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[gbr457-blog]

Final Blog

I ended up learning far more than I expected I would. I came into the class with a relatively one side view on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I have learned that there is far more going on that assists in complicating the peace process.

Additionally, this is the first class where I have had to partake in the three simulations we did. While at times the groups we represented gave up on our values and settle for others, it helped show me just how complicated the peace process is. It's not as simple as breaking it down issue by issue. Several if not all of the issues are intertwined. At times, solving one issue will complicate others.

While this class will not be my highest grade of the semester, it will be the one that I have gained the most knowledge from.

[gbr457-blog]

US-Israel Military Aid

The US has just pledged the largest amount of military aid in history. Currently Israel and Egypt account for 75% of the military aid provided by the U.S., with Egypt receiving 1.3 billion and Israel receiving 3.1 billion. After Netanyahu voiced his support against the US-Iran deal Washington promised to up the aid to 4.5 billion dollars. While I agree that the U.S. should help Israel with military aid, I don’t believe we should just toss Israel another 1.4 billion due do their Prime Minister being overly happy with us. 

However, there was large support in the senate to increase aid to Israel with over 80% of the Senators voting in agreement. 51 republicans and 32 democrats, while I am not surprised by the support of the senate I would be interested to see where the presidential candidates all stand on the idea of more aid to Israel. 

https://www.rt.com/usa/341013-usa-military-aid-israel/

[gbr457-blog]

Netanyahu and Putin discuss the Golan Heights

Netanyahu and Putin met in Moscow to discuss the Northern border of the Golan Heights. Israel clearly established that this was a non negotiable territory but wanted to ensure that their would be no military mishaps between Israel and Russia. This is modeled after Turkey shooting down a Russian war plane last year under hazing conditions.

Israel continued to stress that the Golan Heights were non-negotiable due to the UN special envoy calling for Israel to return the Golan Heights to Syria.

I am not surprised by either Russia and Israel working together or Israel’s refusal to return the Golan Heights. Both issues seem beneficial to Israel which is why they are pursuing their options. 

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Netanyahu-to-Putin-Golan-Heights-is-a-red-line-must-remain-a-part-of-Israel-451947

[gbr457-blog]

Israeli Muslim Appointed to Deputy Police Commisioner

Recently, Israel promoted a Muslim to the position of Deputy Commander. This makes him the highest ranking official Muslim official inside of the country.  Jamal Hakrush, will be tasked with improving police relations and services inside of Arab neighborhoods and improving the current police stations in those neighborhoods. The Israeli Internal Security Minister said, “we cannot look at the Arab society in Israel with the violence and crime in its midst, with a clear conscience...until this day we have not provided the Arab sector with equal law enforcement capabilities.” Additionally the country intends to commission hundreds of Arab police officers.

I believe that it is a step in the right direction for Israel. While the Arab-Israeli’s make up roughly 20% of the population they have under represented through out the country. I feel as if this is a step in the right direction to improve relations inside of the country. This could also lead to better relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors. 

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/14/middleeast/israel-promotes-arab-officer/index.html

[thoughtshavei-blog]

Israel’s War on the Arabic Language

I am surprised at Israel’s apparent lack of concern with learning and understanding the Arabic language. Being in the Middle East, with neighboring Muslim countries for the sake of bettering relations with other countries and enabling diplomacy Israel should take a greater interest in encouraging citizens to learn Arabic.  Israel’s refusal to include the Arabic language in public places, despite a 2002 court ruling that all signs should be in Arabic as well, could be seen as similar to the United States reaction in incorporating Spanish.  Some Americans are vehemently opposed to learning Spanish, believing that English is American.  Israel exclusive of the Arabic language is slightly different though in that they are court mandated to post in the Arabic language.  Israel is also forcing Arab litigants who don’t understand Hebrew to pay for translation costs.  Additionally, public institutions such as hospitals, universities, transportation, the post office, and government ministries don’t translate Hebrew into Arabic.  This practice is highly discriminatory against Israeli Arabs and shouldn’t be tolerated in a democracy.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/04/israel-war-arabic-language-160404102325547.html

