The Israel and Palestine conflict has been around for centuries, yet now it’s been a hot topic in the media for various reasons including bombings, slayings, kidnappings, famine, genocide, you name it. Now most of the blame in the media is put on Israel, for using unnecessary and inhumane force on Palestine and Palestine striking back.
Now, right off the bat I’d like to mention that what’s happening in that region is unfortunate and horrible. However I don’t think a lot of people grasp that picking a side (or a country in this case) only divides and destroys, even more than the actual violence happening.
Quick summary of what’s happening is Israel isn’t happy that Palestinians are living in Gaza since they believe that they have a right to occupy the land and Palestinians see the Israelis as people trying to assimilate them and remove them from where they are living and call it their territory. Now the issue that arises is who is right? Well both are right and completely wrong at the same time in my opinion.
The main argument I’ve heard is that Israel is creating a genocide. Are THEY? Well no, most Israelis do not support the killing of Palestinians. The problem lies in the presidency. Same can be said about Palestinians, their government is run by Hamas, a terrorist organization, and Palestinians don’t necessarily agree with Hamas’s actions.
Many people have this misconception that these civilians in these conflicts have the power to influence choices that the state implements and vice versa, the choices that the state chooses to implement reflect the public’s ideologies. While in theory this is how democracy supposed to be, It’s actually quite the opposite: The state chooses what it wants people to believe with propaganda and political power. Another misconception is that not every state is like this. I would beg to differ, if you look at any country, the reason why there are leaders is not entirely to represent, but to put countries in good economic standing, because a thriving economy represents ultimate success, and sometimes the people in the spotlight like presidents and prime ministers aren’t even in charge of powerful decisions but have immense connections, like Joe Biden.
The reason why people pick sides (or countries) is that it benefits the economy locally, nationally, and globally. On a big scale, most first world countries take Israel’s side because of agreements, organizations and trade between them and with other countries. On the smaller scale, your cousin that sells Palestine flag goodies is making bank selling them in front of the mall.
All this to say, picking a “right” side is flawed. War is about money, it makes money and the way we can change the outcome of these wars is by going after the people responsible and not the population. In my opinion, it should be called the Netanyahu and Hamas conflict instead to alleviate the blame on people who don’t even have a say in their state’s actions
