The New Middle East

            “It’s a brave new world out there”. While the quote is immensely overused and exploited, it holds true too often to not apply it. The quote is now appropriate for describing the Middle East. In the last decade or so, regimes have been toppling and rising at an extraordinary rate. Iraq, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt have all seen the fall of long running dictators. Civil wars now are now being waged in Syria and Iraq as violence in Libya grows. The whole region is almost completely changed from what it was in 2003.

            One effect of this change has been the shifting of priorities. As tempering Islamic fundamentalism and creating stability have become more necessary, directing anger and violence against Israel has become less and less appealing.

            Any why shouldn’t it? While directing national anger and religious fervor against Israel promised less criticism of the national government, it drained the treasuries and economies of struggling nations. Besides, the notion of what should happen to Israel matters little to militants fighting civil wars in Iraq and Syria or those seeking to establish their base of power in Libya.

            As the conflict in Gaza seems to be without end, it has been interesting to see that some nations are not necessarily siding with Israel, but share their desire to crush Hamas. In this new Middle East, whether due to the divide between Sunni and Shia, fundamentalist and moderate, Wahhabi and western, there is a need for new political allegiance.

The War of Attrition: Hamas's Goals

            The conflict in Gaza has taken on an even worse and much direr condition. As Israel has begun a series of aerial bombing campaigns in order to destroy Hamas’s rockets and tunnels, the little infrastructure that Palestine has is being erased. This comes from a military need to destroy Hamas’s attempts to hide their military bases and tunnels amongst civilian homes.

            While I regret, as I am sure many Israeli soldiers do as well, that they must target areas with high civilian populations, Hamas holds primary responsibility for this conflict and for the civilian casualties. In essence, Hamas is hoping for a war of attrition on its own people. As more civilians die, the criticism against Israel grows. As more homes and schools are destroyed, Hamas gains more support.

            It is strange to see that in the course of war, a group would want their own people to suffer and die. However, Hamas is not an ordinary political actor or state. It is a terrorist organization, one that has been targeting Israelis for years with rockets and has been attempting to get Israel to respond with military strikes. It is an instigator and is not helpful for developing a solution to the conflict.

            In order for there to be peace, there must be a strengthening and rise of the moderates within the Gaza Strip who speak for the Palestinian people. Israel must do more than weaken Hamas, it must show the world what Hamas really is and the alternatives to their ideals.

Gaza Conflict: Misinformation and Fear

            It’s been nearly a week since the beginning of Israel’s ground incursion into the Gaza Strip. Over 1000 Palestinians have died (the vast majority being civilians) and around 50 Israeli soldiers have been killed. As accusations fly from both Hamas and Israel about who is offering and violating a ceasefire, it is important to understand the primary factors driving the conflict.

            One is misinformation. The Palestinian people may seem resolutely against Israel and even against Jews but this is not the truth. The truth is that most Palestinians simply want to live better (better access to food, water, shelter) and an end to the violence. Unfortunately, poverty and violence only seem to produce more poverty and more violence. So with the current invasion, it is unlikely that the Palestinian people will be more inclined to throw out Hamas and welcome more Israeli intervention.

            Misinformation also spreads around the west. A constant article that has popped up on my news feed has been one that counts the number of dead Israeli and Palestinian children and then uses it as a basis to claim that Israel is wrong. This idea makes little to no sense. First, it is common that the region which gets invaded suffers more casualties and more child deaths. Second, Hamas has reportedly been making sure that Palestinian children remain at sites that will be targeted by the Israeli military. Finally, the number of casualties is never a basis for who is just or right in a conflict.

            There is another factor at work: fear. For many Israelis, they see themselves as surrounded by enemies (Iran, Islamic fundamentalists in Iraq and Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas) that have claimed they are dedicated to the destruction of Israel. It is of no mystery why many Israelis would feel that a strong response to aggression is necessary. When they hear of dead Israeli teens or rockets, they don’t think of the minimal scale of the violence but rather of the possibility of threats to their nation and Jews in general.

            Fear also reaches across to the west. As a younger generation, I often try to see issue from the Palestinian side and from the view of those protesting against Israel. The older generation, I am sorry to say, is unable and unwilling to do so. When I talk with other Jewish people who are much older than I am (I am 20 right now so that includes a lot of people), they will constantly label the protesters as “hidden anti-Semites” who are upset at the idea that Jews can actually stand up for themselves. They will also simply claim that Hamas is “dedicated to erasing Israel and killing Israelis” and so this justifies any act of war.

            The truth hurts in this argument as it cuts through the fear. The reality is that the vast majority of those supporting the Palestinians in the west are not anti-Semitic. They have nothing against Jews and would probably have nothing against Israel if not for the situation. I have grown up with many people who will post pro-Palestinian messages. I know them, they may be misinformed but they are not anti-Semitic. It is time that we identify the difference. There may always be a knee-jerk reaction when someone who is Jewish hears someone criticizing Israel. And with good reason, Jews have been persecuted and discriminated against for a long time.

            But we must separate anti-Semitism from being anti-Israeli policy. They are two separate issues and two separate frames of mind.

Market Twists and Economic Turns: Where We are Headed

            To most people residing in the United States, today did not seem like a significant change in the market and economic for our country. The Dow and other indicators may break even give or take a few points each way. Unemployment reports have stayed the same too. So what is really occurring under the guise of the status quo?

