Since 1947, when Israel was first recognized as an independent country, the Middle East has been under political turmoil and unrest.  In 1967 and 1973, Israel was attacked by neighboring Arab countries in an effort to destroy them and “drive the Jews into the sea”.  Terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah have been responsible for bombing buses filled with men, women and children, indiscriminately killing innocent people.  Most recently, conflict has heightened after the abduction and murder of three Israeli boys in the West Bank by members of the terrorist group Hamas.

The Israelis have long sought a peaceful solution to this crisis.  But they are tough and hardened from the threat and attacks that this tiny country has endured from the neighbors who surround and outnumber them by millions of people.  The Israelis have made clear that they will take all steps possible to avoid injury to innocent people; they respect life and peace.  But they will not–and cannot– simply stand back and do nothing while their people face constant rocket attacks, kidnappings and the murder and maiming of innocent Israelis.

Hamas and others in the world criticize the Israelis for causing injury to Palestinian civilians, but Hamas has placed these civilians in the line of fire by locating rocket launchers in schools, mosques and hospitals.  Can they really claim that Israel is responsible for these collateral injuries?  Indeed, it seems that Hamas wants these innocents to be injured and killed so they can ratchet up the public relations war against the Israelis.  And how can they complain about injury to civilians when they are launching rockets into Israel for the sole purpose of killing innocent Israeli civilians?  The Israelis fight back to protect their innocent people and punish those who have done wrong.  The Jewish motto “Never Again” calls to take action when enemies seek their destruction.  They will not let Hamas get away with what they’re doing.  Americans who have endured 9-11, Lockerbie and the recent barbaric beheadings of innocent American, British and French journalists and aid workers can surely understand the mindset that terrorism cannot be tolerated and that, as President Obama said in his U.N. speech on unrelated terrorist group the Islamic State, the only thing that terrorists understand is force.

As the American-led air force, in bombing the barbaric group ISIS in Syria and Iraq, took efforts to avoid civilian casualties, the Israelis similarly took steps to avoid the loss of innocent Palestinian lives.  Nor do they allow their own citizens to retaliate against innocents.  Hate and violence is rejected, regardless of the perpetrator.  When three Israelis retaliated against the killing of the Israeli boys in the West Bank and killed an innocent Palestinian teenager, these Israelis were prosecuted.  This is in stark contrast to Hamas’ protection of the murderers of the three innocent Israeli teens.  Once again, Israel was left to hunt these killers down, which they succeeded in doing just this past week.  The Israelis treat their wounded Arab neighbors in their own hospitals.  They have just as much respect for a Palestinian life as they do their own.  Before they blow up a building in Palestine, they contact the residents beforehand, letting them know and warning them to get out.  They are fighting against hate, injustice, and cowardice to protect their borders; if Hamas and their other enemies put down their weapons they would instantly do the same.

The Israelis want nothing more than to live in peace and coexist with their neighbors.  They are intelligent, resourceful and innovative, turning the desert into thriving and industrial cities.  The Israelis seek prosperity, safety and peace, not constant turmoil or war.  They are peaceful, honorable, and compassionate.  But they are fighting against a group with no honor or respect for human life, whether that life be innocent children whose schools they place their rocket launchers or the lives of innocent Israelis who ride buses or patronize restaurants that have been targeted by Hamas bombs.  Instead of respecting life and peace, or seeking growth and prosperity, Hamas is singularly driven by its obsession to see the destruction of Israel.  From birth, their children are taught to hate “Zionists”, a code word for Jews.   As Golda Meir, a former prime minister of Israel, said, “Peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us.”

The majority of Palestinians share Israel’s desire for peace and prosperity.  Many of them despise Hamas and its terrorist brutality, a brutality which has been inflicted on Palestinians and Israelis alike.  Just a few years ago, Hamas was at war with its rival Palestinian group, Fatah, and many Palestinians were killed and brutally murdered during that war.

The Palestinians and Israelis both deserve peace.  The Israelis and many Palestinians want     to live side by side in peace; to coexist and thrive, not hate each other.  But that cannot happen until the mentality of terrorism, hate and and injustice ends, and those who propose peace and working in harmony have their voices rise above those who propose killing and war as the only solution.  Until people can love, respect, be compassionate, peaceful, and value all life–hate, cowardice and injustice will continue in the Middle East.

Jenna Marcus

The violence that exploded between Israel and Hamas this summer may have seemed sudden to many.  But the conflict between the two has been going on since the founding of the State of Israel, and even before that. To understand this seemingly never-ending conflict, one must know the history of the region.

In the late 1800s the Zionists, a Jewish group with the goal of claiming Israel as a Jewish State, moved into the region of Palestine (then a British colony) with the goal of creating a Jewish homeland there. At first there was a small Jewish population in the area, and there was not much dispute about their presence in Palestine. But as their population increased in the area, especially in the 1930s and 40s during the Holocaust, the Palestinian Arabs who lived there became alarmed, and violent acts were committed by both sides.

