This is an open request from a non US citizen. Please pay attention to Israel before you even consider going after another Arab nation!

I don't know what everyones opinion on this situation is, or the rather pathetic attempt called the "Roadmap to Peace" (I also request some better names are thought up), but it is my opinion that the Israeli government must be dealt with immediately.

For those asking questions about why the Arab or Muslim world may hold resentment towards America, it all comes down to this. All of it. Since World War Two, Palestinians have been forced to become refugees, and Israel has been supported by allied nations.

It is simply unconeivable. How can anyone condone this? America continues to pump foreign aid into Israel, which in turn uses the cash to fund a massive army - I believe Israel has the largest army with respect to its population - which is then used to oppress a race of people. How is this any different from any number of examples of ethnic cleansing? We were shocked when we found out what the Nazis did to the Jews, or the Serbs to the Kosovar Muslims, or in turn after that what the Kosovar Muslims did to the Serbs. This is no different.

Well in fact it is different. It is funded by America.

Now I'm not saying the Jews may have had a an easy histroy, they have certainly saw their fair share of bigotry over the millenia. But does that mean we turna blind eye when Israel actively oppresses people, simply because of their race? Palestinians have little to no rights - they are unable to move around freely, have curfews imposed on them, are used as cheap slave labour... Its very difficult to believe this goes on, with our knowledge I might add, unchecked.

Of course people are going to say what about Hamas? Well what about them. Yes they are a terrorist group. But tell me this, how would you respond to 55 years of violent oppression? You would fight back. It might not be right, and I certainly don't support Hamas terror attacks. But what makes Israeli helicopter raids on Palestinian hospitals any better? In my opinion it is worse. The soldiers and tanks that roll through Palestinian streets making random raids and killing innocents, the bulldozing of Palestinian homes and relocating of familes to make 'settlements'. This is a world government that is doing this - not a rogue terrorist group. Yasser Arafat has tried to stop Hamas, but the truth is he is not in charge and has no connections with them. The Palestinian politicians also have no connections. But the army that fights them does have connections. Its under direct orders from Ariel Cheron and the Israeli government.

Something must be done. The way I see it, world peace is in the balance, and 95% of it rests on this fragile nations shoulders. We need to take immediate action. We cant muck around with 'roadmaps'. Over 1 million Israelis protested at Peace Now in tel Aviv a few years back. Thats 1/3 of the Israeli population opposed to what is happening. People are crying out for help.

We should be very forceful with Israel now. The Palestinians dont know what else to do but fight back. Peaceful protest might gain sympathy around the world, but they already have sympathy and nothing is being done. America, in my opinion, should give Israel 1 year to achieve peace with Palestine. 1 year for them to agree to a plan for a free Palestinian nation made up of the West Bank and Gaza, with more land in between joining them. 1 year to pull out all forces and let Palestinian people live with freedom. If they do not comply, all foreign aid should be frozen. Israel should be placed in international exile. You cannot be lenient with oppressive governments, even when they are elected. Slobodan Milosevic was elected, were we lenient with him and his oppression against non Serbs? Just tell me how this is any different?

Israel has nuclear weapons. Other Arab nations will soon have them no doubt. This is brewing up to be a catastophe. Helping Palestine is not giving in to terrorism. All they are asking for is to stop being oppressed and to have their own nation - something that was rightfully theirs prior to WW2 but was stolen from them. There is not justification to 'go after' the rest of the Arab middle east when the problem with the entire region has always been the Israeli/Palestine conflict.

As a final plea, I might add that support for Israel is one of the number one causes of hatred toward America. Figthing yet more Arab nations will do nothing to halt terrorism - it will only intensify the terror threat against the USA. America needs to show that it is truly an impartial and fair leader, something it is not doing by supporting government terrorism and ethnic oppression.

REOPENED:

Here are your questions to debate:

QUOTE

What exactly is the general opinion on the Middle East situation? For me it all comes down to the Israel-Palestine issue. In my opinion, this small region is causing tension all over the world, not just between the other Arabic nations in the Middle East and Israel, but between the world and those who support Israel. Shouldnt more be done by the American government and her allies? Isn't this a case for military intervention? Why should we be looking to invade yet another Arabic nation when this is still the issue?

Keep it civil & enjoy the debate.

