Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Picking peace for both Palestine and Israel

“If the alarm sounds, run to the basement,” my father told me before bed in my grandmother’s apartment in Ashqelon, Israel – located fifteen minutes from Gaza.

I didn’t feel scared, though. I knew I was in a war state. Since its inception, Israel has been fighting with its neighbors over a land the size of New Jersey and an ideological following of less than fifteen million. I know what it is like to feel the ground shake and to see the ditches made by Qassam rockets.

But I also know what it is like to have the luxury of the world’s best Air Force take out the terrorist insurgents. In other words, I am protected. The Palestinians – on the other hand – are not.

I’ve heard comments such as “the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) is a terrorist organization;” seen posters that equate the Nazi Swastika with the Jewish Star of David; seen bumper stickers with “End the Occupation” and “Free Palestine.”

I always had one question for them: have any of you ever been to the Middle East? I have yet to meet someone who has. In reality, the IDF is the only organization with the nerve to fight terrorism the harsh way. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. Yes, Israel gets a lot of criticism for killing terrorist arm dealers in foreign nations, but it is also one of the reasons why jets don’t get hijacked and smashed into buildings so easily.

Still, the situation for the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank is deteriorating to the point of no return. Palestinians are living under deplorable circumstances. Their land is underdeveloped, their education system is virtually non-existent, their homes are tiny boxes made from scrap material, and the people live in constant fear of Hamas (the terrorist organization which controls Gaza) and bombing runs by the IDF.

Through fear, propaganda and brainwashing, it should be no surprise why there is so much hatred in the region.

The Middle East conflict is complicated. It is a history rich with triumph, failure, confusion, and culture. I will try to just give a taste of how things are and spare you the religious rhetoric as a self-identifying secular-Israeli. In dealing with social issues, we have to look at how they arose.

Long before the Holocaust, Palestine was occupied under the British Empire. In the early 20th century, the Zionist movement, a movement to return Jews to the “homeland,” began. Both Jews and Palestinians formed alliances to take care of the land. Then the Holocaust wiped out six million Jews – as well five million others – and another calling to return to the biblical Israel ensued. Once there, Jews and Palestinians fought against a common enemy: the British Empire. In 1948 Israel gained independence. That very day, the surrounding Arab nations declared war on the State of Israel. The war still rages.

This is where it gets complicated, so here’s a little secret that many do not know: the Arab nations dislike the Palestinians as much as the Jews. Have you ever wondered how ridiculous it sounds that a few million people were blowing themselves up over a tiny piece of land when fellow worshippers of over 1.5 billion people had multiple, massive nations right next door? It’s because the Arab states don’t want Palestinians in their country.

Israel, too, is to blame. Before the reign of Prime Minister Golda Meir – who governed during the time of the Munich Massacre – Israel’s greatest general, Moshe Dayan, predicted rising tensions among the Jews and Arabs. He said: feed the Palestinians, clothe them, build their homes, and treat them as equals.

Golda Meir ignored him as she threw a huge terrorist blanket over the Palestinians. To put it into perspective, how many Americans felt towards Arabs after 9/11 is very similar to what a few Israeli government officials felt towards the Palestinians.

It is no surprise why so many children in Gaza hate Israel. They have no support, and Hamas teaches them Israel is evil. It is exactly how Al Qaeda brainwashes its adherents.

Imagine: your home and parents get bombed because a terrorist was building weapons there. A Hamas official tells you, “See, look what Israel did to your home!” Instead of, “Sorry for purposefully using your parents as civilian shields.” Are we so surprised then, why young teenagers become suicide bombers?

Israel is right to defend itself, but the innocent children have neither support from the United Nations nor any Arab state.

Settlements are a whole other issue. Personally, I despise the idea of them. If Israel wants peace, it needs to stop building those horrid settlements. There are plenty of beautiful apartments in Tel Aviv.

The U.S. and Israel need to assist the Palestinians in rebuilding their infrastructure. Build schools, build hospitals – Israel has some of the best medical technology in the world – develop the rich agriculture.

