For about the last six months, Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian groups have been at war along the Gaza Strip. As tensions have ebbed and flowed, it’s been sad to watch the destruction and devastation — but what about the stories we don’t see in nearby countries?
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As normal people on our own, we can’t really do anything that will put a stop to the bombings, the injury, the genocide. However, as a collective, we can put in an effort to attain peace by providing humanitarian aid, writing to Congress for cease-fire, supporting Palestinian-owned businesses or even just spreading the word on how to help if you don’t have much to give. In the grand scheme of the war, these acts may seem small, but the truth is that Gazans will take all the help they can get.
Burleson said that in a time of intercession for those involved in a conflict, one must lay down one’s own burden and be willing to be burdened for others, and the prayer was an opportunity for the Baylor community to take on the burden of the Israeli and Palestinian people.
Five faculty members spoke in a Baylor-hosted discussion on Israel and Palestine Wednesday to help students, faculty and staff “learn and understand the political, historical, and religious context to the war now being waged,” according to the Office of the President.
There is honest and healthy debate to be had about Israeli politics and the path toward permanent peace in the region. But Hamas wants to play no role in that discussion. Hamas wants nothing but the death of the Jewish people. They have said so for years, and this Simchat Torah we watched in horror as they sought to make good on their word.
This is not something that can or should be reduced to a single repost in support of Israel or in support of Palestine. People are dying. Violence is ongoing. Having tunnel-vision on one opinion or another and making this about taking sides is insensitive. Violence to this extent is wrong, no matter what.
Death tolls continue to rise in Israel and Palestine after Hamas — the governing Palestinian body in the Gaza Strip — launched a surprise attack on Israel Saturday. In retaliation, Israel sent air strikes to the Gaza Strip Monday.
Israel or Palestine? This has been a recurring question on the international docket and is one that has returned to center stage this month.
Palestinian plans to submit an application of membership to the U.N. Security Council at this month’s United Nations General Assembly have resurrected the never really dormant 60-year feud.
Most people I know have made a quick decision about the conflict, a conflict that is so far from any immediate impact in the daily life of a Wacoan.
Honestly, it’s not as cut-and-dry as just Israelis or Palestinians, Jews or Arabs. It never is.
Israeli guerilla forces took land by force that was later annexed into the state of Israel in the late 40s, but all is fair in war, right? If the Palestinians couldn’t defend their land, they should lose it, right?
Let’s flip the coin.
Palestinians were quickly marginalized and taken advantage of by the newly declared state of Israel. We’re supposed to protect the weak, right?
If Palestinians had a state, wouldn’t the radical actions just be wartime acts?
Israeli settlers are just radicalized land grabbers with government backing, right?
As with any small-scale argument, there are valid points to both sides. There are also vile acts committed by both sides. In fact, there are so many factions within both Israel and Palestine that to reduce the conflict to two unified enemies is a grave misrepresentation of reality.
There are so many ways to approach the Israel/Palestinian conflict. So many individual acts that have impacted both communities as a whole. They all should be addressed somehow, and no crime should go unpunished.
I cannot choose a side.
I have met teenage Palestinian boys who hate the Israeli police because they have seen their families dealt with at gunpoint.
I have seen Israeli buses scarred by the fires of bus bombs.
I have no idea the implications of a Palestinian bid of recognition to the United Nations.
Will their appeals to international organizations to hold Israel accountable for alleged crimes carry weight?
Will international recognition of Palestine as a state force peace talks toward a viable solution?
The future has yet to be written.
Whatever the outcome and implications of this month’s vote, there is ground-level hope.
I have also met an Arab teenager who hangs out with Arabs and Jews. His says his family can’t understand why he loves his Israeli friends.
I have met an old Jewish woman in east Jerusalem who teaches Hebrew to Arabs in the Old City and is fearless in her relations with anyone.
There are real people, Israelis and Palestinians, who want to live in peace, and they interact with one another on a daily basis.
Bottom line, there is hope for a peaceable interactive community in the little strip of land called Israel/Palestine.
David McLain is a senior journalism major from The Colony and is a staff writer for the Lariat.