Is the United States creating another Middle East conflict?

An ongoing story with the Iranian ship suspected of carrying weapons for Hamas has taken an interesting twist. Last week US released the ship after determining that the cargo was not intended for Hamas, despite the fact that Iran is in clear violation of a UN resolution preventing Iran from selling weaponry.

The ship is now in the custody of Cyprus and according to the latest story from DEBKAfile and surprisingly from AsiaNews, Cyprus finds itself in a pickle. US who just let go of the ship is pressuring Cyprus to search the ship and take action. One might wonder why the United States is pressuring Cyprus to do a task, that could have been just as easily done last week. Consequently, Iran is threatening Cyprus with economic and possibly military retribution if the ship is not released immediately. Cyprus fears that if the ship is released, then Israel will be forced to intervene and handle this mess in ways Israel sees fit. This could have the potential of escalating already very tense relations between Iran and Israel.

There are several questions that Americans should be asking here though.

1. The ship was siezed while Bush was still in power, why was it not properly searched? After all, they already determined that the cargo load contained 60 tons of weapons which were undeclared.
2. Why did Obama release the ship?
3. Why is this story blacked out in US media? There appears to be orders from the top to make no mention of this in any major news media.
4. In light of Obama’s al-Arabiya interview, is he possibly pawning off the difficult task of searching the ship on Cyprus in an effort to preserve relations?
5. What could be the consequences of US backing down and Israel taking the brunt of Iran’s retribution if the situations escalates.

I for one find the story to be of paramount importance for one sole reason. If the world is truly interested in pursuing a peaceful resolution between Israel and the Palestinian people then Iran’s continuing arming of Hamas is a direct affront to this desire. The first order of business should be the complete and total termination of all weapons flowing into Gaza. Obama can claim that he wishes to pursue a two state solution yet at the same time chooses to disregard the primary source of the problem. Lastly, the order to block this story from American eyes is frustrating and disappointing.

Israel and Palestinians – the real history.

In the midst of the massive propaganda war it is easy to forget what is truly the source of all the conflicts. Unfortunately the media is interested in sensationalizing the violence and concentrating on daily activities, they have no time to truly explain what the two sides are fighting for nor do they care or know. To further exacerbate the situation, both the Israelis and the Palestinians have launched campaigns to win over the minds and hearts of the world. While civilian death are always tragic, regardless of what side, the tragedy comes from not so much the immediate loss of life, but the utter hopelessness of the situation at hand. Specifically the mentality that currently exists in the Arab world, is such that future civilian death becomes a most certain inevitability and this is where the sadness lies.

If you are truly interested in learning the source of the problem, then there are two articles that are highly recommended. When encountering passionate pro-Palestinian supporters, one quickly determines that the root of the problem is almost always the legality of Israel’s existence. Palestinians and Arabs as a whole insist without question that Israel has occupied Palestinian land and therefore all resistance – even terrorism – is justifiable. Now, the severity of this argument varies from extremist Hamas to the more moderate Fatah – who accept Israel’s existence, but begrudgingly so.

The first article is an Iraqi author by the name of Aref Alwan. This particular article is a collection of excerpts from his piece called: The Jews Have an Historic Right to Palestine

It is a somewhat lengthy read, but I will summarize it here for you – I urge to read it yourself though. Mr. Alwan argues that the current Arabic community has accused the Israelis of stealing Palestinian land, more importantly referring to something called the Nakba (disaster) when Israel won it’s independence in 1948. They perpetuate this disaster in the academia, government, civil life and in the international community. The Arab coalition consisting of modern Arabic states pushes this agenda out of a false premise. A premise, that the Jews acquired land that Palestinians rightfully own. Yet, the crux of the article is that the entire premise is based on a fallacy. You see, the land belongs to the Jews and the Christians more than it does to the Muslims. There has been overwhelming and demonstrable proof that Israelis have claim to the land stretching back for over 3,000 years. Unfortunately the ancient Israelis were banished by the Romans and formed the modern Diaspora. Still, the capturing of the Muslim lands thousands of years later does not give them any right to this land – what so ever. Yet Arabs refuse to accept this painful fact and continue pointing to Dome of the Rock (their holy site) as proof of their ownership meanwhile ignoring that even the Dome of the Rock sits on Jewish and Christian holy sites existing well before the Muslims ever arrived.

If only the modern Arabs stopped brainwashing the masses for their own political agenda there could be a possible albeit difficult road to peace. For this a fundamental shift in mentality of all Arabs must begin immediately.

The second article, is about 6 years old, but still contains very relevant and very important information. It is from U.S. Senator James Inhofe and he defends Israel’s right to exist.

This is a very easy read and something that should be virtually mandatory reading. You already got this far, might as well! In summary, he points to strong historical proof that Israelis indeed have the right to the land in fact as much right as the Jordanians, Iraqis, Syrians and the Lebanese have to their own homelands. In fact the aforementioned countries are about as ‘young’ as Israel and are all larger in size. In fact, once the British defeated the Turks at the end of WW1 they promised the Jews all of what today is Israel + Jordan! Senator Inhofe further points out that the land was desolate, empty and useless and in fact nobody wanted it. There are further points that he makes, one of which has to do with a Biblical reference – something he could have left out – but he still makes a most excellent presentation.