In 1948, in the face of growing violence in the region, the United Nations intervened and voted to partition Palestine into 2 states: one Arab and one Jewish. Both sides were unhappy with this plan. Continuing conflict between the two led to the First Arab-Israeli War in which the neighboring Arab states declared war on Israel. These states included Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Egypt. Israel was far outnumbered by Arab forces.

But to the surprise of the watching world, the war ended in an Israeli victory. This is often seen as the date when the modern state of Israel was created. This country included the land previously set aside for the Palestinian Arabs.

The Arab states continued to be hostile towards Israel, and  the countries would clash many times in the next decades, especially with Egypt. A notable conflict with Egypt was the Suez Canal Crisis in 1956, where Egypt closed down the Suez Canal to western traffic, thus harming Israel’s economy, along with Western Europe’s. Britain, France, and Israel sent in military forces to occupy the canal, but fearing a Cold War crisis, the US and the Soviet Union were able to prevent war from breaking out. The armies of the three nations withdrew.

An important event for the Palestinian cause took place in 1964. This was the year that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed. The PLO was created in order to remove Israel from power, and to secure a Palestinian state. Since their formation, they have sponsored numerous guerilla raids on Israeli citizens and soldiers in order to forward their cause.

In 1967, the Six Day War was fought, in which Israel declared war on all its Arab neighbors thus gaining the area known as the Occupied Territories. This included the Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip, and West Bank.

In 1973, the Yom Kippur War began when Egypt tried to attack Israel in order to regain the Sinai peninsula. Despite a surprise attack on one of the most holy days of the year, Israel was able to defeat Egypt.

In 1979, the Camp David Accords were signed, making Egypt the first Arab country to declare peace with Israel, in exchange for the Sinai Peninsula. The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin after 13 days of negotiation. This negotiation was initially led by President Jimmy Carter who had said that this peace treaty would be used as a framework for further progress towards peace in the Middle East. The treaty also called for further meetings to resolve the issue of Palestine, that Israelis must move out of the West Bank and Gaza, and during a five-year period a Palestinian self-government would be formally introduced.

Despite this agreement, the Palestinians were not controlling either Gaza or the West Bank. Many other states would not agree to a peace agreement with Israel as Egypt had. Further conflict with it’s neighbors followed. In 1982 Israel launched an attack on southern Lebanon when they discovered that the PLO had established a base in that area.

Such violence increased the Palestinians’ resentment of Israeli rule, and thus began the Intifada or “The Rock Throwing War” in 1987 where the Palestinians declared a campaign to resist the creation of the state of Israel. By throwing rocks they were able to show that they would accomplish their goal by any means possible.

The First Intifada was ended after the Oslo Peace Accords were signed in 1994. The Oslo Accords were when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. This Israeli signed peace agreement gave the Arabs in Palestine control of Gaza and the promise of discussing their possible control over the West Bank. Although this event brought a temporary end to the violence, a Second Intifada began in 2000 after a visit by Israel’s then opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, one of the most holy places in both Judaism and Islam. Palestinians saw this act as insulting due to tensions over who would control the holy site.

The Second Intifada ended in 2005 when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agreed to stop all acts of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Despite the end of the Second Intifada, there is still widespread violence between both sides today. The most recent example is the Israeli Army’s bombardment of Gaza, starting in July.

by Harleen Kaur

The Ukrainian military has reported that Separatists in the country’s east have broken the ceasefire agreement between the two armies and are now attacking the city of Donetsk.

The ceasefire, now a month old, remained mostly peaceful, although there were reports of violations by both sides. In the last 24 hours, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed, with six more wounded. Three Separatist fighters have been killed and 32 have been wounded in that same time.

The main battle site has been the Donetsk airport. The airport has been the sight of fighting since the beginning of conflict in the country’s Eastern half. The airport, held by the army, is a key strategic location due to a landing strip that can move heavy aircraft.

More fighting was reported in the smaller towns of Debaltseve and Shchastye, near the Russian border.

Three civilians have also allegedly been killed in the past 24 hours. Blame for civilian casualties has been placed on both sides of the conflict. Rebels claim that government shelling kills most of the civilians, while the government strenuously denies any purposeful targeting of non-combatants.

The conflict, which has been going on since the previous Ukrainian government was toppled last February, has seen a lessening of violence in the past month. This new fighting may put the ceasefire to the test and end up breaking it altogether.

The Rebels, backed by Vladimir Putin, want an independent East Ukraine which would be heavily influenced by Moscow. The Ukrainian government, which is led by Petro Poroshenko, is completely opposed to further dissolution of Ukraine since Crimea was annexed by Russia on March 18.

The fighting has become something of a symbol of the ideological conflict between Western Europe and Russia. The new Ukrainian government was formed because many in the country’s west want closer ties to the European Union and NATO. The country’s east wants closer ties to Russia.

The United States and the European Union have backed Ukraine solidly through the imposition of sanctions on Russia, and Russia has retaliated with sanctions of its own. It now remains to be seen whether violence in the region spins out of control before the economic effects of the sanctions forces both sides to come to the table.

by Alex Marinides