I Stand With Peace

Let me preface this by saying this isn't any sort of political diatribe and any extensive use of first person is not me proclaiming the words of God but simply to emphasize that everything stated here is simply my opinion.

A few weeks ago, I remember seeing all of the Israel and Palestine posts on Facebook and casually blowing them off as "just a phase"--another trend in social media culture. (How sad is it that we live in a world where we aren't even fazed by these day to day tragedies? From missing planes to shot-down planes to the bombings of civilian homes in the Middle East--none of these have any impact on us but they are the daily lives of thousands.)

A week or so ago, I began educating myself on this highly debated Israel-Palestine conflict; learning about the history, reading about the latest fighting, and lamenting for the hundreds of dead Palestinians and the twenty injured Israelis.

I was taken aback by everything I found. I couldn't believe a problem that sounded so simple could be so difficult to solve. In all honesty, I was disgusted by what was happening. Israel firing missiles at densely populated areas of Gaza as "self-defense" is like a cat using a bazooka gun to protect itself from a mouse. The IDF may be fighting Hamas but the civilians of Gaza are the ones feeling the blow. And then you have the United States and some other strong Western powers, whom I fear only support Israel for very selfish reasons--that reason being that it is their only ally state in a very politically unstable region of the world. I find it incredulous that anyone can deny what is happening in Gaza right now is a violation of human rights. And a huge problem is that when no one (as in, no powerful nation) steps in and defends the people of Palestine, the terrorist groups like Hamas grow much stronger. This is how dictator regimes are formed--a group, that turns out to not have the best intentions, is willing to fight FOR THE PEOPLE when no one else will. The citizens of Gaza are not terrorists. They are not criminals. They are not any lesser human beings than you and I. And thus they should be treated...humanely.  

It's amazing what social media has done to the current age, especially in relation to the news and current events. It has made it so much faster  to receive new information and to make your voice publicly heard. But I see these statuses "I stand with Israel" or "I stand with Palestine" and suddenly it's like we are treating this terrible situation like it's a sports game. We pick sides and cheer for a victory. We boo when the other side seems to be advancing, insulting them and their tactics and their people. And we see "our victory", not for the pain or destruction it has caused the opposition, but as a testament to our strength and righteousness. 

In a problem as complex as this one, there shouldn't be distinct sides. George Washington had it right centuries ago when he warned the emerging United States government from party politics. It only does more harm than good. You get these groups of people who identify with each other and are often rigid in their support. One of the biggest problems we have today is bandwagon-ing ignorance--people jumping on board with what "their side" says without even knowing the whole story. 

When it comes to us, the people on the outside, we owe it to those directly involved in the conflict to take into account both sides of the story. Why do I have to support Israel if I'm Jewish? Why is it assumed I only support the Palestinians because I'm Muslim? Why can't we support peace and justice in this region without placing culpability and shaming a particular "team"? At the end of the day, it's not about the Israelis did this to the Palestinians or the Palestinians did this to the Israelis. Humans did this to other humans. And in passing judgement on the situation, we have to be human enough to determine right from wrong. 

Sources:
9 questions about the Israel-Palestine conflict you were too embarrassed to ask
Dennis Prager's video on the Israel-Arab conflict (For this source, I would also like to mention how much I dislike the way he handled and described this. Bluntly exclaiming "one side wants the other side dead" is an extreme simplification of an idea that is not that simple. By stating this, he essentially says that all of the people of Gaza want to destroy Israel and thus he justifies the killing of so many civilians.)
Israel & Palestine