Israel & The Middle East

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

The Grand(ish) Finale

I believe that my favorite part of this class was being able to engage in the three simulations. I felt like this was not only a great way to test what we were learning, but to get us to know others in the class better. I feel like this helped aid our discussions as the semester moved forwards, since we had already had to meet with and work through problems as different groups throughout the semester. I know that the smaller group discussions where we had to be different actors really helped me understand the different concepts of the class as well. I also really liked the simulations because it better helped me put myself in the shoes of the people we read and talked about throughout the class. It’s hard to put yourself in the shoes of an Israeli or Palestinian because of the large historical and social contexts that come along with those identities, but the simulations challenged us to try. The only thing I would have liked to see different in regards to the group projects was more time to plan before; the second project was around a busy time and I know we found it hard to find a time for us to meet as a full group before class.

 I think what surprised me most about this class and semester was all of the communication skills I learned. I knew coming in that I would learn some history and a broader context about Israel and it’s problems. However, I feel like I walked away from this class having the ability to better negotiate and communicate in situations that were not on that grand of a scale. So much of what we have talked about this semester boils down to different groups not understanding each other’s situations and background. In every day communications the skills it takes to recognize and acknowledge those differences are very applicable.

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

Syrian Sanctions

The US have placed sanctions on 271 individuals in Syria that work at the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC). This center is the where the US believes the nerve agent was produced that was used in the attack in Khan Sheikhoun earlier this month.  This attacked killed 80 people and the US had launched missile strikes on the Syrian Shayrat airbase where the planes came from.  The sanctions on the SSRC employees prevent any American citizens from having deals with them.  

These steps are something that seem needed right now.   Since the attack, Assad has not taken any claim of misdoing by Syria, and have stated that the attacks were made up.  The country never should have used chemical weapons, but the fabrications of stories saying the United States and others in the west have made up the use of chemical weapons, is unacceptable.  Setting up sanctions seemed like a natural next step.  Assad has no country to really have sanctions put on, so it makes sense to put it on the research center.  

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

Palestinian Prisoners Day

Today, April 17th, is Palestinian Prisoners Day.  Today is also the day that around 1,500 Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli prisons have launched an open-ended hunger strike for basic rights and to shed light on the prison conditions. The strike is being led by jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti.  Today there was also an Aljzeera infographic released titled “What it means to be a Palestinian prisoner in Israel”.  This infographic explained that there are 6,500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. 536 of the prisoners are held under administrative detention, meaning they have had secret evidence brought against them and they are not allowed to know what they are accused of or defend themselves in court.  Another large concern right now is that holding Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails violates the Fourth Geneva Convention, because the prisoners are not being held in what is internationally viewed as occupied land.  

These articles really made me realize how much Israel is held at a different standard that other countries.  There are clear violations of international law, and some questions about human rights, that Israel basically just says “no that’s actually not happening and we are not breaking any laws.”  There have been many different reports of medical negligence, including sick prisoners being denied water.  I find it shocking that not more people hear about these incidents happening somewhere we view as an ally; the human rights accusations do not seem to fit within the stereotypes most Americans would give Israel.  

[keepitisrael-blog]

To start, it goes without saying that clearly there are problems with this. Secret evidence sounds like something an eight year old made up during a game of cops and robbers that he was losing, but because it was at his step-dad’s place in Portland, whatever he says goes. Infinite detention also reeks of potential abuse.

However, as I expected from an infographic, especially one from a politically skewed group such as Aljazeera, there’s not a lot of in depth analysis. It is no surprise that Aljazeera posted something trashing Israel. Again, that doesn’t completely negate the fact that this practice isn’t good, so the information isn’t necessarily bad, but rather incomplete. 

It’s obviously silly to assume that all of these prisoners are bent on destruction, but if Israel were to let prisoners go, the risk of some of them being “bad hombres” is too great. Normally I’d advocate for this practice (not having Palestinian prisoners), but it can’t be ignored that as long as Palestine isn’t a legitimate state and doesn’t offer the intensive services as other states do, such as a reliable police force and justice system, there are little to no assurances that the released prisoners would be held in check.

