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Originally Posted by Damien
Fair enough, I was wrong about the blockade, thanks for correcting my ignorance on that  I then agree that Israel are wrong to impose a blockade because they disagree with result of a democratic election. Although I can see why the reject the choice, electing the government that has a history of attacking your country.
Israel is the worst contributor to the misery of the Palestinians, my point behind of my posts though is that this is not because of some Nazi-esque hatred of Muslims or even the Palestinians, in a way this is just incidental. It's because Israel has a fear of losing their homeland, their freedom, lives and so on. Groups such as Hamas and Hizbollah, backed by countries such as Iran and Syria, do a lot to cause that fear. Unlike the Palestinians though, Israel has the fire-power to alleviate their fear.
It may seem hypocritical that Israel are willing to inflict destruction on a people who are actually living their fears, because it is. However a lot of groups that claim to represent the Palestinians show no interest in a peace, and until that changes then it will keep happening.
Basically, I believe the Israeli government do want a lasting peace at some point, they will support the creation of a Palestinian state. Maybe not the current government of Israel, but the will exists in that country. The will also exists amongst the Palestinians but I cannot see who will step up to represent them and reject the violence of their peers and outside influences.
At the end of the day, International law is rubbish, the UN are toothless, and other governments can only do so much to change the actions of another. Each country acts in their own best interests and tragically for the Palestinians no other country really has their welfare as a key concern. Injustice is the history of most of our world  |
Both sides are a potential threat to each other for historical reasons and it is just as true to say that the Palestinians are the biggest source of misery to the Israelis as the Israelis are the biggest source of misery to the Palestininians, so there's nothing new there.
Israel is situated in a region surrounded by hostile neighbours who at one time or another over the last 60 years have been responsible for attacks on Israel. If Israel had not had support from the US, it would have gone under years ago.The Palestinians, on the other hand, are surrounded by friendly nationss, which have provided various kinds of support over the years though even they draw the line at supplying a peace-keeping force.
Given that supporters of both Hamas and of Israel are complaining about the loss of lives but continuing to fight, it's not really surprising that other countries don't want to put the lives of their troops and medical staff in the line of fire. As the situation stands, the UN, which relies on the support of these reluctant countries is, as you say, essentially rendered powerless. This means that ending the bloodshed rests in the hands of the two sets of combatants. They are on their own in this conflict.
There are no winners here. Everybody loses. The best we can do at the moment is damage limitation, saving lives and pleading with both sides to agree to the ceasefire, because that's when the talking about the future can begin.