[loudlytinyflower-blog]

I’m thankful that you shared this article, and encourge others to read through it.  I agree with you that the exclusion of signs in Arabic, especially in public areas, should not be tolerated.  However, the only legal action that has been taken against this is human rights lawyers in Tel Aviv threatening the city with a contempt of court action.  Surprisingly, this is happening 14 years after the legislation was passed and not sooner.  In addition, I found it interesting that last week the Palestinian members of the Knesset switched to speaking Arabic.  As you mentioned, the parliament provides no translation services and most of the Jewish members, “like the rest of the Jewish population,” do not understand Arabic.  The point was made in the article that they had sacrificed their right to speak Arabic for the sake of the Jewish members understanding, however they weren’t being listened to anyways.  Although I think the English/Spanish and Hebrew/Arabic do have their differences, I really thought that there was a strong parallel when the article reported that “The hostile attitude of offficial bodies, including municipalities like Tel Aviv, encourages a general climate that treats Arabic as an alien and despised language,” said Jamal Zahalka, a Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset who is currently suspended from the parliament.

[ime16-blog]

Such a fascinating article… It’s always interesting to see how Israeli/Palestinian conflict reaches into all areas of life. I was really interested in the fact that Arabic as an official language is something left over from the British mandate period, since I feel like a fair amount of the legitimacy of the claims that Arabic needs to be included on the signs stems from the language’s official status. However, I think the inclusion or exclusion of Arabic on signs is less a matter of legality or even a matter of whether a large enough percentage of the population speaks the language to warrant its inclusion. I see it more as a symbolic gesture - by excluding Arabic, the message that Arabs themselves are not wanted is sent. I think the inclusion of English on signs supports this point, along with the slightly ridiculous excuse that including Arabic would mean “too much text” on signs. If they can find room for English on the signs, surely they can find room for Arabic, especially since it’s an official, widely-used language in the country. Nine times more people have Arabic as their first language than have English as their first language in Israel. (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4335235,00.html)

[alwaysbeeneasy-deactivated20160]

I think it’s interesting to take a look at all the figures involved in this controversy. First off, only 9 million people in the entire world, according to wikipedia(some sources list the number closer to 5 million) actually speak Hebrew, and a large portion of those do not speak it fluently.  It is not even one of the world’s 50 most-spoken languages. By comparison, some form of Arabic is spoken by almost 240 million people, the 5th most spoken language world-wide.  This is not even close to the same controversy occurring over Spanish/English controversy in the U.S., as those are the 2nd and 3rd most spoken languages in the world, respectively.  The Hebrew/Arabic argument would be more like if the United States chose to enforce Lakota Sioux as its main language and if u couldn’t speak it, you were S.O.L.  It’s almost like the Israeli government wants Israel to be a secret club that nobody else can be a part of unless they know the secret language.  Every country that borders Israel, speaks Arabic.  Why would they not want to make their country as hospitable to their neighbors as possible? I understand including English on signs, because English-speakers no doubt make up a majority of their tourism faction, but not including Arabic is almost a blatant announcement that they are not welcome inside Israel’s borders.

On top of this all, Arabic is listed as an OFFICIAL language of Israel!  That should trump all other arguments.  What purpose is there for listing Arabic as an official language if the people in the country are discouraged from using that language?

[loudlytinyflower-blog]

@ime16- I agree with you that the exclusion/inclusion of Arabic language is more of a message about how Israel wants their population to look (i.e. demographics).  Although it may be more of a symbolic matter than legal, I think that the lack of legal actions behind this definitely exacerbates the problem.  I am really glad that you made this distinction.  If you hadn’t, I am not sure how much weight I would have given the symbolism of this issue.

@alwaysbeeneasy - I’m glad that you pointed out further statistics as those can always give a good overall picture and how it relates to the rest of the world.  Like I said, the whole English/Spanish and Hebrew/Arabic definitely have their differences, but the way that they refer to it as an “enemy” or even “alien” language, in my opinion, mirrors how some view Spanish in this country.  I think that @husker212 shed some light on your question as to why Israel does not want to make their country more hospitiable to their neighbors, poniting out that it could very well be a fear of Arab encroachment onto Israeli national identity.

