Israel has been in the headlines this week after the United States chose to abstain from voting on United Nations resolution to condemn Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.
Now, the biggest challenge with covering this story objectively comes from the fact that the majority of the news surrounding it has been convoluted with disinformation, propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Why is the resolution a big deal? Well, up until this point, the Obama administration has vetoed all prior resolutions that were critical of Israel. While the U.S. did not vote in favor of this latest resolution, it allowed it to pass by refusing to vote at all. In the past, the U.S. has, at times, been the only country to veto a resolution that was not in favor of Israel.
How did Israel respond? Israel is now going as far as to say that it has proof that the Obama administration orchestrated the resolution. While a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not specifically say what reason Obama would have for creating such a resolution, he did say that Israel plans to give their alleged “iron-clad information” to the new President Trump after he is inaugurated.
UN Resolution = Declaration of War? Netanyahu reportedly warned New Zealand’s foreign minister that by supporting the resolution, New Zealand was essentially issuing a declaration of war against Israel. Netanyahu is also now saying that as long as he is prime minister, Israel will continue to refuse to recognize Palestinian statehood.
Is Trump on Israel’s side? Oh, yes. The president-elect was quick to criticize both the Obama administration’s lack of a veto on the resolution, and what he referred to as Obama’s “inflammatory statements.” Trump encouraged Israel to “stay strong” and said Inauguration Day on Jan. 20 is “fast approaching.”
What is the key point both sides are ignoring? This resolution is non-binding and has no immediate effects on Israel. It creates things such as GUIDELINES and RECOMMENDATIONS for Israel to follow, but it does not present any serious or immediate consequences if those suggestions are not followed.
Is President Obama against Israel now? Nope. Not even close. Just three months ago, Obama signed off on the largest military assistance deal in U.S. history, which will give Israel $38 BILLION over the next 10 years. This serves as a reminder that not only does Obama support Israel, but he supports the country more than any other president has in U.S. History.
How is the U.S. responding to criticism over the resolution? Secretary of State John Kerry gave a speech on Wednesday where he laid out a six-point plan for the future of Israeli and Palestinian relations that included the end of Israeli occupation on Palestinian territory and a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.
Why is there so much division? This is a situation in which it is incredibly easy to be emotionally manipulated when looking at either side, and as a result many people have become hardened based on where their loyalties lie.
What are your thoughts on this issue? Let us know in the comments section!
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Need I say more...
There was no Palestine as an independent nation, or people in '46. This is the actual history...
Actually before World War 1 this land belonged to the Ottoman empire so it wasn't either Jewish or Palestinian, both of them lived there without problems, until after the British took over and European Jews started moving there and these guys always demanded an Israeli homeland, I really believe the land should be divided between the two as in reality neither of them can claim the land as theirs as there was no Palestine or Israel before this, even though I do believe many people have owned land there for centuries and it is not right to just kick them out, whether Jew or Palestinian.
I believe many people opposed the Russian take over of Crimea and yet favor Israel taking over what's left of the Palestinian lands.
That's right, the Ottomans controlled the land until they lost to the British, who eventually wanted to give part to the Jews, and part to the Arabs. The Arabs got Transjordan. Jews didn't "kick out" Palestinians. The Palestinians who remained in Israel were given full Israeli citizenship, (there are about 1.5 mil today,) while those who left (under pressure from the Arab nations when they attacked Israel in '48,) are those who we call "refugees." From 700,000 who left in '48, to 7 million now... Simultaneously in '48, about the same number of Jews were forced from their homes in Arab countries, and their property actually was stolen. But no one talks about this today...
Wrong. The original document states that non-Jewish Palestine would remain unchanged and that their rights would not be undermined.
The second part of your comment is true, but it went both ways, and was happening since 1920 when Britain tried to resolve land claims with the British Mandate of Palestine. The State of Israel did not accept this declaration. Israel then only gave full citizenship to those that denounced their Islamic faith, which sparked further tension in the area. This all led to civil war and then to the Arab-Israeli war of 1948.
It was the Arabs who didn't accept the British Mandate or the Israeli independence... Their rights were not undermined, they were given the same citizenship as the Jews... If Israel forced the muslims to abandon Islam, then why are they still muslim?! It is a complete falsehood to suggest Jews made them quit Islam...
