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Niles West News

The Student News Site of Niles West High School

Niles West News

The Student News Site of Niles West High School

Niles West News

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Conflict in the Middle East: The Israel Perspective

Junior Breana Brill on the conflict between Palestine & Israel.
Junior Breana Brill on the conflict between Palestine & Israel.
Junior Breana Brill on the conflict between Palestine & Israel.
Junior Breana Brill on the conflict between Palestine & Israel.

 Before I start this column, I’m not going to claim that I know a ton about this subject. This is an extremely sensitive topic to which I personally feel connected, but I don’t know the entire history or motives behind everything. But honestly, I’m not here to give you some history lesson or even write some sympathetic piece for one side, but rather than to clear up some of the misconceptions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I’m sure that even if some of you don’t closely follow the issue, you all know that it’s about fighting for ownership over Israel. Israel is such a hard land to deal with because of all the historical background connected to it (I know, I know. I said I wasn’t going to give a history lesson, but just give me a minute.) Palestinians look at the Zionists as intruders of their land, but I want to show you all a Bible verse: “The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.” (Genesis 12:7) This is talking about how the Lord granted the Jewish people Israel, so I don’t really think that the topic of intrusion is debatable on the Palestinians’ part, considering that many Palestinians believe in the Bible. It’s a bit contradictory.

I quickly want to look back a few decades ago (only one more lesson, I swear) when the Zionists were granted Israel as their state by Britain. It was the end of World War II where the Jewish people had experienced one of the most horrifying genocides in the 20th century; around six million innocent people were murdered in what later became known as the Holocaust. I wouldn’t say that Zionists were granted Israel out of pity, but I would say that they were being given the home that the Lord had reserved for them. For centuries Jews have suffered from discrimination and violence and have been forced to migrate from their homes countless times. According to the Old Testament, the Palestinians were already predicted to be living in Israel before it would become claimed as the Jews’ land, so it makes sense that the Palestinians borrowed the land as their home for a bit.

Fatima makes the point that the Zionists were dictating Israel, but I think that there’s a difference between dictating land and protecting it. All the checkpoints and such are just for national security, not for the fun of  preventing Palestinians from entering the land. Over the past few years, the checkpoints have caught Palestinians with weapons and bombs that would have been used for killing innocent citizens.

One of the things I hate about this subject is that everyone is so one-sided, but in reality the violence is coming from both the Palestinians and the Israelis. Palestinians have resorted to suicide bombings in public places to kill civilians, and I’m pretty sure that justifies Israels decision to put up checkpoints. There are many statistics about Palestinians killed in conflict, but suicide bombing in public places doesn’t just kill Israelis, it also kills Palestinians walking the streets, so I can’t help but wonder how many lives were lost due to their own violent actions.

Another thing I hate is when people say that the violence will end if the Palestinians get back Israel. That’s just plain ignorant. This is a conflict with the underlying motive of pure hate. It’s hard to say what will resolve this conflict, but hate doesn’t just “disappear” with an exchange of land.

I believe Israel will stop fighting when the Palestinians stop fighting. It’s the Palestinians, not Israel, perpetuating this conflict. The amount of casualities on the Palestinian side is extreme, but wouldn’t you think that would be a reason for them to stop fighting? I’m not saying that the lives lost are acceptable, but let’s be realistic here. Instead of complaining that Palestinians are outnumbered and out-weaponed, it’d probably be smart to just institute a ceasefire. It’s unethical to say that this violence is necessary for Palestine to gain control and then go and complain about all the innocent civilians lives that are being lost, because obviously the violence strategy isn’t working so well for Palestine.

Now I just want to make one thing clear, I understand that any solution would be unfair for both sides (i.e. giving Palestine Israel or letting Israel keep it’s land), but I want to look into the world of Israel and how amazing the country is. They have made so many technological advances and are one of the most advanced societies in the world. Israel has an amazingly strong army with a country full of disciplined kids because they go into the army once they turn eighteen. For just a small piece of land, they have already accomplished so much, and I don’t think it’s fair to take all those accomplishments and throw them away just to give a group of people, who don’t even make up a fourth of Israel’s population, land that the Israelis have earned.