Chances are, if people in the prisons are going as far as partaking in hunger strikes, the situation there is far from perfect, but at the same time, the ideal thought of Israel simply not having them creates a new set of problems, problems that could potentially impact the peace process.

Clearly Israel has some explaining to do with the use of secret evidence, but internationally, the use of that evidence and indefinite detainment can be justified because of lack of Palestine reliability.

And as Americans, we should not be taking ANY high ground here as long as Guantanamo Bay is still open. The acts committed by the US during and following the Iraq war are deplorable. There have been more than one hunger strikes at Guantanamo. Not only do we have that stain on our (very recent) history, but prison conditions at home aren’t the spitting image of perfection either. How many non-violent drug offenders are currently in the system? Hell, Nebraska is dealing with our own overpopulation issues in our prison system.

In all, there are very real problems with the prison system in Israel, but the infographic provides no real alternative, nor any solution to the problem. It points out the negatives of Israel’s actions, seemingly to just stir the pot. There’s some useful information, such as the information on child prisoners (which you’d be pressed to try and justify those numbers,) but for the most part, I’m not too emotionally swayed by this infographic.

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

I completely agree with the fact that the infographic does not give a complete picture of everything that is going on within the prison system in Israel. However I thought it was a good quick fact sheet for numbers and a quick explanation of what administrative detention is. I also agree that as American’s we do not have a perfect prison system, but one negative system does not take away from the other system also being negative. Also, in regards to the prisoners being released, I do not think that an accurate way to solve the problem, but having them be held without knowledge of why and for an indefinite amount is a huge problem. The problem with them being held in Israeli jails is that most are not in the area where a Palestinian state would be. This makes it so family and visitors have to apply for passes to see them; which regularly get denied. Since Israel is the internationally recognized state with the criminal justice system and prisons, they should be able to keep the prisoners they believe that break the law. They should hold them somewhere accessible to their family's though.

I feel like while I'm not holding my breath, it still seems shocking. Many in the Middle East have their human rights violations criticized frequently. Israel seems to be held as at a different standard because it does not have issues publicized as much while also having the knowledge of the incidents and issues known.

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

Palestinian Prisoners Day

Today, April 17th, is Palestinian Prisoners Day.  Today is also the day that around 1,500 Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli prisons have launched an open-ended hunger strike for basic rights and to shed light on the prison conditions. The strike is being led by jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti.  Today there was also an Aljzeera infographic released titled “What it means to be a Palestinian prisoner in Israel”.  This infographic explained that there are 6,500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. 536 of the prisoners are held under administrative detention, meaning they have had secret evidence brought against them and they are not allowed to know what they are accused of or defend themselves in court.  Another large concern right now is that holding Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails violates the Fourth Geneva Convention, because the prisoners are not being held in what is internationally viewed as occupied land.  

These articles really made me realize how much Israel is held at a different standard that other countries.  There are clear violations of international law, and some questions about human rights, that Israel basically just says “no that’s actually not happening and we are not breaking any laws.”  There have been many different reports of medical negligence, including sick prisoners being denied water.  I find it shocking that not more people hear about these incidents happening somewhere we view as an ally; the human rights accusations do not seem to fit within the stereotypes most Americans would give Israel.  

[keepitisrael-blog]

Today in History, on History

Pepsi got pretty lucky this week, as their newest commercial, which received heat from just about everyone, was largely forgotten in the wake of the United Airlines incident. Not do be outdone, Sean Spicer decided to compete for ‘The Dumbest Thing Done all Week Heavyweight Champion of the World.’ And to be sure, as expected of the Trump train, they’re still winning and we are definitely getting tired of it. But it isn’t just us USA citizens who find ourselves reacting like we’re in a never-ending Arrested Development/The Office crossover episode. This time, the comment was so ridiculous Israel couldn’t keep quiet.