I think everyone needs to step back from the propaganda being slung across all media channels and recognize that there is a fundamental tragedy that has gripped entire nations. A certain fabricated story has been systemically spun and entrenched within the minds of Arabs, Europeans and some Americans. An idea that Israel has wrongfully claimed land belonging to the Palestinians and subjected them to cruel and unusual punishment. Yet the truth is that Israel was given an opportunity to return to their rightful origin and they gladly accepted even though it was much smaller than originally promised and most importantly that they would be sharing it with the Palestinians. However the Arabs united and were determined to drive the Israelis out – who by that time already built themselves a home (they have been heavily migrating since the early 1900s) – and failed. Arabs lost land that they were given in a war and created a ghetto out of the Gaza Strip. They tried again in 1967 and failed once more. These historic events are much more important than the number of rockets fired from Gaza or how much water/electricity Israel has blocked off. To truly maintain an intelligent conversation on this subject, we must all get back to basics. Now the Arab world consisting of hundreds of million of people and massive swaths of land insist that tiny Israel and it’s 6 million occupants living in a desert, are occupiers and murderers.
This would all be rather humorous if it were not so bloody tragic.

War on Hamas, a waste of time?

As I watch the war versus Hamas develop and the ground invasion roll out I am thinking to myself, what is the purpose of all this? Some of the effects are quite clear, others are a bit muddied.

Clear effects are the easily tangible and observable ones. A most striking and obvious phenomenon is that everyone has an opinion. The blogosphere is rife with opinions; some angry and passionate, some muted and somber. Coverage is non-stop and the pundits offer a bouquet of insight and opinions. What is clear to me at least, is that this particular war that started in the hay days of 2008 is a very polarizing war. People have for the most part scurried into two major camps; First camp is of the opinion that Hamas must be wiped out at all costs, the second camp believes without equivocation that Israel is in the midst of genocide and performing atrocities every day. Naturally there are some (minority) that find themselves in the middle, sympathetic to the plight of Israel’s security and the dying Palestinian civilians. Unfortunately as all things political, the truth is hard to uncover and both sides have launched campaigns to win the hearts and minds of onlookers.

While I can certainly share my sentiment on which camp I prefer to align myself with, the purpose of this post is to illustrate that both sides are wasting their time. I have already realized that weeks spent researching the historical development of Israel and understanding the legalities of the country’s existence are not relevant to modern day discussion. Either people are not interested in such trivialities or the issue of the day has become something else – life.

Life to most people is precious and the idea that life is being destroyed at such alarming rates should rattle anyone, regardless of political affiliation. So, assuming you agree, the question that I pose is this.

What will the current invasion of Gaza, accomplish?

We can probably conclude that it will do some of the following:

• Severely cripple Hamas infrastructure
• Take out or destroy a good percentage of rocket launchers
• Shut down smuggling tunnels used for weapons, rockets, food, medicine, etc.
• Take out important high-ranking Hamas leadership
• Stem the flow of rocket fire
• Agitate and anger the civilian population
• Agitate and anger the Arab community
• Raise anti-semitism and anti-Israeli sentiment around the world.

We can also probably conclude that in a certain amount of time the following will occur:

• Hamas infrastructure will rebuild
• Rocket launchers will be built or shipped back into Gaza
• New tunnels will be built
• Hamas leadership will be replaced with young zealous anti-Israelis
• Rocket fire will continue AND/OR suicide bombers will enter Israel again.
• Civilian population will still be angry and resentful
• Arab community will still be angry and resentful
• Anti-semitism and anti-Israeli sentiment will remain unchanged

Consequently another war or conflict will develop and the events of today will repeat themselves ad nauseaum. Israel has a right to exist and is a sovereign nation, that much most civilized and intelligent people can agree on. Therefore this country has every right to protect itself, however is applying a band-aid on a festering and rotting wound truly the best approach? It strikes me as not, considering we have witnessed years of suicide bombers, rocket fire, air strikes and invasions with no avail. In fact Hamas taking over Gaza and displacing Mahmoud Abbas’s control has been a regression, not a positive development for the region.

So while the Left and the Right spend infinite amount of time arguing about which group is committing more atrocities, I am wondering what exactly will the future hold? Observing the escalation of violence, I can conclude that it is only a matter of time until Hamas or Hezbollah acquire weapons that will fly further, hit harder and cause more damage. Israel will respond like it always does and the cycle will repeat itself. Death tolls will rise and it will make the current conflict look like a walk in the park. There will be no scapegoats and no one to blame, because everyone will lose.

What can be done?

The solution as I see it, can only be achieved in one way. Israel must completely and fully seal it’s borders. No entrance of civilians can be allowed from Gaza to Israel or vice versa, one point of entry should be established for diplomatic reasons. If Egyptians can shoot Palestinians for fleeing Gaza, Israel should have every right to refuse entry.

Next, Gaza should be treated like a country. Taliban controlled Afghanistan and that was a way of life for years, Hamas can control Gaza if it wishes. If the international community wants to provide aid or assistance to Gaza, it should be allowed with no intervention from Israel.

Once sovereignty is established and borders are defined, any violations can be and should be considered acts of war. If Israel is attacked by the sovereignty of Gaza, it can respond like any modern day country would respond – with an invasion. It would have every right to attack, invade or assault Gaza just like America responded to Afghanistan’s Taliban, or the Allies versus the Axis in WW2. Israel can and should have every right to remove the leadership, install it’s own government, install a puppet government or do whatever it pleases. It goes without saying that the rules can be applied vice versa as well, although there have been no precedent – Israel will respect Gaza and it’s sovereignty.

All UN resolutions pertaining to the matter of Israel and the Palestinians shall be ignored, for they have been completely and utterly ineffective.

This is the only way in which a long lasting peace can be achieved.