[gbr457-blog]

I think that one thing that is being forgotten here is that Israel doesn’t really care. Sure they say care about international opinion but is that going to drastically effect what they do with their infrastructure and the language things will be written in? You all are absolutely right that it would make sense to include Arabic in public spaces. Why would Israel do that though? Israel is a democracy, but it is also a Jewish democracy with the majority of Israelis hoping to maintain it that way. So I do not see a big push by the government to become excessively hospitable to Arabic speaking people in the region due to the fact that Israel is not on the best of terms with most of their neighbors.

While there are 240 million Arabic speaking people in the world, there are not vast numbers of tourist from Egypt and Jordan going to Israel for vacation. And while there are only 9 million people who speak Hebrew,  a majority of them live in Israel. So it would make sense for signs to be written in Hebrew.

This article, which I was unable to find a date when it was written says a majority of signs are written in English, Hebrew and Arabic. Additionally, the article states, “ Due to the fact that Arab citizens often live in their own communities and have governmental services available to them in their native Arabic language...”

http://www.hebrewtoday.com/content/languages-spoken-israel-besides-hebrew-languageinally 

[gbr457-blog]

Sanders worse than Hamas?

Presidential candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is by no means a favorite among Israeli Jews. In a scathing article written in the Times of Israel, the author, writing with a clear bias, proceeds to rip on the Senator for his comments that Israel killed over 10,000 Palestinians in Gaza during the summer of 2014. That number is clearly wrong and about 7 times as high as the number reported by Hamas, who claims 1462 civilians were killed. It should be noted that Hamas could potentially benefit from a inflated number of casualties. Additionally, Senator Sanders said that Israel should remove the blockade of Gaza but, “has a right to live in peace and security”. Due to the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict I would not see the removal of the blockade promoting peace and security for Israel.

As the primaries progress it is starting to show that Senator Sanders, a Jew, has the least supportive positions of one of America’s close allies, Israel

[gbr457-blog]

Military Amnesty Month Leading into Passover

Today in class we talked about how the Israeli military plays a large role in everyone’s life due to the mandatory service requirement. The Israeli Defense Force has launched a four week long amnesty period allowing veterans, which would be 70% of the country, to return stolen military equipment with no repercussions. The IDF has currently recovered pistols, rifles, grenades, parachutes and a military jeep.

However, the thing that really surprised me is the amount of weapons being turned in. In the U.S. Army, weapons are considered a sensitive item and must be accounted for at all times. If one weapon is misplaced the entire post will go on lock down until the weapon is located. Perhaps, due to Israelis unique situation with a heavy reliance on its reserve forces they are allowed to take their weapons home. I still find it surprising that there was such a lack of accountability of weapons and other critical military items.

The fact that the IDF is the most elite military force in the region and a top contender in the world makes me wonder what other internal problems they are facing if they can not keep track of weapons. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/world/middleeast/israeli-militarys-spring-cleaning-call-return-our-gear-please.html?_r=0

[gbr457-blog]

Israel shuts off Palestinian power

Twice this week Israel shut off power to certain areas of Palestine with the hopes of the temporary outages helping lower the rising debt owed. The Palestinians owe close to two billion dollars to the power company, which rises at around 70 million dollars a month. By the company cutting off its service, like any company would over an unpaid debt, this will only provide fuel for the Palestinian cause and puts Israel is in a lose lose situation. They can either leave the power on and keep giving away electricity for free, to their most vocal and possibly dangerous enemy. Or, they can turn off the power until their debts they are owed are paid, which with the large amount of poverty will not be paid in a timely manner. I believe this is a situation where Israel is wrong no matter what they do.

[gbr457-blog]

Iran a bigger threat than ISIS?