“The White House urgently needs a history teacher.” -  The Knesset Israel-US Relations Caucus Chairman MK Nachman Shai

In case you’ve been lucky enough to avoid social media today and thus have missed all the stories you wished you’d never hear, Sean Spicer took time today to speak out against Assad and his chemical weapons attacks. Putting a dollar into Dr. Kohen’s “Nazi Jar,” Spicer tried his best to portray Assad as bad as the infamous Hitler and the Nazi regime. You’d think comparing the two wouldn’t be too difficult, as comparing any of Assad’s actions to Hitler’s would smear his image to the American public, and perhaps provide a little more support for US actions against Syria. That would have been the case if Spicer had the ability to remove his foot from his mouth at any given time. Instead, his comparison went south as he said that not even Hitler used chemical weapons attacks in WWII.

Not that gas chambers aren’t one of the most well known and horrifying examples of the exact opposite, being a pretty solid reason as to why Hitler wasn’t such a good guy.

This, apparently, wasn’t clear to Spicer and he totally missed it. Israel representatives are, as expected, not taking the whole thing well.  Transportation Minister Israel Katz from the Likud party said that Israel, “Must demand that he apologize or resign.”

This also comes after the administration’s failure to properly recognize the Jews as the Holocaust’s primary victims on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

For an administration that started out looking like staunch Israel supporters, they’re doing an awful job at supporting them as a majority Jewish state. Clearly appealing to the alt-right section of supporters is more important than appealing to the Jewish part of Israel.

And if it’s not, they’re doing a bad job at showing us anything different.

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

Sean Spicer never ceases to amaze me; the man has flopped and fumbled through his time as press secretary, yet he still has a job. Adolf Hitler is known for using gas chambers.  The only way that Spicer’s comment, that Hitler did not use, “the gas on his own people in the same way Assad used them,” would be true would be if Spicer were talking about the delivery of the gas. (Which, shocker, that was not what he was referring to.) Spicer issued an apology, in which he talked about two things, how he was sorry for offending anyone, especially during holy week, and that he was sorry he took away from the greatness the president was doing in the past week.  I think in this situation, especially since trump had not commented on the matter, Spicer should have simply stated he was sorry for comparing Hitler and Assad.  Going back and saying he was taking away from the President’s achievements really then only further takes away from those insulted by his comments.

It will be interesting moving forward to see if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will comment on the matter.  He wanted Trump for president, yet there have been more than one occasion where Trump or his administration has said something that can and have been taken as them being anti-Semitist. After his meeting with Trump in February, a few weeks after the “mishap” where the White House’s tweet did not make any reference to Jewish suffering on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Netanyahu referred to trump as a best friend of the Jewish people and a great ally for Israel. After his defense of Trump the last time, I am sure that there are more Israli’s than just the caucus chair who would want Netanyahu to say something. 

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

Military Court for Civilians in Bahrain

A constitutional amendment in Bahrain would allow for civilians accused of acts of terrorism to be tried in military court; the King of Bahrain ratified the amendment this past week. Currently, the constitution only allows civilians to be tried in military courts when Bahrain is in a state of emergency, under marshal law.  While the amendment says it’s intent is to try terrorists, many different groups are worried that the definition is not specific enough and would allow the military to try civilians who speak out against the government.

An article by the Human Rights Watch made a good point in saying that international human rights bodies have agreed that civilians being tried before military courts violates their right to and independent and impartial trial.  A lot of the civilian trials that have been criticized from Bahrain in the past have been political crimes.  These crimes are those that would potentially fall under this new amendment.  This seems like a way for the Bahraini government to scare people from speaking out against the government.  The last time marshal law was put in place was in 2011 when a peaceful protest, calling for democracy and human rights, occurred.  The government also has a recommended 5-year jail sentence for anyone who insults the King.  Because of these extra things, it makes the law seem like a way for the government to bar anyone from going against them.  Having a constitutional amendment hat allows civilians to be tried in military court for acts of terrorism doesn’t sound bad, until you look at the other details of the country and vagueness of the amendment.  

