, and parks upon themselves.

Discussion Questions: 

1. What should the U.S. do, if anything, about Israel's construction of settlements, highways, and parks on Palestinian territory?

2. Palestinians have continuously stated that they will not engage in peace talks until settlement construction is halted. Do you think Israelis actually have any intention of doing this?