Summary:
The Israeli-Palestine conflict has been a very talked about and heated event since
the day Israel was founded on May 14, 1948 and even before that. Most of the violent
encounters occur along the west bank and the Israeli border along the Gaza strip.
It was very recently
encounters occur along the west bank and the Israeli border along the Gaza strip.
It was very recently
that about 10,000 Palestinians began rioting along the Israeli border in what was
called the “March of Return” demonstrations. Along the border the 10,000
Palestinians began setting tires aflame, and throwing rocks along with explosive
devices at IDF(Israeli Defense Forces) soldiers along the border. The soldiers
responded to this attack with crowd dispersal measures and eventually live
fire. According to Palestinian Health Ministry reports, six Palestinians were
injured. The riot was sparked by a Hamas (an organization that is defined by many
countries as a fundamentalist organization that rules Gaza) official by the name of Ismail Radian
when he stated, “The Israeli government’s latest actions are a declaration
countries as a fundamentalist organization that rules Gaza) official by the name of Ismail Radian
when he stated, “The Israeli government’s latest actions are a declaration
of war against prisoners.” This was in response to Gilad Erdan who is
an Interior Minister for Israel and his decision to lower prison conditions
for terrorists but still abide by International Law. This is just one of many
attacks as in July of 2018, the IDF by international law. This is just one
of many attacks as in July of 2018, the IDF bombed seven Hamas targets
in the Gaza Strip in retaliation to an IDF soldier being wounded by a
sniper on the Gaza border. Less than a week before this, a different IDF
soldier was killed by a sniper near the same area as the other IDF soldier
was wounded. This occured after about 20 Palestinian youth began
violently protesting near the border wall. This was the first IDF soldier
to be killed by a Palestinian in the Gaza strip in four years. Shortly after the event, the former Defense Minister of Israel by the name of Avigdor Liberman, stated that Hamas is pushing Israel into another Gaza war even larger than Operation Protective Edge in 2014. The Gaza strip bordering
Israel has become even more and more dangerous for civilians on both sides. This is due to riots just like I have mentioned earlier, that have been ongoing for many months. Just as more direct violence mentioned in the supporting article has been occurring for just as long. On top of these instances Hamas launched 200 mortars and rockets at Israel a day and Israel responded with bombing 40 Hamas targets along the Gaza Strip.
of many attacks as in July of 2018, the IDF bombed seven Hamas targets
in the Gaza Strip in retaliation to an IDF soldier being wounded by a
sniper on the Gaza border. Less than a week before this, a different IDF
soldier was killed by a sniper near the same area as the other IDF soldier
was wounded. This occured after about 20 Palestinian youth began
violently protesting near the border wall. This was the first IDF soldier
to be killed by a Palestinian in the Gaza strip in four years. Shortly after the event, the former Defense Minister of Israel by the name of Avigdor Liberman, stated that Hamas is pushing Israel into another Gaza war even larger than Operation Protective Edge in 2014. The Gaza strip bordering Israel has become even more and more dangerous for civilians on both sides. This is due to riots just like I have mentioned earlier, that have been ongoing for many months. Just as more direct violence mentioned in the supporting article has been occurring for just as long. On top of these instances Hamas launched 200 mortars and rockets at Israel a day and Israel responded with bombing 40 Hamas targets along the Gaza Strip.
Reaction:
Both of the attacks satiated along with many others have been perpetrated by neighboring countries with Israel but more specifically Hamas. These attacks have underlying meanings as Palestinians and Hamas didn’t just protest because of bad conditions for prisoners and other surface issues, but it was actually fueled by their hatred of Israel. It has been made public that one of Hamas’s main goals is to obliterate Israel as they feel Israel has been built on stolen land. If you did not notice, in both instances I wrote about, Israel acted in retaliation to attacks committed by Hamas. But throughout the world, Israel is painted as the villain who bombs the West bank and Gaza strip for no reason. But what is not reported is how Hamas purposely fires rockets into civilian dense parts of Israel by using Children schools and hospitals as bases from which they fire their rockets. Hamas pretty much uses these children and other civilians as human shields not caring if they live or die.
