When we look at the Israel-Palestine conflict, we need to question the role of the U.S. and its unwavering partiality to Israel. America has defended the Israelis through thick and thin. We endured the 1970s oil embargo after supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur War and convinced Egypt to recognize Israel's sovereignty in the Camp David Accords. But an alliance should not come at the expense of human rights. Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has spread illegal settlements in Palestine and devastated the people of Gaza; Israel has recklessly killed thousands of civilians including students at a United Nations school. Yet many American politicians like Hillary Clinton support Israel wholeheartedly and the U.S. gave $38 billion in military aid in September 2016. How can the U.S. maintain its relationship with Israel while finding peace in Palestine?
The US truly has provided a tremendous amount of financial and military aid to Israel to secure peace in the region and facilitate the development of an autonomous Palestinian state. Relations with between the US and Palestine, on the other hand, have been historically sour, especially after the Persian Gulf War. I believe that the US should facilitate more discussions and talks between Israel and Palestine on developing a two-state solution, though this is much trickier than it seems.
(Source: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/middle_east-jan-june06-us_05-11/)
I agree that the U.S. has taken some efforts in facilitating peace and has disavowed Israel for some of their force by criticizing the 2014 Israeli shellings and not supporting Israeli settlements in a UN Security Council vote this past December. However, I feel the U.S. has not done enough to make Israel face consequences for breaking international law. People around the world, such as members of the BDS movement, want to pressure Israel into respecting Palestine's sovereignty through boycotts and sanctions, whereas the U.S. has voted against statehood for Palestine in the UN several times.
Why do you believe that the US has voted against statehood for Palestine? Do you believe that other bodies should be responsible for holding Israel accountable when they break international law?
The Huffington Post article linked below explains it best. Regardless of my speculation, but the U.S. voting record shows stubborn opposition. In November 2012, The UN General Assembly voted on Resolution 67/19, which upgraded Palestine's status to a non-member observer state within the UN; the U.S. was one of 9 nations to veto. In December 2014, the UN Security Council voted on a draft resolution to grant statehood to Palestine and the U.S. was one of two nations to veto the resolution. Then-U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said, "This resolution sets the stage for more division, not for compromise." Though President Obama showed flexibility on the issue, to this day, the U.S. does not recognize Palestine as a state.
As for holding Israel accountable, I think the nations with the greatest financial influence on Israel should use their leverage to get Prime Minister Netanyahu to halt on colonization and negotiate a fair peace treaty with Palestine.
Sources:
https://www.un.org/press/en/2012/ga11317.doc.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dashanne-stokes/is-this-the-real-reason-why-us-wont-recognize-palestine_b_9777246.html
https://www.rt.com/news/217975-unsc-palestine-statehood-vote/
I just wanted to say that I think this cartoon truly represents the confusion that most Americans have related to the Israel-Palestine issue. Unfortunately, Palestinians are often portrayed as wicked or as terrorists who threaten Israel's peace, without taking into consideration the whole picture. I believe there is a lot of brainwashing being made in the media and people take it as it is.
A lot of American media sources provide a 'simplistic' or one-sided view of the issue, unfortunately. What sources would you suggest for Americans to inform themselves on the Israel-Palestine issue?
In order to get the best view of the conflict, I think it is important to hear arguments from both sides. I have plenty of Jewish friends that are Zionist and I have discussed the I/P conflict multiple times with them. I myself am Muslim and also have many close friends from Palestine, and have heard their views on the conflict. I have also went to the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv myself, so I feel that because I am able to hear so many perspectives on this conflict firsthand, I can understand this issue.
Granted, not everyone can afford to go to Israel or Palestine, nor may they have friends from the area. However, I deeply recommend reading issues from the Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post, The Arab News, or Al-Jazeera, since they offer perspectives from people actually living in or near the conflict zone. I also recommend reading timelines of the conflict on BBC. I think that they are, for the most part, pretty neutral and offer a great overview of the conflict, allowing the reader to formulate their own opinion without being affected by the bias of the author. I completely agree that many news sources are very one sided. Some are in full support of Israel without offering the view of the other side, and others are in support of Palestine without even mentioning arguments from the other perspective.