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U.S. needs to adopt neutral Middle East policy
Ian Bezek
Issue date: 12/2/08 Section: Opinion
Finally, our policy toward Israel has to be scrapped. It's no wonder why most of the Middle East hates us when we treat the authoritarian Israeli regime as if it were a world-class democracy.
Israel was illegitimately formed into a nation in 1948 by stealing land from the Palestinians who lived there for thousands of years. Palestinians were driven off from their homes and killed if they didn't surrender all the land they had owned for countless generations.
As the decades wore on, Israel continued their immoral and entirely unnecessary wars on their neighbors, most recently illustrated with their unprovoked assault on the sovereign nation of Lebanon in 2006. This conflict killed more than a thousand Lebanese civilians and created almost a million Lebanese refugees.
Israel also believes it is the nation of God and can therefore treat Palestinians living within its borders as second-class citizens. Palestinians are frequently detained, are unable to travel to work, and are not eligible for the social services. Israel is treating Palestinians like America treated African-Americans in the Reconstruction-era South.
Israel also continues to build their version of the Berlin wall through Palestine's land, despite the fact that the United Nations has declared the wall illegal and demands construction be halted.
Israel faces numerous enemies; however, that doesn't give it unlimited authority to mistreat her citizens and pillage her neighbors.
Our support of the human rights violators such as Saudi Arabia, Israel and Pakistan breeds contempt around the world. We must adopt a neutral stance in the Middle East or risk further damaging our global reputation.
Ian Bezek is a junior economics major. His column appears Tuesdays in the Collegian. Letters and feedback can be sent to letters@collegian.com.
Israel was illegitimately formed into a nation in 1948 by stealing land from the Palestinians who lived there for thousands of years. Palestinians were driven off from their homes and killed if they didn't surrender all the land they had owned for countless generations.
As the decades wore on, Israel continued their immoral and entirely unnecessary wars on their neighbors, most recently illustrated with their unprovoked assault on the sovereign nation of Lebanon in 2006. This conflict killed more than a thousand Lebanese civilians and created almost a million Lebanese refugees.
Israel also believes it is the nation of God and can therefore treat Palestinians living within its borders as second-class citizens. Palestinians are frequently detained, are unable to travel to work, and are not eligible for the social services. Israel is treating Palestinians like America treated African-Americans in the Reconstruction-era South.
Israel also continues to build their version of the Berlin wall through Palestine's land, despite the fact that the United Nations has declared the wall illegal and demands construction be halted.
Israel faces numerous enemies; however, that doesn't give it unlimited authority to mistreat her citizens and pillage her neighbors.
Our support of the human rights violators such as Saudi Arabia, Israel and Pakistan breeds contempt around the world. We must adopt a neutral stance in the Middle East or risk further damaging our global reputation.
Ian Bezek is a junior economics major. His column appears Tuesdays in the Collegian. Letters and feedback can be sent to letters@collegian.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 9
Jon
posted 12/02/08 @ 5:32 PM MST
Criticism is one thing, but your entire rant about the JOOS, oh sorry I meant Israel, completely ignores history. Israel was ratified by a United Nations charter, which by your logic of the UN as an end all authority on everything makes Israel a LEGITIMATE country. (Continued…)
zeb smeester
posted 12/03/08 @ 5:58 AM MST
Your article was one of the worst cases of selective history I have ever read. A few notes: You claim hipocricy when comparing our diplomacy with S. (Continued…)
Landon
posted 12/03/08 @ 10:51 AM MST
In response to " Neutral Middle East Policy":
Ian, why not try reading a book or two! You say we need to adopt a neutral Middle East policy, when in fact that was our official stance during the war between Iraq and Iran. (Continued…)
Aharon A
posted 12/04/08 @ 10:16 AM MST
Nice Article Ian....
Jon, Landon, and Zeb........ Please read before you comment...
Folks, Its is easy to find information these days, just look up 'Israeli massacres' and you will find thousands of articles about that. (Continued…)
Poster
posted 12/05/08 @ 1:32 PM MST
Ian and Aharon,
Thank you for trying to educate the naive public about Israel, for the only thing they believe is what the media indoctrinates.
Assaf Nathan
posted 2/16/09 @ 4:12 PM MST
Wowow,
I live in israel and used to see all kinds of opinions on the web from all sorts of people around the globe.
In the past i tried to answer or educate people a little bit about Israel and its history, or our way of life, but i understood fairly quickly that this is futile, there is just too much ignorance and false facts drifting that i just had to give up. (Continued…)
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