Light bulbs and headaches

Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, once said "If I find 10000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward." A hopeful quote at the least, but we as human beings never fail to be skeptical. We've tried many ways to end homelessness. Has it worked? No. What about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? They've tried for years and years. Has it worked? No. But before we despair, as we are so wont to do, let's consider the possibilities. What plausible solution do we have, and what exactly is in the way of peace in the Middle East?

source: wikipedia.org

Currently, the most commonly debated solution to the conflict is the "two-state solution". It is as its name implies: to establish two independent states in the land formerly known as Palestine. One Israeli state, and one Palestinian state. It's by no means a novel proposal; in fact, it has been around for years. In 1947, a UN committee proposed it in what became Resolution 181, recommending the creation of Jewish and Arab states with Jerusalem administrated by the UN. The Israelis accepted it, while the Arabs opposed it, saying they had a right to the whole of Palestine. They had a point; the number of Arabs in the land vastly outnumbered the number of Jews at the time, and they claimed that the partition plan violated the rights of the majority.

Since then, the Palestinian Liberation Organization has come to accept the possibility of the two-state solution. But certain roadblocks remain constant.

Source: freerepublic.com

1. Pre-1967 borders

       One of the Palestinian Authority's (PA) conditions for the two-state solution is that Israel goes back to its territorial lines before 1967, when Israel took control of land belonging to its Arab enemies in the Six Day War. The rest of old-day Palestine, which according to PA President Mahmoud Abbas is merely 22% of historical Palestine, would become a new Palestinian state. The Americans under the Obama administration supports this proposal, which has been met with firm opposition from the Israelis. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continually said that Israel shall not return to its "indefensible" 1967 borders and has called for a different proposal.

Source: imemc.org

2. Building of settlements in occupied Palestinian territory
       Israel's occupation of Palestinian land in 1967 is to this day not recognized by the international community as justified. However, this has not stopped the Israelis in building settlements on the disputed land, especially in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Currently, almost 500000 Israelis live in these settlements alongside Palestinians. The number of settlements in the West Bank surpass 120, covering over 40% of the territory. The Palestinian Authority has called for the Israelis to stop the building of settlements if they wish to restart peace talks, which has been repeatedly ignored by the Israelis. The Americans have shown reluctance to call the settlements illegal, which, according to the PA themselves, led to the recent Palestinian request for a full-member seat at the United Nations. Israel responded to this act by announcing additional settlements.

Source: jerusalemshots.com

3. Status of Jerusalem
       Jerusalem is the one thing that neither side wants to give up to the other. Israel wants it as its capital city, while the Palestinians considers East Jerusalem as occupied territory and wants to make it a part of the future State of Palestine (Temple Mount would be under their jurisdiction). Most Western nations support the idea of establishing an international regime for the city, possibly under the UN. There is talk of making it an "open city", allowing anyone to visit without fear of harm. There are also those who, like the European Union and UN chief Ban Ki-Moon, support the establishment of Jerusalem as the shared capital of Israel and the State of Palestine. As such, the issue remains contentious.

Source: ummulhasanaat.co.za

4. Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip
       During the factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, replacing all Fatah government officials with its own. Because the Western-backed Fatah party fled, Israel and Egypt sealed their borders along Gaza, citing reasons of security. Gaza was inaccessible by land, air, and sea, with goods also restricted, leaving the people of Gaza effectively trapped. The blockade started to ease after an incident in 2010 in which an aid flotilla heading to Gaza was raided by Israeli forces, leaving nine Turkish activists dead. It garnered international outrage and led to rifts in Israeli-Turkish relations, pressuring Israel to ease the blockade. However, a strict goods blockade still remains in place, stopping humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza. British Prime Minister David Cameron referred to Gaza as a "prison camp", to which Israel responded by saying "the situation in Gaza is the direct result of Hamas' rule and priorities." This blockade has been the subject of many an argument, with Israelis who say it's for their protection, while the Palestinians and several human rights groups say it's inhumane.