People act like the Palestinians have such a terrible life living in Israel, but looking at the facts, that’s far from true. Arab citizens have equal voting rights, equal rights to all the laws in Israel, aren’t required to join the military and even have Arabic as a national language. In the past, when Israel was still a fairly new country, there was some unfair treatment and arrests of the Palestinians, but now any arrests due to racial, religious or political backgrounds of citizens are illegal and interrogations/death penalties rarely happen.

A lot of what Fatima’s column that has to do with unfair treatment is about areas around Israel called the West Bank and Gaza Strip which are totally different situations. Violent attacks and riots occur daily in these territories and disrupt security for all citizens. Just as any country would do to protect their land, Israel takes security measures to make sure that the lives of civilians are safe. And even with all those security measures, Israel basically granted Palestine those two pieces of land.

Now even though Palestine doesn’t have total authority over the pieces of land, they have a fair amount of autonomy. And with what control Israel does have over these areas, they’ve opened universities, helped with health care and employment and improved agriculture, all to help the Palestinians. What Fatima doesn’t mention in her column is what Palestine does with that authority they have over those pieces of land, and if Palestine did gain control of Israel, what would happen.

To conclude this column, I want to show you what Israel would look like in a world in which Palestine took over. Palestine is running a government that takes away the basic freedoms that Israel allows their citizens, such as “freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, gay rights and women’s rights.” If the Palestinian Authority were ever granted Israel, all those basic human rights would be gone. Women are not allowed to vote nor granted any rights. Newspapers are not allowed. There are no voices other then the Palestinian Authority in a world of Palestinian ruling.

A poll from Associated Press and the Washington Post taken by Arabs living in East Jerusalem indicated that 35 percent would rather live in Israel than have Palestine take over. 40 percent would prefer to become a citizen of Israel than Palestine and only 30 percent would actually want to live in a Palestinian state. I think those statistics can speak for themselves. There has also been a growing number of Palestinians applying for citizenship in Israel, and it’s not hard to see why. Every human being deserves the freedom to their rights, and Palestine just doesn’t give that to their citizens.

Some of our students that support Palestine in the conflict ask why America supports Israel. The United States supports Israel because our two nations are alike. We allow the basic rights and freedoms a human deserves, and we’re both two flourishing democracies and among the most powerful countries in the world. The U.S. and Israel both envision a peaceful world, and that’s why the U.S. supports Israel, because they want peace. Israel isn’t interested in continuing this conflict, and I wish the Palestinians and their supporters would realize that.

You don’t have to approve of the way Israel became a nation, but no one can doubt the fact that this is an amazing country with a promising future. It would be a sad day for the world if the Palestinians ever did gain power over Israel;  watching a state crumble and humans rights be destroyed would just be terrible considering how far Israel has come. One day I hope the Palestinians will realize (and some have) that Israelis and Palestinians can come and live together equally in the state of Israel because that’s when I really think that there will finally be some peace in the Middle East.

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  • L

    LauerMay 9, 2013 at 10:02 PM

    As the adviser of this publication, I typically try to stay off of the comments; however, I am posting here to inform the readers that the comments for this article have been CLOSED. Thank you for reading the NWN and passionately voicing your opinions, but I need to protect my staff from online bullying and the comments here are getting carried away. Please remember this is a STUDENT publication, and it does not represent the opinions of the Niles West community. This piece is a column that represents Miss Brill’s opinion. The writers of this site are high school students who are learning how to write and report and research; they are not professionals. Please be respectful. It’s not an easy thing to do — to pour your soul into a piece and have it ridiculed publicly. It’s okay to disagree or point out factual errors she may have made, but it’s not okay to attack her personally. That’s when I have to step in. (Note: Some previously published comments have also been deleted.)

  • F

    Faith G.May 9, 2013 at 9:51 PM

    The Palestinians are ethnically Arab, so why can’t they fit in in another other Arab country? Throughout history, the Jews have been discriminated against because they are culturally different than other groups, so it is important to give them a home, rather than just giving the Palestinians some land that will be culturally much like the rest of the Middle East.