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

US - Egyptian Relationship

President Donald Trump had Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi visit the White House for the first visit since he led the military overthrow of the previous president, Mohammed Morsi.  Morsi was the first freely elected Egyptian president, but his rule was protested.  Sisi’s presidency is being criticized right now as well, though, because of human rights issues.  The White House addressed this by saying that the human rights concerns would be handled in a “private, more discreet way.”  

Sisi’s visit to the White House and their reaction to the human rights question shows that the United States does not seem as concerned with these accusations as the last administration was.  In class, we talked about how much money Egypt receives in military support. President Obama put some restrictions on the military support in the past because of the concerns, but they never seemed to hold because of “US national security interests”.  These new meetings seem to be leading to Sisi wanting to increase the current $1.3 billion in US military aid.  Due to Trump’s want for a strong support of the fight against the Islamic State, I feel like this is not a outlandish speculation.  However, it does go against Trump’s want for cutting of the international budget.  This meeting has been contested by human rights leaders for good reason.  Right now, I think Trump is only looking at the common enemy of the IS, but not looking at the larger international picture.  

[peaceofpecanpie-blog]

It takes a village...

It is nearly impossible to get 30 students from similar geographical, social, and economic circumstances to agree on the legal and moral rights of Israel and it is absolutely impossible for the world powers to agree on the legal and moral rights of Israel. Boris Johnson, the UK foreign secretary, is condemning the United Nations Human Rights council for their criticism of Israel’s bombing of Hezbollah in the Golan Heights. He believes the council needs to back off of Israel and focus on the crisis in Syria and working on holding Assad’s regime accountable for the atrocities committed against the people of Syria. The Golan Heights contains Hezbollah and Iranian militants. They have stated that their goals are to destroy the state of Israel, and the Israel has responded with military action. It would behoove the parties to determine whether Israel’s actions are a form of war and therefore establish their legal rights to protecting their citizens and their land. This does not condone their military actions but provides a framework of legitimizing the issue facing Israel and the human rights concerns pertaining to Hezbollah. It would also behoove the UK not to redirect the human rights council away from Israel, because they are doing their job of holding powerful countries accountable for their actions. Finally, the UK has made a shift in their diplomacy and have followed the Trump Train. Trump claims that the UK intelligence community was spying on Trump during the election. Yet, Johnson is throwing his avid support behind Trump. This is frustrating because Trump is not our friend. So it takes village to put Israel and Palestine back together again. 

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

This whole situation is somewhat of uncharted territory. A peace process has never been fully completed between Israel and Palestine, let alone one during the time of high terror right next door. While the Middle East has always had a history of unrest, it seems like right now is still something different and new every day. It seems like the lines of what is called for an what is not keeps getting blurred. Countries continually claim that they acted out of defense in war time, when from the outside it seems like war crimes. It is the job of the United Nations and world powers to point out these discrepancies and to stay on them until they are handled. I feel like with having Trump as one of these leaders we will continue to have deflection of real crimes. He deflects problems like no other politician in the past.

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

When They Have Evidence, Just Say it is Fabricated

After looking at evidence, the UN has come to the conclusion that the Syrian air force deliberately bombed a Syrian spring outside of Damascus, Syria.  The bombing of the spring cut off the water supply to 5.5 million people living in the city and surrounding areas.  Previously the Damascus Water Authority blamed the shutting off of the water on rebel groups who, they said, had contaminated the water with fuel; even though there were no reports of people suffering from symptoms of contaminations before the bomb drops.  Syrian forces are also being accused of dropping bombs on a school complex when there were no rebels in the area.  However, the Russians are claiming the picture evidence is fabricated (even though there is other evidence to corroborate the photos.)

