What i mean is that I do not think that there is anything israel can do short of surrendering to a palestine dominance to appease the left.Hmm, what do you mean ? It seems obvious to me that supporting underdogs is normal since they're... underdogs (so, in an implied situation of inferiority) but is there some points which especially bother you ? I mean, I can see what you're talking about since I also had debates with people being on the left wing and I met both sides : the ones who think they're right on everything and the ones with who you can debate safely. Did you imply we can't really discuss things about Israel and Palestine because they'll always defend Palestine no matter what ? (Hamas being forgotten a lot, I have to admit, that also annoys me)
There is no situation i know of in which someone who leans far left would be in favour of the side who is in power except if it is against literal nazi rightwingers. And even then they are not pro goverment but rather 'pro antifa'.
The left is always going to say 'Well they wouldnt have to kill all these people if they weren't discriminated' no matter how ridicoulus it gets.
I saw people from the left saying that about islamic terrorists and tell me that they just reacted to discrimination of muslims.
These things can honestly get out of hand. And with a conflict that far away in which a lot of media bias is against israel, it gets worse (and when i say media bias, i do not mean TV stations, as we established. I mean complete fabrications circumventing the internet without anyone held responsible for lying).
Yeah. Obama was actually a good politician. He played nice as a diplomat towards israel, but behind closed curtains, it was actually obama who prevented the settlement policy to get worse than it is now.After some thinking, you're probably right, though Obama still supported Israel in some way despite his dislike towards the Israeli Prime minister.
Regarding Trump, this guy is absolutely unpredictable. I easily imagine him doing some shit in his own country (it's not really hard to discriminate people, humanity has done that for centuries now) but regarding foreign policy, I still have some hope, I don't know if it's misplaced or not. I mean, his team is probably not going to let him do as he wants. Anyway, I still agree he'll probably be a worst support than Obama was for Israel.
Basically, obama always urged them to keep things down if they want more support. That means on the one side, he assured them of support if, on the other side, they don't do anything crazy.
One can say that there were still new settlements being build, but i support this strategy.
What trump did is the following: He basically said: Oh well, settlements are nice, do what you want.
That means there is on the one side no objection to israel doing what they want there and on the other hand trump is not a reliable support.
I only quoted that little but i will answer all of it (to make the post less spacey )I think it's kinda unfair to do this because in this conflict, they're not even equals. Treating them like equals, it's like saying to Israel they're as much victims as Palestine (well, as for now, it was way more complicated many years ago but the situation is not the same) and they're not.
They are not equal in power, but they are definitely equal in being held accountable.
Hamas has even more control about gaza (INSIDE, not the borders) than the israeli government has in their territory.
It's not like the attacks on israel are carried out without the agreement of the hamas or by them themselves.
We cannot condone all the shit they do by 'oh well they are weaker'.
Because what will that lead us to? To the problem i mentioned before: Israel could do what it wanted, as long as there is a conflict, they are the bad guys for being stronger.
Even if there was a two state solution: What would israel do if the attacks don't stop? Attacking another (then independend) country? Just hold still?
Would the Hamas at that point just say 'oh well, fine, keep half of the land we claim?'.
And would the things claimed to make people attack israel stop? The propaganda and poverty would go on.
I dont see how to solve this problem if not by treating both sides equally. Anything else will not lead to a solution acceptable for both.
If the Hamas think it is a smart thing to attack israel now, they will also think that it is a smart thing to do when they have their own state and more control over borders and more access to weapons.
I think it is the other way round.That's why Israel should begin to be fairer - that way, Hamas will have less things to use as arguments if Israel is the first one to take a step into the right direction. And I'm sure there are a lot of Palestinian citizens who just want this conflict to end, despite their possible hate of Israel. You can say it's pretty idealistic (and will never happen) and I'd agree with you - that's why it'll end badly.
Because Hamas does not need arguments.
Hamas, as we established, is not held accountable by anyone, no matter what they do, who they kill, or what they say.
They also have complete control over their media. If they wanna stir their people up, they can.
So why would they feel pressured? That is why i say that first of all you need pressure on both sides and hold both sides accountable.
This is because what you need is trust. If Israel does not trust you, they will not listen to you when you tell them to stop settling.
That is why the EU has basically no say in this but the US has. The US has blocked any resolution against israel.
That sounds bad at first, but the modus operandi was usually this: Arabic states file some resolution with completely baseless claims in them (like israel poisoning wells in gaza), then the EU comes along and tells em: Oh well , dont write that well thing in and we are fine.
Then they all agree to the resolution and the EU thinks it has found a good comrpomise.
But naturally, that makes Israel think the EU is irrelevant. After all, they play the game of an anti israel coalition which does more vile shit everyday in their territories.
The US, who shuns lots of those resolutions, they got Israel's trust. Even tho obama and netanjayu hated each other, when the US told Israel to keep it down with the settlements, they didnt go overboard with it. Even if you think it was not enough, the word of the US counted for something.
They could pressure israel because they got that trust.
Because israel can, as a country, actually be held accountable. If israel would just shoot down some children, they would get an echo for that.
Even if an israeli politician just says s th that is out of line, at least he gets some problems.
That possible pressure needs to be extended by both the EU and the US.
If the Israeli people dont feel as threatened as before because they know they got support, less of the will vote rightwing.
However, they are not going to trust someone who is biased against them.
Oh and don't get me wrong: i am as pessimistic about this conflict as you are.
I don't think gaza will stop existing, but i think it is going to be an evergrowing (cue birthrates) slum, at least until another government takes over (it is going to happen once enough angry young men are there).
About the settlements: I don't think one can talk about what land 'rightfully' belongs to him if it is a conflict who is older than most people alive.
If we go by that logic, this fight never ends because both sides think everything rightfully belongs to them.
As sad as it is: Politics can only be made in the here and now. And the here and now is dictated by 'might makes right'.
That's why noone disagrees with the US actually belonging to the natives by right but noone would every even honestly try to let them reign that country again.
And the here and now has a gaza government who is by statements and actions deadset on destroying israel and sees them as sworn enemy.
Whenever Israel feels like there is a way to snatch power from someone set to destroy them, they will. Every country would do that.
The pressure i mentioned above is there to prevent actions in that powerstruggle that lead to even more suffering.
I do not think a real peace can be reached as long as hamas is in power. No matter how many good intentions of anyone else are there.
Now if we talk about US and EU actually exerting power on the hamas by taking actions to block their finances, then this might be something else.
But no politician in their right mind is going to do something that nets him a shitstorm about 'helping israel to opress them palestines'.
Which is why i find it funny to say all the west is on israel's side.
If it was true, that conflict would end in less than 5 years with israel in complete power of all territories.