Connection:
This article/event very closely relates to a topic that we will be studying later this semester which is the Israeli-Palestine conflict. It also relates to the Rhineland in WW2 when France and Germany were fighting over taking over the Rhineland which bordered Germany and France. In both instances both parties were fighting over control of one area and had a relatively strong hatred for one another. And on top of this both sides just like Israel and Hamas have different supporters around the world Just like France had with the US and Britain and Germany had with Japan and Italy.
Questions:
- Considering the facts, are the actions that Israel and or Hamas partake in justified?
- How do you think peace should be brought about between Israel and its Hamas?
The actions that Israeli is talking are fully justified and necessary in resolving this conflict. The Gaza strip is a very dangerous place where civilians are performing remonstrances frequently sending artillery into densly populated areas of Israel. This is worrying for Israel and by attacking targets in Gaza they are only ensuring the safety of their own people. Peace should come by Israel continuing to launch attacks onto Gaza until they are se weak they have no other choice but to come to peace with Israel. The Palestinians have a deep hatred for Israel embedded in their beliefs. According to another article, the primary goal of Hamas is to "take down the border," and "tear out their [ the Israelis ] hearts." https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/25/empathy-needed-to-end-israel-palestine-violence
ReplyDeleteWith facts like these, it seems evident that coming to peace with Palestine now would be very difficult.
I also believe that the actions taken by Israeli are justified and are essential to resolving this conflict. According to BBC News, the Hamas is a "group that is committed to the destruction of Israel" (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-13331522). The Hamas exploit the deeply rooted hatred of the Palestinians to protest the IDF and potentially gain power. By violently protesting, the Hamas are purposely provoking the IDF soldiers, hoping the soldiers would retaliate and hurt them. This would give the Hamas a reason to denounce Israel and to wage a war. As stated by the author, the Gaza Strip is a very dangerous territory full of violent protests and potential bombings. According to the author, the Hamas don't care for the well-being of their followers and are essentially seeing them as disposable tools. Using schools and hospitals as bases and sending the protesters to the strip are all examples of the heartlessness of the Hamas.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there will be a peaceful conclusion to this catastrophe because of the deeply-rooted hatred the Hamas and other Palestinians have towards Israel. Seeing how they see their own people as tools, the probability of peaceful talks is very low. One possible solution may be to just cut off their resources and wait for the Palestinians to realize that fighting will bring nothing but sadness and more hatred.
To start, I'm very happy that you chose an article about this topic because it introduced me to a new way of viewing the topic. As you mentioned the world does tend to paint Israel as the villain and your article and summary have helped introduce me to a new way of viewing that conflict. As for your questions, I believe that as long as Hamas is a terrorist group, that actions taken against them are justifiable. At the same time though, I worry that Israel doesn't just target Hamas and instead attacks innocent Palestinians. Also, I believe that even fairly recently Israel has used excessive force against Palestinian protesters. The main example I am thinking about is when the US was opening their embassy in Jerusalem, Israeli forces killed dozens of Palestinians protesting (https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2018/may/14/israeli-troops-kill-palestinians-protesting-against-us-embassy-move-to-jerusalem-live-updates). While perhaps some of the deaths may have been justified if the person was violent/dangerous, it doesn't seem like the case for all of the deaths. Especially seeing as how 6 of the dead were children and one was just a paramedic. While indeed your articles show that violence occurs from the other side, I just think that perhaps both sides are committing unjustifiable actions. And through these actions, we see that it will be very challenging to achieve peace through these two opposing sides. I hope that Israelis and Palestinians find peace, but I doubt their leaderships ability to do so.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are saying and agree with it. I just want to mention that I had also read an article from the New York Times about the deaths from the day of the embassy. And despite what the children were doing, I find it hard to belief that the killing of children was justified. The only reason I didn’t quote the New York Times is I knew that Ms Caldwell had specifically mentioned not really liking them because of their limit on article viewings. I also understand they were doing bad things I just find it hard to justify their deaths, but I understand why you might worry that I only get one perspective. Thank you for the detailed response that really helped me once again reassess how I feel about this conflict.