Is this the new norm of the international community? Just claim any evidence put out against you is fabricated? In the United States we have the highest government officials questioning everything negative, and claim it’s just created by fake news.  In Russia, which is not as shocking, we are having the government claim the evidence the UN has against them for war crimes is fabricated.  It seems to have become more common place to just deny that anything bad said about you is fake, and that anyone opposing you needs to bring even more evidence than ever to prove its true.  Having this story originate with the conflict in Syria, I feel like the injustices being committed by the government are going to start to be harder for the UN to prove.  While the obvious first priority is dealing with the Islamic State in the region right now, the other crimes should not be forgotten.   With it becoming more commonplace to question anything negative, I worry these crimes will start to be harder to prove, or convince people of moving forward.

[israelne-blog]

Hamas doesn’t hate Jews?

In light of our discussions in class today, I have been thinking more about Hamas claiming not to be Antisemitic. I think Israel and Palestine were dancing around this issue without actually addressing it as a questionable statement and almost accepting the assertion. 

This isn’t the first time that Hamas leadership has claimed to not be Antisemitic. The claim that they don’t hate Jews, they just hate their actions ought to be questioned. To draw a comparison to something that is said in the US “don’t hate the sinner, hate the sin.” How can we expect Hamas to actually mean what they’re saying when they are anti-Zionist and hate what the Jews do because of the threats to their existence? I understand not wanting to be oppressed, but there is something different about what Hamas wants. 

Throughout their history and recently Hamas leaders have said very clearly antisemitic things. In January:  “My brothers, know that people, stones, and trees all hate [the Jews]. Everyone on Earth hates this filthy nation, a nation extrinsic to Mankind. This fact was elucidated by the Quran and the Sunna,” Abu Ras said.

It does not appear reasonable to accept this assertion by Hamas with the context of their histor.

[polisci477-blog]

I think what you bring up is interesting. To me, it doesn’t seem like Hamas is putting any actual weight behind what they are saying. Instead, I argue that they’ve just decided to play the game smarter. Hamas likely realizes that it’s bad press to have your organization’s charter declaring war on the Jews; but instead now they have found a loophole, and are declaring war on the occupation. However, this means that they will still never be able to recognize Israel’s existence; sure, they recognize it by de facto in their agreement on the 1967 borders, but they will never be able to do so publicly. This to me says a lot about their intentions, it says that they’re not willing to give up their armed struggle, and that they’re just trying to make their efforts more digestible in the world’s eye. By previously labeling Israel as the occupation, it made them out to be the aggressors, but when Hamas declares war on the Jewish community as a whole, it turns them into the aggressors. Now that they have changed the wording in their charter, they can pursue the same objectives that are just worded a little differently.

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

I agree that this move by Hamas seems much more strategic than genuine.   By say they (Hamas) are against the occupation of the people who they say stole their land, it makes their “cause” look a little better.  I only say a little, because like you pointed out, while this is a step forward, Hamas has not had a long period of time between someone in leadership saying something anti-Semitic and the beginning stages of changing the charter.  This move seems to play more into the Palestinian Authority’s agenda instead of playing to true peace between all of the groups within Israel.  Accepting the 1967 and only de facto recognizing Israel will never be enough for Israeli leaders.  However, it may be enough for the other Palestinians that see Hamas as a problem child.  The only other thing I would like to point out with this change is the future possibilities that this may create for Palestinian governmental representation.  Like we talked about in class a few weeks ago, having Palestinians win political positions has been hard because there have been so many factions within the group. Having Hamas recognize the efforts of the non-violent Palestinians, and having Hamas be less antagonistic to all of the other groups could lead to more Palestinian representation in the Israeli government during future elections.  