Source:  uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com

5. Right of return for Palestinian refugees
       There are over 3.5 million Palestinian refugees in the Middle East alone, as a result of the displacement that followed the many Arab-Israeli conflicts over the years. Palestinians say they have a moral right to return to their former homes, a claim that is supported by various UN resolutions. UN General Assembly Resolution 194 of 1948 states: "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practical date." However, Israelfears that the return of Palestinian refugees would wipe out the Jewish majority in the region, which is the only safeguard Israel has in its efforts to remain a sole Jewish state.They have called for the refugees to be assimilated into their present homes, a notion that has been rejected violently. A poll done by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion states 89.5% of Palestinians refuse to waive the right of return in exchange for financial compensation. In the words of one BBC article: “to accept the historic claims of the other side is implicitly to undermine your own historic claim."


These are the tremendous obstacles that diplomats have for years. Yet, everything is even more convoluted when one puts Hamas into the context. Everything from acceptance of the mere possibility of a two-state solution to handing over Jerusalem to anyone else would be blasphemy in their eyes. Their control over the Gaza Strip remains firm, and its support among Palestinians grows. Its recent deal with Israel that set free over 1000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli prisoner saw its popularity grow by 37% (according to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research). However, how much support Hamas has is unclear, especially in light of its rival faction Fatah's recent success in getting accepted into UNESCO. In light what we do have, however, we can be certain that Hamas still has substantial support among Palestinians. 

Source: dulops.net

Too much information? Indeed. This is but a mere glimmer of what diplomats must deal with. That is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - inducing headaches to diplomats worldwide since 1948.

Kids will be Kids

Most of you have probably heard that saying sometime in your lives, probably from adults shaking their heads at children. I've always objected to such generalizations, even regarding children. Kids have names, personalities, and stories - not as many as adults, but stories nonetheless. Even kids deserve to be listened to and understood.

That being said, what about those kids in the political playgrounds? Should we just write them off as typical politicians, or should we seek to understand them? Since I see no harm in the latter, let's do that.

Israel

source: cwrflags.com

Led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel is directly involved in the conflict. Netanyahu is the leader of the right-wing Likud party, currently a part of a coalition with other right-wing parties in the Knesset (parliament). Netanyahu is seen as one of the most right-wing politicians in Israel, known for his opposition to handing back land in return for peace. But he has stated he would accept the creation of a Palestinian state, on the condition of complete demilitarization. The Palestinians objected, citing injustice on Israel’s part.

Palestine

source: flags.net

Palestinian politics isn't easy to describe, because it's divided into halves: Fatah and Hamas.

Fatah

source: crwflags.com

Fatah was founded in 1959 by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to promote complete liberation of Palestine from Israeli control. It recognized Israel's right to exist and tried to reach a two-state solution with the Israelis in the Oslo Accords, meaning the disputed land would be divided into a Jewish state and a Palestinian state. Fatah is currently led by Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, who supports having peace with the Israelis and criticizes "armed resistance" attacks on them. He wishes to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Hamas

source: wikipedia.org

Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islam fundamentalist group. Its goal: to establish an Islamic state in what it terms Palestine (much of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza). Its charter acknowledges its desire to destroy Israel to achieve its means. It gained prominence when it won the 2006 parliamentary elections, due to allegations of corruption on part of Fatah. Led by Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas focuses on social welfare and “armed resistance”, gaining the approval of many Palestinians. However, its history of violence against Israelis has labeled it as a terrorist organization to many in the West. 

The 2006 election brought months of factional fighting, killing hundreds of Palestinians. The fighting continued until Fatah struck a deal with Hamas to join a unity government as a junior partner. But the tensions never faded, and conflict soon broke out again. On June 14 2007, Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led unity government, an action which Haniyeh claims to be illegal, since it has not gotten approval in the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council. 

So there you have it. But what are these stakeholders doing right now? Israel continues to build Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem, deemed illegal even by pro-Israeli Western powers. Hamas refuses to cooperate with Israel, and instead launches rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. Fatah tries to achieve their goals by appealing to the international community while ignoring the Israelis (as seen by its recent attempts to attain a seat at the UN). 

A bit complicated? Consider this: there's a kid eating another's candy even after being told not to, then there’s a kid trying to get the candy back with fists, and then you have another kid trying to tattletale on the candy-stealer. But no one addresses the root cause: that the kid is stealing the candy because he thinks it's his. Is there anything to be done about that? Perhaps, but more on that later.