More peace needed in Mid-East

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "We must learn to live together as brothers, or we are going to perish together as fools." Peace in the Middle East, no matter how humorous it sounds, is obtainable. Peace and justice are indivisible, you cannot have one without the other, and justice has been scarce for the Palestinians. \nThe terms "pro-Palestinian" and "pro-Israeli" point to a disturbing and ongoing division within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Does being "pro-Israeli," for instance, mean that you are "anti-Palestinian?" Growing up in America, it is easy for some to believe that Palestinian terrorism is the cause of the conflict. This explanation ignores the valid grievances of the Palestinian cause and the state-sponsored terrorism of the Israeli army and settler population. \nBoth Palestinians and Israelis have suffered excruciating losses. As Americans, whose tax money invests over eight million dollars a day in Israel, it is our responsibility to make sure we are seeing both sides of this conflict. Both sides have committed crimes against humanity. What people fail to understand is that one side has infinitely more power than the other, and with this power come certain responsibilities. As with any conflict in the world it is important to look at the current situation in the context through which it arose. Not doing so would be analogous to viewing Native American hostility toward American settlers as isolated incidents, rather than a reaction to the genocide that took place against these people. \nThe Zionist vision has never hidden the fact that they wanted a Jewish state, for obvious reasons -- to escape Jewish persecution in Europe and Russia. Yet how does one create a state for one group of people on a patch of land mainly inhabited by another group of people? Simple, push the indigenous population out. In 1948 Israel managed to drive out more than 700,000 Palestinians, Armenians, Greeks and all other non-Jews inhabiting the land. This left the remaining 92,000 as the non-Jewish minority in the state (Avi Schlaim The Iron Wall). Palestinians, who were largely a peasant society, became, and still are, refugees. \nWhen looking beyond the mainstream media you might be surprised at what is not reported in this country. Even Israeli media displays a more accurate portrayal than American media. Just check out www.haaretz.com, a newspaper based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Finding alternative sources of information will shed light upon the inconsistencies of a one-sided portrayal of an argument. Take for example the supposed "generous" offer that Ehud Barak proposed at Camp David in 2000. If we had been shown a map of this proposal we would have seen the discontinuous patches of land that Palestinians were expected to live with. Just check out http://www.gush-shalom.org/generous/generous.html and see for yourself. \nPeace without justice is nothing more than one leader's version of "peace" forced upon a society. Rather than being "pro-Palestinian" or "pro-Israeli," a "pro-humanity" approach should be taken. Human rights groups like Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org), Btselem (www.btselem.org) and Miftah (www.miftah.org) are prime examples groups using a multi-lateral approach. After all, there is no inherent hatred between the two peoples. It will only be a matter of time before those in power decide that co-existence is not only possible, it is the most logical route. Until then peace in the Middle East will be a fantasy world attained only in the dreams of both Palestinians and Israelis alike. And when we Americans finally discover the grave injustices committed against the Palestinians and the tax money we gave in funding it, we will look back in regret and say never again.