DeleteI agree, the killing of children is bad. But sometimes you have to look past their age and understand they were actively involved in a violent protest. I think anybody chucking rocks and Molotov's at you should be considered a threat.
DeleteThis is clearly a very controversial topic, because seemingly both the Israelites and the Hamas have created problems on the Gaza Strip. Both of these groups have taken many lives, and there is an action-reaction type of battle that is ongoing in the region. The Hamas are provoking Israel, and Israel is responding in a way that allows them to be blamed for many of the problems on and around the Gaza Strip. The Hamas are a terrorist group, which makes them an obvious target for Israel's defense groups, but there is not enough communication between the Israeli government and the rest of the world, as shown by the many countries and people around the world that believe Israel is responsible for many of the problems on the Gaza Strip. The region is highly contested because the Hamas believe that the Gaza Strip and Israel is their righteous home and the Palestines have invaded their homeland unrightfully. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/20436092). This region has been an area of interest since the creation of Israel after WWII, but the crisis escalated when the Hamas took over in 2005. There is no end in sight to this current problem, and a full scale war is likely unless the Hamas group is taken out by foreign intervention. However, many countries do not recognize Israel as an independent country, which might help Hamas regain control in the region.
ReplyDeleteWhen assigning blame and trying to come up with peaceful resolutions for an extremely complicated and ongoing conflict, it is clear there are many different factors that go into that decision. The Palestine v Israel struggle has been going on since the mid 20th century, improving very little over the years. Many disagreements including religion, borders and mutual recognition have been the various roots to this dispute. When stating whether or not the actions of Israel and the Hamas are justified, there are also many different concerns that I feel should be recognized. Since the main acts of violence occur in heavily populated regions like the Gaza Strip, it is very difficult for defense forces to differentiate between the enemy and civilian, resulting in many casualties that sadly are starting to not only affect the fighters, but outside civilians too. An interesting article (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/gaza-protest-latest-updates-180406092506561.html) I found was describing a similar number of incidents to the ones described in your article, but instead more biased, (or from the point of view) from the Palestinians. I found it pretty helpful too, when trying to justify both side's actions, as it truly shows how different a situation or act of violence is, when seen from opposing sides or the conflict.
ReplyDeleteBased on the article and blog, you have made it very clear who is at fault here, and that is the Hamas. All of the actions that the IDF made against the Hamas are justified without a doubt. In a Jpost article (https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/gaza-news/10000-Palestinians-riot-along-the-Gaza-border-IDF-fires-back-576350) evidence has shown how the conflict between these two countries, has had multiple counts of injuries from both sides. However, the main point is that even though both sides have injuries, the main blame goes to the Hamas because they were the cause of the problem. I think the only way for peace to come is that both Israeli and Palestine have to meet and talk about their conflicts. Without the violence, a conversation between the two will have a much better and safer outcome, rather than fighting and having a war.
ReplyDeleteAs most conflicts go, each side has each other to blame. In this case, Israel hates the Hamas for using unnecessary violence against them. Also, the Hamas believe that Israel is making this issue worse by using tank and artillery fire to retaliate towards their signs of unattended aggression. According to a Jewish Week article, "Hamas claims that Israeli rockets and artillery have killed more than 200 Palestinians, most of them civilians." https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/conflict-with-hamas-unleashes-hatred-of-israel/. Even though this is true, it doesn't justify the Hamas consistently using violence against Israel. Clearly, Israel is only using brute force to counter these attacks from the Hamas. I believe it is the Hamas fault for not taking responsibility and control over the actions of their people. Even if they truly hate Israel, fighting and starting a war isn't going to resolve the issue. The Gaza strip is a very dangerous area, and will only bring forth more deaths. In order to form peace between the two, a simple peace treaty that also prohibited an arsenal of weapons to be manufactured could prevent future deaths and retaliation.
