The Israel Question

The United States has a long history as an ally to Israel but it has not been an alliance without turmoil. Israel's creation after World War II caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and there has been conflict ever since. For many years the policy internationally has been to pursue a two state solution but this has been fraught with difficulty as enumerated here.

In a recent turn of events Israel has broken with traditional boundary lines in settling Israelis on traditionally Palestinian territory among other things. This has resulted in the UN placing sanctions on Israel in Resolution 2334. Despite being a supporter of the two state solution for many years our current President has shown ambiguity on the subject and Congress has put forth a host of bills in clear defiance of the two state solution goals. Just some of these bills include the following:

S.11
S.107
S.169
H.R. 263
H.R. 265
H.R. 311
H.R. 769

These bills seek primarily to withhold funds from the UN until Resolution 2334 is repealed and the establishment of Jerusalem as the "undivided" capitol of Israel. None of these bills have the objective of peace but rather Israeli dominance to the detriment of Palestinian populations. Abandoning the two state solution without putting forth a viable path to peace is reckless. Waging war has played far too large of a role in American politics in recent years and we should be pursuing options for peace instead of supporting such ill advised measures.

Instead of continuing on at length about this subject I would like to encourage any reader of this post to read or watch the powerful words of Senator Bernie Sanders in his speech on Israel, Trump and anti-Semitism at a recent J Street Conference. Let me leave you with a quote from that same Bernie Sander's speech:

These values are based upon the very simple notion that we share a common humanity. Whether we are Israelis or Palestinians or Americans, whether we are Jews, Christians, Muslims, or of another religion, we all want our children to grow up healthy, to have a good education, have decent jobs, drink clean water and breathe clean air, and to live in peace. 

That’s what being human is about. And our job is to do everything that we can to oppose all of the political forces, no matter what side they may be on, who try to tear us apart.