The document doesn't state that "non Jewish Palestine would remain unchanged." Rather that in the newly proposed "national home for the Jewish people," there be nothing that "may prejudice the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities..."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration
These replies are full, so I messaged you on steemit.chat
I disagree with both of you, first of all Palestine was never a country it was always a territory of one power or other, as for Israel having a right to exist I agree, except that Gaza and the West Banks were not part of the original territory of Israel they were occupied after the 1967 war, which is not right by any means. So I still think Israeli settlements in these territories should be considered illegal.
Palestine has always been a country, even when it was under the rule of the Roman Empire. The Ottoman empire turned it into a Arab majority. The State of Israel was created for political purposes under the false pretense of civil rights. It was a power play by the British empire, to place an ally in the middle eastern region.
Palestine was a country that was part of the Ottoman empire. The Balfour declaration in 1917 was to establish a national home for Jewish peoples. The foundation for this declaration is based off the religious ideology that Jews have a religious right to reside in the territory because the Jewish King David once occupied Jerusalem. It's a holy place for the Jewish sect, and that is why the state of Israel was given the land. If the Ottoman empire won world war two this would never have happened, and the territory would've stayed entirely under Arab Palestinian rule.
Israel has since created apartheid in the region between Jews and Arabs, not to mention to segregation of Palestinians during the Palestine war of 1948.
The truth is that Israel is an illegal state because Great Britain never had the right to proclaim a settlement in Palestinian territory, and did so through abuse of power.
This is one of those cases where the victors control the spoils.
Furthermore, Israel has become a military power for the Western Alliance and has played an important role in overthrowing regimes in the middle eastern region ever since its inception.
Jews have lived there for thousand of years, not just because King David "once occupied Jerusalem." (The very word is Hebrew, as is the word P'lishtim, which is where the Palestinians get their name...)
P'lishtim was Palestine, andit has been an Arab majority since the Persian empires took it from the Roman empire. Lets not forget that the Roman Empire politically over threw the Hebrew rule of that region.
While our country falls apart in every way... economy, infrastructure, you name it... we are handing over billions of dollars to Israel for this failed experiment. How is this experiment going to turn out? You can't have a one-state solution while also making it Democratic and Jewish in character. So either a system of apartheid is created, or more Palestinians are forced out of their homes, or pogroms enacted (doesn't have to be gas chambers, now it can be bombings of entire towns). Methinks that the whole point of this exercise is to lay the groundwork for the self-fulfilling prophecy voiced by none other than Albert Pike.
No loyalties except to reality and truth in history. Israel didn't exist. Zionists funded their way into buying up land in Palestine, and then the Balfour Declaration came to fruition to get the US to accept the declaration of the State of Israel after they just stole land and tore down one country to make theirs. That's a "great" people for sure.
Please see the map in my reply to @senseiteekay in these comments...
I don't know if I understand this as it really is, but as far as I can tell Israelis are settling on land that belongs to Palestinians, it's even worse than illegal immigration, so if someone voted for Brexit or someone voted for Trump or is Trump, people who don't want illegal immigrants in their country, how can they reasonably favor Israeli settlements on land that isn't their's? I am not pro Palestinian, in fact I think very highly of Jews, but I think this policy of the Israeli government is completely wrong.
Why is Israel allowed to reclaim land from thousands of years ago but China is not?
https://steemit.com/history/@solarguy/south-china-sea-why-it-matters-and-why-it-s-the-way-it-is
According to the Hague's logic then, Israel is not allowed based on historical claims, while the Palestinians (and (today's) UN) argue Israel is invalid for the fact that they won (that same historical land) in an unprovoked war? (Hence why it's not "occupied territory," but rather "disputed territory" according to international law... ) I don't think both can be true, since defacto, Yisrael exists! B"H...
The thing is, why can't they just reach a peaceful agreement? Settling in Palestinian lands should be out of the question and recognition of Israel as a sovereign state should be agreed by everyone, getting the Israeli-Palestinian problem fixed would contribute a lot to world peace, or could it be that the establishment doesn't want peace in that part of the world?
And frankly I don't like Netanyahu, he is like the neighborhood bully, and I think Israel would be better off without him as a leader.
