Before I give my opinions on the Arab-Israeli conflict and how to solve it, I would like for everyone to know that I have very minimal knowledge, if any, on this subject. I grew up in a non-religious household--I've never gone to church on a regular basis, nor do I hold any truly strong beliefs when it comes religious topics. Because of this, my views on this topic may be very broad compared to most of you. I have gathered from being in class that a lot of our fellow classmates have a much deeper understanding and knowledge of this conflict than I do, so I look forward to learning more about it by reading what everyone else has to say.
In my opinion, I believe that the Arab-Israeli conflict is so deep-rooted that I do not believe a true solution to the problem will ever occur. As we can see from past attempts at peace, either side (or both) tends to reject whatever resolution may be drafted. Because control has gone back and forth between Arabs and Jews, it is hard to divide out the land between the two without conflict over which part truly belongs to each group.
If each side would focus on their commonalities instead of what makes them separate from eachother, I believe this would be a good start in trying to come to some sort of compromise. Both groups of people have inhabited this 'Holy Land' for a very long time, and they both have strong religious beliefs in that. Like I said previously, this conflict is so deep-rooted that it may seem impossible to focus on anything other than the conflict itself, so this may be an impossible feat.
I also think that this conflict has been something that has been looked over by most of the world lately. Everyone knows about it, but I feel as if the majority of national governments that have any sort of political power have not really tried to help the groups sort out the conflict. Maybe more international participation can somehow help the sides come to a compromise as well.
These suggestions are by no means a solution to the conflict, but I believe starting small is a good step to take. If somehow both sides can see their similarities, and with the help of other foreign governments, I think that some sort of compromise may be attainable, but I do not believe that a true solution and lasting peace will ever be reached.
I believe also that focusing on commonalities is important to finding a solution to this problem. How do we get them to to do this? What can we say, wasn't this the attempt that the Project tried to do and they failed?
ReplyDeleteMaybe there is a new approach for finding these answers that differs from that of the project.
Small steps are the best steps.