Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Which side is right in the Israel-Palestine conflict?

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Neither side is 100% right and neither side is 100% wrong. Western people want to view things as good and evil, and many want to view the conflict as colonialist Israel vs native Palestinians, it’s not.

I’ll try to pick three major rights and three major wrongs for both sides.

Israel:

Right: Israelis have a legit claim to the land, it is historically documented outside of the bible that they lived there.
Right: It is the center of their religion.
Right: They have the right to live in peace, free from missile attacks and terrorism.
Wrong: Israel has refused to allow Palestinians to develop Area C as defined by the Oslo Accords in such a way that would create prosperity.
Wrong: Israel has greatly limited the Palestinians' ability to develop infrastructure and to move freely.
Wrong: Israel has abused eminent domain and destroyed Palestinian villages to expand itself.

Palestine:

Right: Palestinians have a legit claim to the land. They lived there before WW2.
Right: Palestinians have a right to live and prosper.
Right: Palestinians have a right to self-determination in the form of developing their own government.
Wrong: Palestinian terrorism has been a constant detriment both to the peace process and living conditions.
Wrong: When Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, Palestinians had an opportunity to show the world a Palestinian state would be a good neighbor and peaceful friend to Israel and really put the onus on Israel. Instead, they chose to create a failed terror state that is full of poverty and uses its resources to build rockets and shoot them at Israel.
Wrong: Palestine has refused every peace offering made by Israel, including the 2008 Olmert offering giving them East Jerusalem and the Old City.

As you can see, both sides have rights and wrongs to their name. The path forward comes when the world stops viewing it as a colonial issue and starts viewing it as two groups of people who aren’t going away, and holds each group accountable for their actions at an equal level. 

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