ReplyDeleteI think that both Israel and Hamas have their own reasons for why they are choosing to fight the way they are fighting. I think that in order to solve the situation more people need to be involved. Neither side is willing to change their mind on what they want so in order to reach a solution to this long lasting problem, it is important for the two sides, Israel and Hamas to negotiate. In terms of including other groups who are important to the conversation, groups like Fatah (the Palestinian National Authority) who represents a different perspective of the Palestinians and perhaps even OUTSIDE allies of Israel and Palestinians may help even though that has not been the MOST successful in the past.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel that either side is more justified in their actions, both sides are fighting how they feel best suits the outcome they are looking for when or if the conflict does end.
(Lincoln)
In a conflict as persistent and complex as that of Israel and Palestine, I believe the best course of action is to focus on deescalation rather than retaliation. By deescalating the preventable violence occurring in high tension areas such as the Gaza strip, many deaths of innocent citizens can be prevented. Retaliation only results in a victor at when there is a massive cost in human life, and so my personal belief is that while Hamas are terrorists, neither side is justified in the force they have used and continue to use.
ReplyDeleteWith the evidence that you have provided in your article I believe that Israel is justified in their actions against Hamas. First, IDF soldiers are being shot. Second, Hamas keeps bombing Israel and targets densely populated areas. Lastly, Hamas is also using schools as bomb launching points so Israel cant stop them without killing innocent people. This clearly shows that Hamas is provoking Israel and that Israel has a right to retaliate. ((https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/gaza-news/10000-Palestinians-riot-along-the-Gaza-border-IDF-fires-back-576350) Each side has its own strong belief in what they think is right and I don't think there is a sure way to settle the differences between both sides. However, I think Israel should try to reach out to Hamas and set up better communication between them. We saw almost all out war from the U.S and Russia which could have been catastrophic but was stopped with communication. Maybe, if the hotline communication between Moscow and Washington stopped an all out nuclear war it might help to end this conflict between Israel and Hamas. I think that the best case scenario for this conflict is if a third party such as a super power like the U.S. set up two different and independent states. One for Israel, and one for the Palestinians and they both would have to settle their differences and compromise something in order to stop the countless deaths that have been produced over the years from this conflict.
ReplyDelete(Ryan Tait)
Based on the article, the Israel soldiers are only described to be attacked and killed by rioting Palestinians and Hamas. However, the cause of the riot was not given in the main article, instead, it just describes the ongoing conflict. According to https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/great-return-march-months-protests-gaza-strip-180926122828814.html, an article about The Great March of Return, the mass riot “…started on… the commemoration of Land Day… when Israeli police shot and killed six Palestinian citizens of Israel as they protested against the Israeli government’s expropriation of land”. The march was only caused by the Israeli government's mistreatment to Palestinians, which is a changeable factor. Also, further in the same article, the author claims that “According to Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, 194 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since March 30”. This emphasizes how the Israel soldiers had not been the only targeted victims in the conflict. I believe that this conflict could be at least temporarily solved through a set and trustworthy agreement. In exchange for a more equal government expropriation of land to Palestinians, the Palestinian citizens will learn to obey and stay peaceful along the border. Peace is the key to order. However, this may not be a permanent solution because the author’s reaction mentions that “[the riot] was actually fueled by their hatred of Israel. Because of natural and inevitable feelings of hatred among races, this dispute will not be easily fixed.
ReplyDeleteI do not think it is possible to assign blame or obviously for anyone to come to any sort of agreement upon which group is in the "wrong," and which is in the "right." The whole sense of "wrong," and "right," especially in such a conflict as ugly as the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is extremely easy to lose when there's always a reason that supports one side or the other. I noticed that another student mentioned a deradicalization/deescalation approach instead of the mounting and escalating protests and battles that we see on the Gaza Strip. Israelis have had their justified moments and I have no doubt that the Hamas have had their own points at which they made justified actions. Looking at the bigger picture though, we need to recognize and recall that Jerusalem- with no connection to Israel or Palestine or any race/nation- is, or at this point, was, a religious hub for the 3 MAJOR widely-recognized monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The idea that people are unable to accept the fact of the matter that no one should be able to lay strict and exclusive claim to this land is completely shocking and suggesting of a greater issue in the human population.
ReplyDelete