Respectfully, there is the true problem. Judea (the West bank,) the land you're calling Palestinian, really isn't "Palestinian." (Aside from any specific land within it, that is owned by Palestinians.) Nationally, it is disputed. (Ever question why Jordan doesn't publicize its dispute, but allows the Palestinians to claim the dispute on their behalf?!) First, Judea is part of historical Israel, from the tribe name Yehuda, or Judah. Second, when Israel was created in '48, Jordan attacked! While attacking, they told the Palestinians to leave for a few weeks, while they "pushed the Jews into the sea." And that the 700,000 Arabs who left would return right after the desired Arab victory. Essentially repeat again in '67. So I'm not sure which other country gives up territory it rightfully acquired in an unprovoked war, that it has historical ties to.
Second, though I know that without question that are many good Palestinians who desire peace, to elect a government in Hamas, whose very founding document calls for the eradication of Israel all together, does not make negotiation very easy. On the other hand, after Egypt prepared to attack in '67, and Israel captured Sinai, more than doubling its size, Israel eventually had a willing partner for peace, and along with other specifics on both sides, returned the Sinai peninsula, which has led to decades of peace with Egypt...
Once again, no mention from the world about the 700,000 or so Jews forced from Arab countries, property stolen...
I live in Honduras apparently something happened at the beginning of the 20th century we had a big influx of Palestinians and Lebanese citizens running away from something and we also received a small but significant amount of eastern European Jews, these guys now control most of the economy in this country and get along just fine, so if they are able to do it here why can't they do it over there? That is what I can't figure out, I mean everyone just wants the best for himself and his family, and the way things are in Israel and the Palestinian territories nobody feels completely safe, or at least I don't believe they do.
Also remember, the Jews also took the land away from the original inhabitants so using historical claims for this land seems a little far-fetched, there were people there before the Jews. Again I tell you I am not against Israel or Jews in general just against this settlements policy.
In Israel, where Arabs and Jews have equal rights, it is as you describe for the most part. Shops next to each other, buying and selling from each other, working for each other, etc. But ask Hamas why Jews don't have equal rights in Gaza for example, or ask the West Bank Waqf authorities why Jews can't even pray on our own Temple Mount.
Excellent point. Saved me from having to write it.
Thanks! One day soon, it'll all pay off^^
to simplify it , Jews were tired of being split all over the world so they started looking for a country to settle. the project has launched even before 1940s .
since then they are doing anything to fulfill their dream.
and because most of powerful people in in US are either Jewish or affiliated somehow to Jews you see this messed up situation in Palestine where as we are talking men, women and children are being killed ,evicted, prisoned etc...
I did not get the latest action of US, though but I am sure it was with Jews permission (it is a set up for sure, how they gonna turn it around I don't know). because they definitely wont abandon Israel.
Talk of borders with these proud people is to divide one side of the water from the other in a glass - the borders are symbols - the struggle is in religion, for which read - MONEY. When you look at Trump's policies, Israel belies his sell-out.
What he has ahead is the coming clean over Syria which seems on the right path. Syria is an Israeli issue and a coalition of mercenaries were paid to fight illegally.
Time for the USA to stop fuelling hatred!
I liked the MONEY thing, clever :)
you are exactly right, as you see US policies when it is facing Israel is the same as a 14 years old girl who is in love with a boy(she does not think about herself, her reputation, her future, she just tries to make the bf happy), US knows that Israel is drowning them too, but who cares ,lets do what is good for Israel.
and the real losers are people in both sides( one's tax are being squandered, the other ones are terrorized )
How can 6% of a nation control all of it to the extent that the vast majority are against the resulting policies? I find it bonkerisssimmous
There are only 16 million Jews in the whole world. If we all lived in the US it still wouldn't make 6%...
My apologies, I made a mistake. I humbly admit my error. 6m in Israel and about 5.7m in the USA - you are absolutely correct. As to the Jewish control on the USA - no, I am not wrong!
Shalom.
simple, they are smart , they know where to invest their resources,where to put their people. and all the time they make sure they gonna stay in charge
Only once we rid ourselves of government will there be peace.
@lukewearechange - I omitted to thank you for a truly excellent post - You are sadly a rarity - someone who writes with originality of thought and has done the research. I am not sure about you but I would normally take 4-5 hours over the checking and cross-checking of such a news/commentary post and then rewriting it for a forum such as this - long-form prose has to be rephrased as a précis.
Respect and acknowledgement to you!
In search of Truth we strive!