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

Mosque Muting

Two versions of legislations were approved in the Knesset today that would muffle or mute the loudspeakers used by mosques in residential areas. (One version calls for muffling while the other calls for muting during certain hours) The proposed law(s) still has three more readings required before it becomes law, but is being called racist.  It has been dubbed the “muezzin law,” which refers to the man who chants the Muslim prayer call, even though the legislations terms are general, banning the use of loudspeakers for “houses of worship.”  The law was proposed after residents had been complaining of being awoken early by the loudspeakers and losing sleep.

As we have talked about in class, and this article mentions, Arab Israelis are the clear minority. The article states that they make up 20% of the population.  The legislation, while having general terms, clearly targets mosques.  I feel (only) a little torn with this argument, because I can see both sides of this debate, but I do not understand why religious freedom is being put under a noise annoyance.  As an large advocate for sleeping in, I could see the annoyance that would be created by having a loudspeaker come on for a prayer call that you do not recognize. On the other hand, this legislation CLEARLY targets the Arab minority.  I think the question that Israel needs to ask themselves is simple; is the majority of citizen’s sleep more important than the minority’s religious freedom? Because when it is framed like that I feel like there is a hard way to say that sleep or being annoyed by something is more important than a democratic value they claim their state has.

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

Travel Ban 2.0

A new executive order was put out today, March 6, which is an updated travel ban.  This new ban affects six of the seven original countries (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, excluding Iraq) and no longer has the provision that would only allow religious refugees to come from countries where their religion was the minority.  The ban will be implemented on March 16, 2017. While AG Sessions stated, “the Department of Justice believes that this executive order just as the first executive order is lawful and proper exercise of presidential authority,” may democrats and public organizations have spoken out against it. 

I think my favorite quote used in all of the articles I read about the new ban came from Aljazeera.  They quoted Chuck Schumer saying, “A watered-down ban is still a ban.”  While I would agree, this is still a ban, from what I have had time to read it does seem to be more constitutional than the first.   This second ban exempts all individuals with visas that were already granted and does a better job of explaining why each individual country is in the ban and why Iraq has been removed.  While these are steps forward, I on a personal level still do not understand why a ban needs to be in place to review the vetting process.  If some of the issues are the countries’ documentations not being valid, our vetting process now they should catch it and not allow that individual to come into the country as it is. I, just as anyone else, would like to have a country that is terror free, but I still feel like putting a ban on countries whose issues are ultimately governmental is beneficial in this way.  It is not the leaders of the country trying to flee.  The ban affects the citizens trying to flee the country more so than the country’s leaders.  

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

War Crimes During the Fight for Aleppo

The UN’s human rights investigators said that during the battle for Aleppo that happened last year, all parties (the Syrian government, Russia, and Rebel groups) involved committed war crimes against civilians.   The war crimes came by ways of air strikes that trapped civilians without adequate food or medical supplies (singling out specific air strikes that ruined all of the hospitals in eastern Aleppo in December), the use of chlorine bombs by government forces, an attack on humanitarian aid workers, and the withholding of humanitarian aid.  The air strikes were considered war crimes, because there was no clear military target. 

I am not shocked by the UN human rights investigators findings.  I stated in a prior post that even before ISIS took hold in Syria, Bashar al-Assad and his government were being accused of human rights violations.   As pessimistic as it sounds, it makes sense that his government and military would carry over the violations.  If Assad’s regime were okay with violating human rights during a time of civil unrest in his country, why would he stop during a time of war?

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

Eastern Libya Freezes its Travel Ban

The authority in eastern Libya has put a temporary freeze on a controversial travel ban that was put into effect last weekend.  This ban prohibited women under the age of 60 from traveling abroad without a male guardian. The government stated that it was not for religious reasons, but security concerns.  The claim by authorities is some women traveling abroad were in contact with foreign intelligence; there is no evidence to support this.  The aim of the civil society commission in East Libya is to get the order cancelled completely and they are preparing a legal statement that they can take to court if the authorities do not cancel it.

