How many Americans really understand the nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – or care? But then, why should Americans care – or care enough to spend the time to understand what the conflict is all about?
Actually, there is a very good reason why Americans should care about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that’s because it affects us directly in our foreign policies which, in turn, affects our domestic policies, our budget, our welfare and the lives of many of our citizens. Due to this conflict, the U.S. spends hundreds of billions of dollars in military aid, operations and arms transfers. At a time when the Treasury must borrow hundreds of billions of dollars annually to meet its obligations, there is little money left to support domestic policies such as health care, infrastructure repair, education and other domestic priorities. In addition, thousands of American lives have been lost in combat operations in, around and about this conflict. While there are numerous sources of conflict in the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the two most pressing issues Americans face in our foreign policies toward the Middle East.
So what is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict all about? I could go on for a long time trying to explain it, but there was an article in the Los Angeles Times on July 3 that portrays the cause of the conflict better than any words I could write. If you truly want to understand this conflict, read the LA Times article here.
The bottom line: It’s about land ownership, jobs, freedom of movement and discrimination. It’s about how Palestinians are treated by Israelis like the American indigenous peoples were treated by Europeans and South Africans were treated by the Dutch. Think about that, then ask yourself why are we supporting such policies and who, exactly, is supporting those policies? Think about that next time you vote. It’s your money they are spending.