            Everything! As the market seems placated, the stocks and different companies are not. The earning reports have revealed a systematic change in the way American companies do business. Tech firms such as Facebook and IBM have been ruling the day as GM and Caterpillar have fledged amongst recalls and declining revenue.

            The fact is that this pattern is truly representative of our future economy. It will not be so reliant on car manufacturing or heavy industry. Rather, it will be based on technological services which we can provide. Instead of fighting this trend and trying to retain our manufacturing base through tariffs and quotas, we should accept and embrace our new position.

            As Facebook and IBM lead the way in determining niches which our economy can fill, we would do well to fill them quickly and to become the best at filling them. Otherwise, someone else will and we will be stuck clinging to declining revenues and falling industries.

The ObamaCare set back and the Crisis of Federalism/Division

            The recent ruling by the Court of Appeals has attempted to nullify some of Obama care by restricting the subsidies that can be offered to people using the healthcare.gov site. The ruling is a display of the anti-federal government feeling that has been a burden on this nation since the Nixon years.

            As citizens, most Americans have little faith in their government to solve problems or find practical solutions. The ideology that has predominated most Americans, many of us younger ones from birth, is that the government is a massive bureaucracy that tons of money and only is successful at helping corporate executives but cannot deal with public issues. While some of this may hold true, the federal government is usually the best and only source of solutions for problems such as the lack of affordable health care.

            I am not against criticizing the federal government. I believe that it in a democracy, it is crucial that there are voices of dissent. But the dissent should be factual, intelligent, and should acknowledge the shortfalls of alternatives. Many people want either the states or private companies to solve the issues. However, the private companies act not in the interest of the public, but in the interest of profit. The states, constricted by their desire to balance their budget, will often cut off aid to the poorest people.

            It is time that we realize that although we are the United States of America, we are one country. We must be unified under a centralized government that has the power to better peoples’ lives.

The Gaza Invasion: Why Neither Side is Right

            The Invasion of the Gaza Strip is well under way and as anyone who has studied warfare would expect, the casualty rates are rising quickly. This battle between Hamas and Israel takes on a dangerous format as the war becomes misconstrued. Misconceptions flare up and create a lack of moderation on both sides.

            On the Israeli side, many within the nation and outside the country view this is a battle for the sanctity of a Jewish homeland. They see Hamas’s rocket attacks as an attack on the Jewish people that must be responded to since past terrorism against Jews often were ignored. Many Jews in the United States, including me, share an affinity with Israel in that it is a country where Jews can be guaranteed protection against discrimination after so much history of anti-Semitism.

            But this ideology fails to recognize the very nature of the conflict, which is territorial and not religious. Hamas gained power by asserting its strong stance against Israeli incursions into Palestinian territory. For the people of the Gaza Strip, their land is small and they desire some form of self-representation. To view this as a purely religious conflict is to forget that the Palestinian people are also being discriminated against.

            On the Palestinian side, there is often great condemnation of Israel for its military actions. But there is not one country that would not have done the same if it suffered from repeated rocket attacks aimed at its civilians. For the Palestinians, the issue is one that has plagued impoverished rebels forever. When suffering from discrimination and poverty, they turn to military solutions which often fail and only incite more anger.

            There are also the pro-Palestinian protesters that are hard at work within the United States. Many of them are reasonable and simply disagree with Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. However, many would need to read up on history and change their rhetoric. An example is from a protester who, when prompted to give his reasons for protesting, claimed that “Jews should know better than to discriminate”. Now, this may not sound anti-Semitic or even wrong to many people. But it can definitely sound that way to someone who is Jewish.

            So amongst the protesters who claim that Israel practices Apartheid and that Israel maybe should not even exist, there are some reasonable people. Amongst the protesters who point to pictures of the three dead Israeli teens as if it could justify any action taken, there are some reasonable people. But those people need to speak up, and the others should learn more about international relations and other points of views.

The Malaysian Airlines Flight Tragedy

            The shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 and the death of approximately 298 people should be more than a “wake-up call” for many. As conflicts begin, the news seems to take an interest and then abandon the story as soon as something new comes along. This was true of conflict in Eastern Ukraine as the media abandoned the story and many Americans seemed unwilling to even care about events across the sea.

            The vehement political and geopolitical isolation that most Americans practice is not only horribly terrifying (for us as a democracy), but also allows further escalation of conflicts. As pro-Russian separatists have been waging a deadly fight against the Ukrainian government, they have targeted more than just military targets. This massive destruction of life is only a more exacerbated instance of this disregard for human life.

            But this is not anything new. In conflicts around the world (Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Afghanistan, across Central Africa, and now in the Ukraine), war leads to the death of innocent civilians. And yet Americans find themselves in the precarious position of caring little about what happens. More would be more concerned about the new episode of “Two Broke Girls” than about the conflict in Ukraine. Even after this tragedy, most will return to thinking the world has not changed.

            The opposite of this feeling is the vehement and irrational desire for vengeance when this happens to Americans. If the plane had been a Delta Flight out of the United States, people would be protesting for the United States to send troops. Some would even suggest declaring war on Russia as it backs the rebels with weapons and funds. But this feeling is even more dangerous than the ignorance as it feeds into war and violence like oil gasoline into a fire pit.

            If anything should be learned from this tragedy, it is that war causes death, destruction, and horrors. Our natural desire should be for wars to end, no matter who they involve and where they are. We must find a balance between the ignorance that now overwhelms us and will reveal itself in the near future (one week or so) and our desire to police the world.