Since Col Muammar Gaddafi’s over throw in October of 2011, Libya has been in disagreement with the government(s) put in place.  The government that imposed this ban is not the Libyan government recognized by the international community.  This ban only proves that Libya is very divided, as each of the sides can create and enforce their own rules.  The Libyan people have not agreed for years about who the government is.  It seems like there is already two working countries in one state boarder.  Having this problem reminds me of Israel in a way. While there are not the same religious roots and tensions, it is obvious the two groups do not want to recognize the others power and preferences.  The travel ban itself is disheartening, but the fact that it was able to be enforced and then had to be legally challenged to an authority that is not the recognized government, does not make me see a promising future for Libya. The country has been in disagreement for decades, I do not see it changing in the near (or even distant) future.  

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

Iraqi Army Battle for Outskirts of Mosul

Iraqi forces have moved closer to the southern outskirts of western Mosul.  The city’s western portion had leaflets dropped warning citizens of eminent dangers of attacks.  When moving into the city, citizens were not seen until the forces reached Abu Saif.  In the last two days, Iraqi forces have basically surrounded the entire western part of Mosul.  While the western part of the city may pose more challenges than the east did, like narrow, winding streets and more populated districts (including some seen as pro-Islamic State), this gain is positive.  

This portion of the city is seen as a key strong hold for the group.  The Iraqi forces surrounded the town quickly, but had to defuse a lot of roadside bombs in Abu Saif.  According to the UN in late January, half of the casualties in Mosul have been civilian. Moving further into the city will only hold the potential for more danger to these forces and civilians still trapped, but it is one step closer to fully reclaiming Mosul.  

You can follow the BBC’s embedded Middle East Correspondent, Quentin Sommerville, on twitter to stay updated on the progress.  

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

Looking at a One State Solution

Today, President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House. In a press conference that followed the meeting, Trump stated that he is looking at solutions that involve both a two state solution and a one state solution.  He commented and said, “And I like the one that both parties like. I’m very happy wit the one that both parties like.  I can live with either one. I thought for awhile that tow states looked like it may be the easier of the two.”  Mr. Trump also stated he wanted Israel to hold off on the building of new settlements. 

While Trump’s want for the holding off of the new settlements being built in Palestinian territory, stating that he is looking at options other than a two-state solution is not very promising.  Holding off settlements would imply good terms for Trump and the Palestinian people, but looking at a unified Israel solution goes against what the American stance has been for years. The Arab League, the UN, the EU, and Russia all support the two-state solution. Going against what all of these countries and organizations believe is best, and thought that we believed was best, could create major implications.  While Trump did not say he supported a unified Israel over a two-state solution, using a past tense verb when talking about how a two-state solution looked better was not probably the best move.  Saying he thought for “awhile” a two-state solution “looked” best could imply he no longer thinks this way.  Looking at a one state solution and this statement could create backlash from the other countries and organizations we were allied with for hopes of a two-state solution.

Here is a BBC article with a recap video of the press conference, a full script of the joint press conference, and a video of the full press conference. 

[totallyunabashedbeard-blog]

Another Step Back?

Yehiya Sinwar was elected as the leader in the Gaza Strip.  Sinwar is a member of Hamas and was also charged and jailed for murder. In 2011 Hamas made a deal with Israel; the group released a kidnapped solider and Israel released over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, Sinwar being one.  Sinwar, also, rejects Israel’s right to exist.   

I always thought the saying went, “two steps forward, one step back,” but lately it seems like the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people is actually “one step forward, two steps back.”  Just last week Israel approved a settlement expansion bill that would allow for more settlements on Palestinian land, and now Hamas elected a murder/Israel denier as the leader of Gaza.  Israel’s approval of the settlement expansion bill was not taken well by Palestinians, but I do not believe Hamas’ electing Sinwar will be taken any better. Electing Sinwar only delegitimizes Hamas as a political entity even more.  Like we talked about in class, nobody really wanted to deal with Gaza because of Hamas.  You can say you want to be a political group, but making a murder, who is only free because of a kidnapping, your leader looks (is) really bad