  • A

    AlyssaMay 6, 2013 at 10:04 PM

    I’d just like to point out that before the Israelis took over, this land was nothing but desert land that no one wanted. Israel then came and took over and helped the country prosper, and if it wasn’t for the deep instilled hatred, there would be no conflict. The Jews made Israel the nation that it is today, and Breana is completely right when she says that they should not be punished for all of the accomplishments that they have made.
    Also, going back to her point about what a world ruled by Palestine would look like: we’ve all heard the stories. Not too long ago, a Palestinian man raped a woman. The woman’s husband found out, and instead of being comforted, the women was STONED by HER husband for being a VICTIM OF RAPE. Let’s also not forget that Palestinian women are not viewed as equals. They continue to get stoned, ridiculed, and their rights are stripped from them. They are forced to be covered from head to toe in order to be humble to men. They have arranged marriages and are not allowed to leave the house without being accompanied by a man. If that’s what we want for Israeli women, they I guess Palestine should take over, but if we want equality for Muslims and Jews AS WELL AS WOMEN, the land should be Israel’s. Especially because of the respect for women that is instilled in the Jewish culture.

    • B

      BobMay 7, 2013 at 9:11 PM

      Preach!

  • A

    AliMay 6, 2013 at 7:39 PM

    Niles west is a very diverse school and we should be worried about our conflicts in ‘Murica before we have our own Israeli-palestinian conflict in the building…

  • N

    Nashiha AlamMay 6, 2013 at 7:29 PM

    The first statement you made in your article really bothers me. If you are not very educated on the issue, I would advise you to try to go and seek out more knowledge on it.
    There’s a lot I see wrong in this article, but I’m only going to address a foundational question we find ourselves asking in this conflict. Why do Palestinians have to comply by Jewish teachings? You’re wrong, Palestinian Arabs do NOT believe all in the Bible, so they should not have to hold the same beliefs that Jewish people do. The problem is that millions of people were displaced in 1948, and never allowed to come back to their homes.
    The next problem is that it’s a misconception that Jewish texts mandate Zionism in Judaism. According to Jewish beliefs, Jewish tradition is to “work together for peace, social justice, equality, human rights, respect for international law, and a U.S. foreign policy based on these ideals”. I attended a Jewish Voice for Peace meeting in San Francisco a couple weeks ago, and I learned that Judaism is not complicit with Zionism. Zionism is a purely political belief, and it is important to recognize this. It’s important to realize that I am not mandating your religious beliefs, as I have no say over them, but many Jews recognize Zionism as a separate political ideology.
    There are plenty of other arguments I could make about the rest of your article, but I do see that if you take these two beliefs to be true, you can find the rest to be easy to believe. I don’t expect a huge debate to come , but you can discuss with me issues you find in my comment via email at [email protected].

    • D

      DavidMay 6, 2013 at 8:53 PM

      “If you are not very educated on the issue, I would advise you to try to go and seek out more knowledge on it.” Is sort of a rude thing to say. Especially since you followed up with this incorrect fact, “The problem is that millions of people were displaced in 1948”. In fact, the official number is 700,000 and they weren’t displaced from their homes. That’s factually incorrect. There are plenty of things to say to the rest of your comment but it’s not really worth it, is it?

      • N

        Nashiha AlamMay 9, 2013 at 5:16 PM

        I’m sorry, you’re right; it wasn’t millions, but hundreds of thousands, who WERE displaced from their homes. Does it make it any less severe? No. Look at you, so proudly undermining the number, thinking it will make your point a little more clearer.
        The population of Palestinian refugees has grown to millions though, and that’s where my mistake in the comment was derived from.
        During the British Mandate, thousands were in fact displaced through an ethnic cleansing process. This displacement was defined by the UN as the “systematic, coercive and deliberate… movement of population into or out of an area … with the effect or purpose of altering the demographic composition of a territory, particularly when that ideology or policy asserts the dominance of a certain group over another.”
        I’ve met families here in the US, and dozens of people overseas living in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, who’s families were displaced in 1948, but my word isn’t much, is it now?

        • A

          AndyMay 9, 2013 at 7:49 PM

          The governments of the Arab nations surrounding Israel told the Palestinians living within Israel that they were going to destroy it and encouraged them to go to those countries temporarily. The Israeli government did not FORCE anybody to leave. Alas, the new Israeli military was able to defeat the six nations that attacked it within hours of its declaration of independence.