Unfortunately, Hamas gets in the way. When food shipments come in, Hamas takes them, hides them, and then blames Israel for not allowing food into the region – just like the corrupt Haitian government before and after the earthquake. We have to think long term.

Yes, all this will be extremely difficult, it might even seem impossible, to do this now. But we must start. Israeli children and Palestinian children go through the same thing every day: fear of dying. No person should live in fear. It is one of the things many Americans take for granted. Do not pick sides. Pick peace.

Roy Ribitzky is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].

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  • A

    ArafatApr 19, 2010 at 10:00 am

    You want to see terrorism? Study Islam.

    http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/index.html#Attacks

    Reply
  • A

    Accer DarlanApr 18, 2010 at 7:26 am

    This article was obviously written by a young person, who should read a little deeper into the history of the conflict.

    While, purporting to be balanced, Mr. Ribitzky peppers his piece with simplistic comments- ‘In reality, the IDF is the only organization with the nerve to fight terrorism the harsh way. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.’

    Has Mr Ribitzky’s in his’ grandmother’s apartment in Ashqelon, Israel – located fifteen minutes from Gaza’-[which incidentally had a population in 1930 of some 6000 Palestinian Muslims and 40 Palestinian Christians living there!]- never been told about Jewish Terrorism?

    Jewish Terrorism is one of the main factors in the establishment of the Zionist State of Israel!

    Leaving aside suicide bombing, which most of us Westerners just cannot understand, every type of Terrorism used in this conflict was used by Zionist Jews first! Just read the books! Not Arab propaganda, but by Jewish authors!

    So Mr. Ribitzky says you have to be harsh with Terrorists, like the IDF are. So he would have advocated that the British should have just bombed the Kibbutzim where the Jewish Terrorist hid their weapons and explosives would he? Just as the IDF bombed Gaza killing 1400 people!

    These Jewish weapons which, in addition to being used to kill countless Palestinians, were also used to kill and maim hundreds of British servicemen. The Jewish Terrorists even hung two British soldiers!

    You don’t need to go to the Middle East Mr. Ribitzky to understand anything about the establishment of Israel and its continuing brutal occupation of the Arab parts of what was Palestine. Just take off the ‘Rose Tinted Glasses’ of Zionist propaganda and read some more!

    Reply
  • M

    muad'dibApr 17, 2010 at 4:57 pm

    Mr. Burns, at first I was going to note that your first comment is entirely meaningless, but “greater wealth for them”? Please don’t resort to that old “Jews love money” bullshit on this website.

    Reply
  • K

    Ken BurnsApr 17, 2010 at 8:59 am

    Well, Arafat, lets not be so sympathetic to the Mussulmen. After all, they are the ones who destroyed nearly 95% of the ancient literature housed in the library of Alexandria. The Mussulmen want to turn the clocks back a thousand years and still keep pre-paid Nokias in their pockets and torture their wives with vibrators bought on Ebay. At least the israelis aren’t totally averse to change (as long as that change means greater wealth for them).

    Reply
  • A

    ArafatApr 16, 2010 at 10:01 am

    Everyone references the UN as if it were an all-knowing, non-partisan, compassionate body. When in fact it has devolved into the opposite of its original intent.

    http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=11734&pageid=&pagename=

    Reply
  • A

    ArafatApr 16, 2010 at 9:46 am

    Reply
  • A

    ArafatApr 16, 2010 at 9:44 am

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  • K

    ken burnsApr 15, 2010 at 11:52 pm

    Good lord- forget the palestines, bu realize zionism is a screwy notion, too. the Israleis are so busy trying to expedite the process of divine retribution that they’ve taken to RPG’s and machine guns. The Jews are more persistent than the Christians; in fact the Jewish religion is one of persistence rather than ecclecticism. Give me a break- the guys who are telling others how and when to eat eggs are filling bazookas with the same crazy notion of temporality. Let them both go to ashes.

    Reply
  • M

    muad'dibApr 15, 2010 at 11:04 am

    I totally agree with you dude, but you’re going to get ripped into by so many of those “free Palestine (whose borders somehow magically encompass all of Israel)” douchebags.

    Reply