Article Renewed

Operation Cast Lead came into being as the Israeli solution to Hamas rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, and aimed for the complete neutralization of Hamas as a military threat to the people of South Israel. And though operations are currently at a halt, the peace is precarious at best, and the operation can be considered on hold, rather than over. As an intellectual bred with both Arab and American ideals, a Lebanese national yet a friend to Jews, and as a human being, I did not know what to think for a long while. I have come to find that I cannot tolerate either side.

Having lived most of my life in the Middle East, I know some things about conflict zones. I know what it is to have to abandon your sense of control and pride, to leave your family, home, and country. I know what it is to fear rockets and bombs flying down around your head, to be in a country where suicide bombers, car bombs, and fundamentalist militants can threaten at any moment, anywhere. But I also know what it is to be under siege, to run short of provisions, to have all routes of escape and all hope stripped from you, while you watch Goliath crush the innocent and guilty alike as he takes your land, your security, and your dignity, for something you didn't do. And I am telling you, both situations boil down to one and the same. They create fear, hatred, anger, despair, and awareness of your mortality and of those you love. They crush your soul and leave you ashamed to call yourself human.

I say all of this to show you that I understand just a little bit of how the civilian on each side might feel, and why they might be motivated to support aggression against the other. But at the same time, I say it because I want to show that the same root needs and emotions are in play with both sides. Each side justifies its own transgressions by pointing to the other's, and counting losses for and against, when in fact both are condemnable. They are more than condemnable - they are based on morally bankrupt reasoning in governance, and on a severe lack of empathy between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, who ironically probably have more in common than any two races on Earth, so powerful their shared experiences and environment.

I hear and read comments on both sides of the conflict, trading on each others' atrocities as if they validated their champions' actions. This lack of empathy and threatening moral comparison has been shown in conflict psychology research to be at the foundation of hatred and prejudice, the beginning and the impetus of any conflict. So shame on all of us hypocrites who engage in such insensitive and ignorant behavior and thought, while proclaiming in despicable political correctness our desire for justice and peace. If that is really what we are interested in, we cannot declare one wrong and the other right, or get into futile and ignorant brawls over who is 'wronger'. Either violence against civilians is wrong and abhorrent in every and any circumstance, in offense or defense, or it is not. Make up your mind. Because until people stop treating such violence relativistically, it will continue, not just in this crisis, but globally and in every conflict.

But pity and sorrow are not enough. I agree with Adi Dvir, who in his opinion article in Yedioth Ahronoth on Jan. 4^th, bade his readers to drop their pity for the Palestinians. It is, as he says, condescending and patronizing, implying that the Palestinians somehow have no control whatsoever over their destinies. He laid the responsibility at the feet of the people of Gaza, who had and still have the chance to renounce Hamas and all other terrorist organizations, and collapse them from within, averting the need for the war that is upon them. I believe that that is an important point, but I also think that in his hurry to dispel our sympathies for the Palestinians, Mr. Dvir forgot to apply his own reasoning to the Israeli nation.

One could argue that pity is due Israel, because despite its efforts to take control of its destiny, carving out its peace with the sword, many innocent still suffer. But that is reactive action, and not preventive, and to pity the Israelis would also be to patronize them. For they themselves are responsible for electing and tolerating governments that do nothing to make them more secure in the long term, that aggravate and encourage militancy by defeating any negotiation attempts, and that continue attacks against civilians, polarizing the Israeli and Palestinian populations. The Israelis and the international community as a whole have recognized for years the paradigm by which the entire Arab-Israeli conflict can be resolved. But as Kevin Peraino (Newsweek; Jan 12, 2009) points out, at every step towards realizing it, negotiations have stalled because of the unwillingness of Israeli politicians to make any compromise, fearing to look weak, under pressure to remain hawkish by their constituents. The people of Israel, like the Palestinians, have had the choice and the responsibility of beginning the building of a lasting peace since before Hamas ever rose to power.

So, both the Palestinians and the Israelis do indeed deserve better than our pity. They deserve our recognition of their responsibilities in the tragic occurrences of today. They deserve the accountability which should go with it. And they deserve the opportunity and the circumstances, given by all those who have their best interests at heart, to take that responsibility and enact the changes required to achieve a true and lasting peace between them.

Whether by their will or no, the fates of Israel and Palestine are irrevocably tied, and aggression against civilians on either side is detrimental to both. Palestinians must be made to feel that militants endanger them, not fight harder for them than do their politicians. And Israelis must be made to realize that in allowing their governments to make concessions diplomatically, they actually gain the most valuable weapon; depriving the terrorist of purpose. A truly serious diplomatic process is the only way to safeguard the security and prosperity of Israel in the long term, and the only way to secure Palestinian statehood, sovereignty, and rights. But in the meantime, while that process is undertaken, the basic human rights of civilians must be respected, and the conventions of war must be observed.

The United States will play a huge role in determining whether the necessary circumstances will be available to put the conflict back on the diplomatic track, and to ensure that civilians are protected. Let us, as responsible citizens, also play our roles, so that we may never have to be the object of others' pity, when time comes that the consequences of our choices overseas come spilling back to our shores. Let those in power know if you want this country to play a stronger and more active role in enforcing peace under the two-nation paradigm, if you want a solution that will get the conflict over with already, not just for now, but for the long-term. And if you want an end to civilian casualties everywhere, make them do something about it. Because there is nothing beyond the scope of influence of the U.S., if it acts in a fair, objective, and strong manner, and it is you the American people who ultimately hold the key to that strength.