September 17, 2003

The Middle East

Is it just me, or does anyone else get a headache just trying to figure out what your personal position is on the Middle East?

I read about Palestinian violence, and Israeli retaliation, and Israel trying to expel Arafat and so on and on ad nauseum, and I honestly throw my hands up in despair.

Basically the arguments, to me, break down like this:

Why I should support Israel: It's the only functioning democracy in the region; it's a fairly progressive government surrounded by unfriendly, if not hostile, neighbors; it's under constant attack by civilian-targetting terrorists.

Why I should support the Palestinians: They have been treated as second-class citizens by hardline Israeli governments; the state of Israel is sort of an arbitrary creation by Western powers; Israel is expanding its presence into more and more Palestinian-held territory.

Am I missing something? What don't I get? Why shouldn't I treat the whole thing like a Jets-Dolphins game, where I'm not a big fan of either team and don't really care who wins?

And why do I get the feeling that even people who follow this for a living are stumbling around in the dark a little, too?

Comments

because the US has supplied Israel with tons more killing machines, and consequently the Israeli government has managed to kill much more innocent Palestinians than the other way round, now and even more so in the last 50 years? That taking land militarily is medieval and banned by international law (only the US has vetoed all of the UN resolutions agreed by all the other states criticising land grabbing, military occupation, more and more settlements) Why is BBC World banned? Why are israelis refusing to serve in the occupied territories silenced and thrown in prison?

Posted by: Matt at October 29, 2003 08:31 AM

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