          Of course, it should also be mentioned that, had the initial UN Partition been approved by the Arabs, the land which is currently Israel would have been divided into two countries, with Jerusalem as an international city.

      • M

        MaddieMay 9, 2013 at 7:20 PM

        In what parallel universe is it “rude” to ask someone to know about an issue before they take a stance on it, especially when they’re posting that opinion on a public forum that could influence others’ beliefs? Unless someone deeply knows an issue, they can’t make a truly informed decision on it.

    • F

      Faith G.May 9, 2013 at 9:41 PM

      Sure, the Palestinians had to move once Israel was given the land, but the Jews had to move countless times throughout their history. Anyway, the Palestinians could have had some of the land and chose not to take it. The British actually didn’t give the land over to the Jews, they realized they had created a big mess since the land was already inhabited and turned the issue of dividing the land over to the UN. They then proposed to divide the land into 3 Arab parts and 3 Jewish parts, while Israel would be kept an international space because of its significance to both groups, as well as to Christians. The Palestinians didn’t agree to this and wanted all of the land for themselves so they went to war over it. They realized that it was all or nothing, and they gambled and lost. The Jews had the sympathy and support of the West, so the Palestinians should’ve realized they were fighting a losing battle and accepted the compromise. In my opinion, they’re just bitter because they took a risk and didn’t end up with what they wanted.

  • J

    johnMay 6, 2013 at 7:15 PM

    The palestinians refuse to coexist with jews due to pure unfounded hatred. The palestinians living in Israel are treated equal under israeli law. Women are treated like dogs in palestine proving palestinians who fight against Israel are uneducated people stuck in the past.

    • B

      BenMay 6, 2013 at 7:47 PM

      *applauds*

      • D

        DavidMay 6, 2013 at 8:56 PM

        *applauds*

  • T

    Take GAW...pleaseMay 6, 2013 at 7:08 PM

    You contradict yourself quite a bit. I would go back and find more instances but it’s exhausting. I don’t have an opinion on this topic, I just think the writing should be better quality. If you’re going to form a an opinion, the structure of the argument should be sound. This sounds like an angry rant with a smattering of claims that it is not in fact an angry rant.

    “One of the things I hate about this subject is that everyone is so one-sided, but in reality the violence is coming from both the Palestinians and the Israelis”

    Just a few lines later

    “It’s the Palestinians, not Israel, perpetuating this conflict.”

    • A

      A GAW SurvivorMay 6, 2013 at 7:34 PM

      Instead of being rude and picking on her writing, why don’t you focus on the topic at hand here, the conflicts in the Middle East. If your mission in commenting on this article was solely to harass her on her writing skills, you’re clearly not focusing on what you should be focusing on. This is coming from a GAW survivor by the way.

      • B

        BenMay 6, 2013 at 7:44 PM

        *applauds*

  • F

    Frustrated YouthMay 6, 2013 at 4:18 PM

    Reading this article I came across MANY disagreements with your stance, but I shall highlight the ones that stuck out like a sore thumb to me. I will first start out with a comment you made.
    You said, “I believe Israel will stop fighting when the Palestinians stop fighting. It’s the Palestinians, not Israel, perpetuating this conflict.” This perfectly displays your lack of outside knowledge of this subject. Let’s start with the mode of battle. Israel is one of the world’s leading nuclear powers with some of the most technologically advanced weaponry. On the other side you have Palestine, a nation with outdated guns, some engineered hand grenades and bombs made from random materials, and mostly bricks. If you have ever seen actual footage from fighting in Palestine you’ll see Israel mercilessly shooting up and bombing Israel and what do the Palestinians do? They throw bricks. Israel is constantly flying fighter planes above Palestine and will randomly drop bombs on innocent civilians. And you say that Palestinians perpetuate the conflict? Well if that is so why is it that when conflict does break out, that only 5 Israelis die opposed to the 5000 Palestinians? You’d think the offensive would be more successful.

