Ceasefire After Eleven-Day War Between Palestine and Israel

After an 11 day non-productive series of UN council meetings, Biden finally agreed to stop vetoing and agreed to the “restraint” of both states in the Middle East, hopefully ending the issue. According to politico.com, the UN reached the following terms: “...where two states, Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous and sovereign Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders.”
As citizens, many wondered why the United Nations hadn’t taken action. The UN members met in 4 meetings concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and hadn’t reached a consensus on actions to take. The US (Biden) repeatedly said that these actions would not “calm” the situation. The country kept using its veto power to block any reaction by the UN, saying it prefers to use its own powers to “calm” things. However, on Friday, May 21st, the President finally agreed after the mass killing of many in Palestine.
In the past few weeks, the intensity of previously existing ethnic tensions has spiked in the ongoing violence in Jerusalem. Throughout 2020, Israeli security forces killed 27 Palestinians, seven of them minors: one in the Gaza Strip, 23 in the West Bank [including East Jerusalem], and three inside Israel, and recently attacked a mosque where worshippers were gathered in Prayer. Social media are full of countless videos showing Israeli forces brutally attacking Palestinians with grenades, bullets, and gas bombs. This would only be a start to a series of violent attacks. During the 11-day war, at least 230 Palestinians were killed.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the police for its crimes committed against the Palestinians. President Biden expressed a lack of moral leadership by giving Israel the green signal to continue with its harsh attacks. Last week, the nation was shocked to hear President Joe Biden who mentioned, “Israel has a right to defend itself, when you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory.” The president should have considered why rockets were flying into Israel - our leaders should tell Netanyahu that he shouldn’t have provoked the Palestinians. Israel continued to make policies that leave Palestinians hungry and helpless. They attack schools, food, medical supplies, and mosques. How are infants and children, young beings, barely surviving poverty, at fault?
In the United States, only a few politicians have condemned the attacks. Historically, the United States of America has shown enthusiastic support to the Israeli state and they have maintained that relationship since the twentieth century. Through the Israeli state, the United States holds an influence on the Middle East, as Israel is the only democracy in the region. The importance of the Middle East has become apparent. By giving aid to Israel, the United States mutually benefits since they can exert indirect control in the region. With this, it can be easy to turn a blind eye to the attacks of aggression.

The relationship between Israel and the Palestinians was unbalanced in terms of power dynamics. Palestinians have no official authority, revenue, army, nor homeland of their own- their houses are made of mud and dirt. In Israel, Arabs are treated as second-class citizens. Israel continues to exert power on the powerless, which is beyond comprehension as the purpose of the government is to protect its citizens and balance power. However, they use their power for themselves. It is devastating to see the lack of empathy for the Palestinians’ situation by the descendants of the very people who have witnessed hatred and discrimination themselves.

Jewish people have suffered oppression in the past but that does not mean the Palestinians should pay the price. Violence should not be committed in the name of ethnic hatred- the Israelis should accept the Palestinians as citizens. The government should consider people of all ethnicities and religions as equal inhabitants under the law. Politicians in unstable and developing countries should understand that the world doesn’t thrive on divisions and that rockets and missiles are no substitute for dialogue.