Imagine a basketball game where before the game, the referee walks up to one of the two coaches, and says: “I want you to know that you and I share an unbreakable bond. If you are ever behind, I am going to jump in, and protect you. If you commit a foul, I am going to waive off those fouls.” Would that be a credible and impartial referee?
Back when Simon Cowell was on American Idol, imagine Cowell calling the two finalists to the stage, and in broad view turning to one of them, and saying: “I have kept my commitments to” you, and that “at every crucial juncture – at every fork in the road – we have been there for you.” Imagine the look on the face of the other contestant, knowing that she or he stands no chance with this rigged situation when the person who is supposed to be the judge is a one-sided advocate for one contestant.
As absurd as the above situations are, this is exactly where we find our selves with respect to the peace negotiation between Palestine and Israel. The above quote is from President Obama’s speech to the partisan American Israel Public Affairs Committee that just took place.
For decades now the Untied States has been claiming to play the role of the Peacemaker between Palestinians, who have been driven out of their ancestral homeland since 1948, and been under Israeli occupation in Jerusalem, West Bank, and until recently, Gaza. Yet the same United States has a one-sided love affair with Israel, the same United States supports Israel with billions of dollars of financial aid and military aid, and the same United States has vetoed about sixty United Nations resolutions condemning Israeli atrocities against Palestinians.
If Americans want to know why we are seen globally as a bully and a hypocrite, we have to look no further than our treatment of the Palestinian-Israeli disaster. Simply put, our fanatic and one-sided support of Israel leads us to lack any moral credibility in negotiating a just and meaningful peace resolution between Palestinians and Israelis in the eyes of the world community.
We continue to arm and fund Israel while the Palestinians continue in abject poverty and occupation (made worse through their own corrupt leaders and infighting). Israel would have had to come to just and meaningful peace with Palestinians a long time ago, were it not for the over hundred billion dollars of aid and political support that the US unconditionally bestows upon Israel.
So here we are caught up in a global situation whereby there are two forces that could legitimately act to stop the occupation and bring about a meaningful peace: the United Nations and the United States. The United Nations lacks no means to enforce the many, many resolutions they have passed. And the United States is a partial, partisan supporter of Israel. So where is peace supposed to come from?
The Palestinian people, who have suffered under occupation for sixty years and are routinely deprived of the most basic human rights. The Israeli people, who have lived under fear for many decades and are now living in a situation of injustice that sullies the good name of Jewish people, and directly leads to the animosity of many people worldwide towards Israelis. Both parties deserve better than this blind, fanatic, one-sided referee. Maybe then we could have peace and justice for us all.
Images:
1) Obama at AIPAC is from:
http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2012/03/03/243068-obama-aipac-speech-2012-where-to-watch-live-stream.jpg
2) Israel and America: Symbol for the relationship between the two countries image from http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=israel+and+america&search_group=&orient=&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&commercial_ok=&color=&show_color_wheel=1#id=93616696
Image ID: 93616696
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