Israel, who borders Syria, has had been carrying out air strikes and attacks against ISIS strongholds and other enemies of the state. Israel, while concerned with ISIS in Syria is far more worried about Iran. This is a seen as a surprise by most Western Nations, especially the US who had just signed a nuclear treaty with Iran.

It is interesting to watch the only two non-Arab states in the region keep pushing further and further apart. In the 1970s they were able to have a semi stable relationship, understanding that if either state were to be destroyed than the Arab nations would be able to focus their attention solely on the remaining non Arab nation.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/israels-main-concern-in-syria-iran-not-isis-1458207000

[gbr457-blog]

Russian and Israeli Partnership

With Russia pulling out of Syria this caused some concern through Israel due to the Russians fighting enemies of Israel. Additionally, Israel maintained communications with the Russians to ensure there would be no conflicting military operations in Syria. Russia has still maintained that Israeli security will not be threatened due to them leaving. Israel and Russia signed a agreement in 2010 to “increase military operations in combating terrorism”. 

I do not see Russia leaving causing a major security threat to Israel. I think that with both the US and Russia as Israelis two main allies, Israel will not have to listen to international pressure, unless it is coming from one of those two. I see only those countries as having enough influence to sway Israeli opinion.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-israel-idUSKCN0WH1HY 

[gbr457-blog]

Iranian Missile Launch

Iran recently launched two ballistic missiles with “Israel must be wiped out” written in Hebrew on the side of them. Vice President Biden made a statement condemning their actions and saying that Iran would be a threat towards Israel, the region and the United States if they attempted to acquire nuclear weapons. 

While a majority of countries have ballistic missiles in the world today, and there is nothing illegal about Iran having them, it is still a step of aggression that the Middle East does not need. Israel’s biggest priority is the security of their people and I do not believe they will set on their hands. This also helps validate President Netanyahu claims Congress that Israel is a very real threat to the Middle East. 

There is nothing wrong with Iran testing missiles, however, there are multiple things wrong with Iran testing missiles with the phrase “Israel must be wiped out” on them. 

http://news.yahoo.com/iran-fires-2-missiles-marked-israel-must-wiped-071612751.html

[gbr457-blog]

Multiple Stabbings and Attacks in Israel

Today, an American tourist was killed during a Palestinian stabbing attack and 10 Israelis were injured. Additionally, their were multiple other shooting and stabbing attacks across Israel. The only non-Palestinian fatality was the American tourist. All Palestinian attackers were shot and killed by Israeli police with the exception of one who was killed by the person he was attacking. 

The Palestinian attacks have left 28 Israeli’s and over 174 Palestinians dead. These attacks are unsuccessful on multiple levels. First off, it appears that only a small majority of the Palestinian attacks could be classified as successfully. Additionally, this provides justification for the military steps that Israel takes in attempts to protect its citizens.However, if Palestine is looking to terrorize the Israel public i would say that they are having some levels of success.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/american-tourist-killed-amid-israeli-stabbing-violence-biden-arrives-talks-n533996

[gbr457-blog]

Hamas Members Afraid to Enter Tunnels to Israel

Due to the increase in tunnel collapses and the fatalities associated with the cave ins, Hamas members are reportedly scared to enter the tunnels into Israel. The terror organization is claiming that Israel is directly responsible for the cave ins. Israel says that the cave ins are all weather related.

Whether Israel is directly responsible or it is all related to weather I see this as a success for Israel. With the lack of individuals to enter the tunnels leading to Israel this provides a viable form of border security.

I also find it ironic that a terrorist organization is falling victim to tactics similar to their own. They are getting a taste of their own medicine and being “terrorized” by the threat of having their tunnels collapse on them.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Exclusive-Hamas-operatives-fear-entering-tunnels-believe-Israel-behind-collapses-446836

[gbr457-blog]

Tensions Rise in Palestinian Refugee Camp

Two Israeli soldiers got lost in the West Bank and ended up with being greeted with rocks and Molotov cocktails. This resulted in a hasty mobilization by the IDF and Border Guards. In the end one Palestinian died and around 20 Palestinians and Israelis were injured.

