The Conflict that must be resolved!

by: Felix Santana

5/30/13

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the longest conflicts between two countries that is known to mankind today. Many people however make judgments on the conflict even when most people don't even know the whole story. This conflict has been haunting the middle east for almost 60 years now.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict all started after World War II. World War II is commonly known for its holocaust in which six million Jewish people lost their lives. The Jewish community had been targets all throughout World War II and many other wars. The United Nations brought up the idea of the partition of Palestine. The partition of Palestine separated Palestine into two different countries. One country was Israel the homeland of the Jews. The other country was Palestine homeland to the Arabs. The partition of Palestine gave 55% of Palestine to Israel and 45% of Palestine to the new Palestine. This uneven dividing of the land was one of many things that angered the Arabs and so on May 15, 1948 one day after Israel was officially declared, six Arab nations including Palestine, attacked Israel. This was the start of this long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On June 5th, 1967 Israel attacked Egypt, Syria and Jordan and in only six days Israel defeats all of them. After the victory Israel took control of the West Bank, Sinai, Golan Heights, and the Gaza Strip. In 1987 The first Intifada began, Palestinians uprising against Israeli occupation. An attempt at peace was made in the year 2000. President Clinton, Israeli prime minister, and the Palestinian president met at Camp David in the United States to negotiate a final peace agreement, however no peace treaty was agreed upon. The Palestinian people had no land at that time to call their own, all of them were living in different countries and in refugee camps. This was because of the many wars that had occurred. The second Intifada began with Palestinian suicide bombers blowing up and killing Israeli civilians. In 2005 the Gaza Strip which was under Israeli occupation was given back to the Palestinian government. The Gaza strip is now controlled by a group Hamas. Hamas the Palestinian government unfortunately is believed to be a terrorist organization.

In the Autobiography The Hour of Sunlight by Sami Al Jundi and Jen Marlow, Sami explains his harsh childhood living in Jordan then having to evacuate to Jerusalem because of the Israeli invasion. Sami living in Jerusalem was very crazy and exotic. There were lots of riots and events where Arabs displayed their anger and hatred for Israelis. There was particular moment in the book that caught my attention. One day Sami and his friend Abbas go to a public pool just to go swimming and have fun like all children want to do. At the pool a group of ten Israeli teenagers appear to go swimming as well but things change when they see Sami. Sami goes to get his towels for him and Abbas but the Israeli teens surround him “ The circle of boys began shoving and pushing me. ‘Fucking dirty Arab. We don’t want garbage like you here!’ One boy spit on me.” (The Hour of Sunlight, 55). Then the boys jump him and beat him up. Sami was only a boy around the age of 10 while the teenagers were more a lot older. Sami basically had gotten beaten up just because he was an Arab. The hatred between Israelis and Palestinians is so strong it even affects younger children and their mentality.

The hatred that Israelis and Palestinians have for each other is so big that even if you are women or a young child you still be disrespected or even killed. In the article A Preventable Massacre by Seth Anziska it helps point out the atrocities that have been committed during this long conflict. Seth Anziska writes "On the night of Sept. 16, 1982, the Israeli military allowed a right-wing Lebanese militia to enter two Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut. In the ensuing three-day rampage, the militia, linked to Maronite Christian Phalange Party, raped, killed and dismembered at least 800 civilians, while Israeli flares illuminated the camps' narrow and darkened alleyways. Nearly all of the dead were women, children and elderly men." (Anziska, Seth). No mercy was spared for the people that should have been left alone and respected. Over 800 innocent poor civilians were just killed because they were believed to be terrorists by the Israelis. The death toll for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict as a whole up to the year 2009 is 24,841 Israelis killed, 35,356 Israelis wounded, 90,785 Palestinians killed, 67,602 Palestinians wounded. The Land of Israel is not a big land. So the number of Israelis being killed/wounded is wrong. However whats even more wrong and messed up is how many Palestinians have been killed/wounded. Palestinians did not even have a land to call their own until 2005 yet they lost so many.

So many lives have been demolished throughout all these years. So much fighting has occurred and innocent civilians on both sides Israeli and Palestinian have suffered and even some have lost their own lives due to many suicide bombings. A lot of these suicide bombers have been young kids as well. For example, Nineteen year old boys and maybe even eighteen. Another example, in the article Palestinian Suicide Bomber kills 5 in an Israeli town by Greg Myre and Dina Kraft a man named Hassan Abu Zeid, who was in his 20's was the suicide bomber responsible for killing not only himself but 5 others and wounding more than 24 people. Young kids, teenagers, adults blowing themselves up and taking others peoples lives as well as their own. 

(Photo taken from New York Times)

Life is important. It is not something light and to be thought of small. Life is valuable and there is so many things out in the world. The World is a huge place full of wonders and many exciting new things. Every child in their lifetime dreams of traveling the world and seeing what the outside looks like. However kids that are born to this world in Israel and Palestine do not get to dream the of wonders of the vast world that lies in front of them. All they see is hatred and death before them. Then some of them get eaten up by that hatred and go out seeking to hurt others at all costs even if they lose their own life. 

(Photo taken from Guardian.co.uk)

The world we know now is ruled by older people. The elder people start wars and create conflict based on how they think. Yet they are never the ones to fight. They never fight their own battles. It is always the younger people that must fight,suffer,cry,bleed and die. However we, the younger generation have the power to change this. our numbers are great and we are the future of this world so we should make ourselves be heard. We can make the world and the elders hear us and listen to us. We can show them that in order to be wise and make wise decisions you don't just have to be old. You just need a heart, a soul that is willing to reach out to others and help. Peaceful Demonstrations with many posters and people would help get our voices heard. Also, a long march. For example Marching from the city of New York to Washington D.C. If we were to march while holding up posters and showing demonstrations we could help get our voices heard. We could show and tell the whole world that peace is a need. If we could get the President to hear us out then soon we could get the kids of Israel and Palestine to hear us out. Lets show them the outside world full of wonders. No more death, no more teenagers blowing themselves up. We could end this all. We the new generation are the power and might of this world nobody else.