The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a decades-long conflict that has no obvious or easy solution. Israel is stuck in a cycle of violence that it cannot seem to pull itself out of. Israel has the backing of the worlds only superpower, which has allowed it to continue to oppress the Palestinian people. In response, many Arab countries support Palestinian independence groups; and other groups that attack countries that they view as supporting Israel. Israel should stop oppressing the Palestinian people.
This conflict threatens to consume the entire world in a vicious cycle of terrorist attack, military response. Israel is stuck in such a cycle. An example of this cycle occurred the night of January 5, 2003. Two suicide bombers killed 23 people, almost simultaneously in central Tel Aviv (an important Israeli city). Just hours later Israeli forces continued the cycle, by firing rockets at targets in Gaza. One of their rockets however went astray and hit a house, wounding at least four innocent people.
This is the kind of action that Israel must stop, if there is any hope for peace in the Middle East. Israel did not know for sure which Palestinian organization was responsible for the attacks, but struck back anyway. They then wounded innocent Palestinian civilians with their rockets, the very reason they were attacking the Palestinians in the first place, wounded civilians. By attacking Palestinian homes, bulldozing them down, imposing curfews and restricting Palestinian movement Israel may think that they are preventing terror. They are really, however just creating another generation of suicide bombers who feel that they are being unjustly oppressed. On top of that, they are using unacceptable methods, discriminating against Arabs, forcing them to move, to achieve peace; most Americans would agree that the ends very rarely justify the means.
Persecuting a whole group of people for the actions of a few is looked down upon by the vast majority of modernized countries. Very few modern countries in the world use collective punishment. It makes no sense therefore that, we (the U.S.) supports Israel. Israel has shown countless time that it is willing to oppress Palestinians to prevent terror. They tried to force relatives of suicide bombers to move; even though they have no proof that they have done anything, just to prevent future attacks. Our support of Israel has turned Palestinian Liberation groups and the Arab community against us as supporters of their oppressors. Our support of Israel is not only supporting an unjust state, but putting us in danger too. Israel must realize that it is not just the Palestinians fault that they are being kept in constant fear by suicide bomber attacks. It is much their own fault for inspiring these homicidal maniacs in the first place!
Israel is collectively punishing the Palestinian people for the actions of a few. This should be condemned by the western world and they should lose the funding that they have been getting from the United States. We should not be spending money on a cause that believes that the ends justify the means. Our support of Israel also putts us in danger; overall, it is a horrible idea.