Israel is under fire due to its questionable Hannibal Directive. Briefly the Hannibal Directive results in using large amounts of force to prevent Israeli soldiers from falling into enemy hands. 

This incident has resulted in both sides pointing fingers at the other and it is hard to determine who is truly at fault. I understand why the Israeli’s would respond with large amounts of force when two soldiers are surrounded in a refugee camp outnumbered 5,500:1.

It is also hard to determine what would happen if an Israeli soldier were to fall in the hands of a Palestinian terror organization. 

http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.706317

[pecca-fortiter-blog1-deactivate]

More on the Gaza Tunnels

Stating that Hamas does not seek renewed war with Israel, Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior leader close to the military wing of the organization, maintains that Gaza tunnels are intended only as a means of defense. In his own words Zahar stated, “Nobody here in the region is looking for a war.” Zahar downplayed the role of tunnel building by comparing it against “the might of the U.S.-supplied Israeli military.”

However, I find this argument hard to swallow— mainly because it is difficult to liken the act of tunnel building with a defensive strategy. Intended or not, these tunnels breach the security of Israeli borders, and therefore, necessitate an Israeli response. No state should have to tolerate the possibility of a militant incursion. These tunnels do not represent a sound defensive strategy. Instead they feed into the narrative and help the recruiting efforts of Hamas. 

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/02/25/world/middleeast/25reuters-israel-palestinians-hamas.html

[gbr457-blog]

I agree with you. Why a group would want to risk the personnel and equipment to provide a avenue of approach, for the hated Israeli’s into their country, boggles my mind. Additionally, a Hamas leader recently said that over 1/3 of the pre war tunnels have been rebuilt. 

There is absolutely no defensive advantage of building a tunnel into another country, especially a “hostile” country. You are providing Israel with a clear avenue of approach. I see this as a weak attempt to justify there reasoning for building large numbers of tunnels in to Israel. I would not be surprised if this results in a increased military response from Israel.

[gbr457-blog]

Israel intercepts shipment of drones

The Israeli Crossing Authority intercepted a shipment of drones they say were intended for Palestinian terrorists. The  drones are not military sized drones used by the US in the Middle East. They are the ones that have spiked in popularity recently in the US. 

However, these drones can offer a significant military advantage, especially to a terrorist organization. This will allow a organization who can not afford any sort of air assets, to now be able to have a birds eye view on Israeli security forces, see where their rockets are landing and shift their fire accordingly. Recently, drones have seen a spike in use in the Syrian civil war. It has allowed fighting groups with minimal training and funds to have a larger influence on the battlefield. 

If I was Israel, I would be concerned about a large number of drones falling into the hands of certain individuals. If Palestinian terrorist were able to get a hold of the drones there would not suddenly be a large scale invasion of Israel. I would expect to see a possible jump in the amount and lethality of attacks.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Israel-thwarts-attempt-to-smuggle-drones-intended-for-terrorists-into-Gaza-445608

[gbr457-blog]

Trump and Clinton on Israel

Donald Trump has stated that he would take a more neutral role on the Israel-Palestine conflict. I was shocked when I read this. Trump is possibly the furthest right winged republican in the race. Republicans historically offer large amounts of support and aid to Israel. Based off of Trump’s previous controversial statements about Mexico, the Middle East and other sensitive topics I expected to read that Trump was going to have the Palestinian’s pay for a wall.

On the other hand, Bill Clinton has pledged even more support for Israel on behalf of his wife. Secretary Clinton has worked with Israel for several years now. I did not expect her to take a even stronger stance of support with Israel. I assumed that she would push to keep the American-Israeli relation in roughly the same place that it is now. 

I am surprised on both of the candidates stances, I thought that Trump would push for more support and aid to Israel. Where as, Secretary Clinton would maintain the current relationship or weaken it slightly.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/18/politics/donald-trump-israel-palestinian-neutral/

https://theintercept.com/2016/02/18/hillary-clinton-with-little-notice-vows-to-embrace-an-extremist-agenda-on-israel/