    Next, You attacked Fatima’s point by saying “All the checkpoints and such are just for national security, not for the fun of preventing Palestinians from entering the land.” I highly disagree with this because this last summer of 2012, a family of Palestinians I know were denied access into their OWN homeland of Palestine by Israeli forces. They were told that entering Palestine would compromise their US citizenship. Tell me this, how is this protection? What does a family of Palestinians living in the US have that is so potentially dangerous that Israel cannot let them enter? You think this is protection? I think not.

    Also as a future reference, since you are writing about a political situation, using religion to justify your perspective is not a reliable source at all. Holy texts of any religion can be depicted differently and used to counter each other. Just because a set religion believes God has predestined them to the land, does not mean they can go around demanding rights over it. It DOES NOT work in the real world.

    Lastly, if you claim that you do not know a lot about a topic, you should not try defending it so strongly with pointless babble. At least Fatima had firsthand sources to back her opinion. I advise you get out there and enlighten yourself some more and actually look at BOTH perspectives this time.
    Enjoy the rest of your day.

    • U

      Um....May 6, 2013 at 6:01 PM

      First of all, you seem to be under the assumption that superior weaponry implies malicious intention. You make the leap that Israel’s technological advancement means it’s the aggressor. I’m not taking a stance on whether it is or not, but there’s literally no relationship whatsoever between how good a nation’s gun works and how hellbent on destruction it is. By that logic, you should hate America and most of Europe too.

      Also, did it cross your mind that perhaps the reason that less Israeli citizens die in combat is because it values the protection of its citizens? It puts millions of dollars of research and technology into the Iron Dome program, while Palestine spends tantamount to that price on rockets–technologically advanced rockets, I should mention–that it threatens to send into cities like Jerusalem, about equally populated with Jewish Israelies and pro-Palestinian Arabs, as well as peaceful moderates. And Christians, to boot.

      By the way, where do you get that Israel’s soldiers spray bullets ‘mercilessly’ upon Palestinian civilians? Can you cite some statistic or anecdote where Israelis deliberately targeted innocents? How about where they admit their lack of compassion? I’m pretty sure the soldiers of one of the most well-trained militaries on the planet don’t laugh maniacally and display a total lack of mercy when they go into battle.

      You also use your personal anecdote–which any English high school student will tell you should never be used to support a general claim in an argument–to imply that all Palestinians are subject to the tyranny of Israel. I won’t claim that treatment is fair in practice, but I can speak for the Israeli government when I say that unknown Palestinians entering the country has posed legitimate threat to Israel before. The American in you might respond angrily that that’s racial profiling and they should give the family the benefit of the doubt, but in Israel, pretty much every Jewish citizen has been or knows someone who has been beat up or killed by a terrorist, many of whom are legal citizens of the state.

      Last–just wanted to clarify that she wasn’t using religion to justify her perspective. She was pointing out the hypocrisy of the Palestinians who claim that they believe without exception in the word of the Old Testament, and then claim right to a land explicitly stated as not theirs in that same holy text.

      • B

        BenMay 6, 2013 at 7:46 PM

        *applauds*

  • W

    What?May 6, 2013 at 2:16 PM

    ” The U.S. and Israel both envision a peaceful world, and that’s why the U.S. supports Israel, because they want peace.”

    — then why do they provide them with weapons and money for weapons?

    “It’s the Palestinians, not Israel, perpetuating this conflict.”

    — says who? How can you make that claim? What statistics do you have that shows this?

    I feel like this article would be stronger if you hadn’t just generalized but instead provided statistics, links, and facts from reliable sources to back up your opinion. Saying “There are many statistics about Palestinians killed in conflict..” and other such generalizations doesn’t do anything to provide a foundation for your arguments.

    This is rather general. I liked how the other one had quotes and other opinions from first hand witnesses and it wasn’t just 110% opinion without fact. I understand this was a column but I just feel the writing was too biased and did not have any evidence to claim to help it. It didn’t give you ethos, what right do you have to write about this?

    I’m not claiming to be an expert in this topic; I really don’t know anything. I get the feeling you don’t either nor do I feel like this was heavily researched. If you had laid out all the cards on the table and said look at exhibit A, B, and C, I could hold some respect for this article, which besides from the validity errors isn’t terribly written. I just can’t hold it on an argument that holds no statistics (The same goes for the other argument, but this one was more faulty) It didn’t provide a good argument.