I think informed Americans (and even most less-than-informed Americans) are well aware of the importance of the Israel-Palestine conflict as it relates to terrorism. MY opinion is that both sides are not doing enough the solve the situation. Illegal settlements should end and incitement to violence by the palestinian should end. More action can be taken on both sides. I think the American government wants to do that, but faces a bit of a domestic problem.
The heart of popular support for Israel in the US is religion. Most Americans feel closer to the Israelis than the palestinians for the reason. That is not likely to change anytime soon, which explain our bias towards the Israelis This doesn't mean that the US can't come out and tell the Israelis to stop building settlements. That particular failure has another root.

Fear of failure. Is the US puts its foot down on settlements, its not likely to get us anywhere. Even cutting back on support for this reason is likely to fail. So American politicians don't want to even try. All it means for them is a loss of face. I disagree with this approach (shouldn't let fear of failure stop you from trying :cough:Iraq:cough) but thats the way politics works. If you look ineffectual, you're out of a job.

Military intervention would solve little. Unless US troops are willing to use force to stop the building of settlements. Even the Israelis themselves can pull that of without major bloodshed. What are foreign troops to do?

Finally, Americans (or the American government) aren't "looking to" invade another Arab country. That particular misconceptions scares people I'm sure, but it's not supported by facts, just fearful innuendo.

I agree that both sides need to be doing more, after re-reading my post Im sure I sounded like I meant the Palestinians were saints. Of course, the majority of normal on both sides seem to want nothing more but peace. I have seen reports of families who have lost loved ones because of the other side, and most of the time they say they do not blame them. But still, I do feel a little more angry that one of the sides in the conflict is an elected government, not a terrorist group. I guess the same could be said about many other countries, Britain included with the Northern Ireland situation. These things are never easy, but it does make me rather mad when there seems to be no progress.

Another factor is more to do with the Bush-Blair relationship. In the build up to the Iraq war there was some coverge on more than one media station that the agreement was something along the lines of 'we'll help you with Iraq, if you help us with Israel'. There is quite a bit of unrest among myself and other Britons that I know who believe that this could indeed have been the informal arrangement (whether it was made more formal or announced by either Britain/US I dunno).

I dont want to see my country getting involved in another conflict before more attention is given to Palestine. This is highly unlikely however, seing as the majority of Brits were against the war, and recent events aren't making life any more rosey for our PM. There is no way we could be lead into another conflict that most of the public don't condone. At least it might get the Lib Dems more seats

Could you elaborate? Why is it a problem the the UK urged the US to get more involved in the Israel-Palestine conflict in return for aid Iraq? Do you feel this was the whole reason for your nation's involvement in Iraq? If so, I would remind you that US and UK foreign policy on Iraq has been consistent well before the Bush administration taking office and that such a deal seems to un-balanced to believe it was attractive to Tony Blair's administration.

One solution to the Isreali/Palestinian problem that gets little media notice is the one-state solution. Mandela did not fight for a seperate state in South Africa, he fought for equality for all South Africans. Hamas and other Palestinian groups will never settle for less than all of current Isreal, this makes the two-state solution quite improbable. Of course the one-state solution does reject the idea of a zionist state.Which sounds like a good idea to me, church and state don't mix too well. A recent poll showed 28% of Palestinians favored the one-state solution.

Yes it has been consistent (the rest of the Security council had the same view also remember - they passed the resolutions that called for Saddam to disarm and sent in the testers), but our nation as a whole did not support war. For some (most if Im talking about people I talk with on such matters) it was a totally bizarre concept. We didn't agree with Saddam, but we never would have voted for someone who would use war as the solution with no intimidation or clear threat. In fact as events are unfolding and the truth is coming out about rewording of reports to make us think there was a threat to us (and an attack on Britain would have been rather strange if Saddam did have the capability), even more people are turning against Blair.

It was certainly hinted at that in pre war talks Blair had been urging for action is Israel - its what more Brits and MPs were concerned with if the media and BBC News polls were anything to go by (sorry I cant source them). All Im saying is Iraq wasnt an issue, no more than any other nation in turmoil, and far from a physical threat to our nation. A 'ill scratch your back if you scrath mine' scenario was more appealing that the fear that a bomb crazy lunatic had gotten in power.

However, Iraq was a matter brought up by Blair as I recall (all media you understand, Im not saying this is truth). So maybe he is a loon - i certainly don't trust him. Either way it wasnt a problem, as you put it. But I do see it as a problem if the rumors were true, that an informal agreement was 'Iraq first, then Israel', and it wasn't followed through. On the other hand it was an informal agreement that Blair would relinquish power of Labour to Gordon Brown in 2004, which seems rather unlikely.

Anyway. I hadn't heard much about the single state solution, Hugo, and didnt realise as much as 28% would favour it - thanks for that.