Americans should scrutinize Israeli-Palestinian conflict
A recent article in the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz showed a t-shirt with a pregnant Palestinian woman between a bull’s-eye with a slogan underneath it that read, “”1 Shot, 2 Kills.”” This design is just one of several disturbing images that Israeli Defense Forces have printed on t-shirts to show completion of training or completion of service in the Palestinian territories. Unfortunately, incidents like this are only minor in comparison to some of the other crimes committed by the IDF. Israel’s own human rights organization, B’Tselem, reported that during Operation Cast Lead at the beginning of the year, an IDF tank fired on an ambulance transporting wounded Palestinians to a hospital.
The IDF unfortunately is not the only part of the Israeli government that has dehumanized the Palestinians or ignored their rights. Under the pretext of security necessity, in 2004 the Israeli High Court allowed the military to construct a “”security barrier”” that illegally encroaches onto Palestinian land. According to the court the “”security barrier”” is only to be temporary until a final Israeli-Palestinian settlement is reached.
According to some Israeli officials, such as Israel’s foreign minister Tzipi Livni, “”The wall will serve as the future borders of Israel.”” Israel’s High Court ruling directly contradicts that of the International Court of Justice, which ruled 14-1 that the “”security barrier”” is illegal. B’Tselem and other human rights organizations also determined that annexation was the real factor driving the construction of the “”security barrier.”” I have always been someone who has looked at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in an objective way and tried to determine what role the United States should play in helping resolve the conflict peacefully. The conventional wisdom in the United States regarding the conflict is that the Palestinians are a bunch of savage terrorists and Israel is an important American ally that shares our values. But after reading articles like the one mentioned above in Ha’aretz and examining other actions carried out by Israel’s government I think it is time that the United States reassess its policy toward Israel and the Middle East.
William Renshaw
finance senior
