23] Reaching for Peace: United Nations Security Council Resolutions
Chapter 23. Reaching for Peace
by Marco Mua
After the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars, the UN passed two resolutions in order to create peace. These resolutions remain unimplemented. Also, Israel and Palestine interpret the requirements of the resolutions very differently.
UN Resolution #242 was passed in 1967. It stated that Israel must withdraw from occupied territories. The problem with establishing peace is that UN resolutions are written in ambiguous language that can be interpreted very differently from various parties. The UN did not state which territories Israel is supposed to withdraw from. Israel interprets resolution 242 as meaning that Israel has to withdraw from some but not all territories.
Israel feels that they already met the requirements of the resolution by returning the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. Instead, the Palestinians interpret resolution 242 as requiring Israel to return the Golan Heights to Syria, and return all of the West Bank and Gaza strip to Palestinian control. I want to add that even if this UN resolution was written in less ambiguous language, it would still be irrelevant because the UN has little power to enforce their resolutions. The UN cannot even enforce their resolution pertaining to the border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The UN ruled that Eritrea had to give up the small and poor town of Badame to Ethiopia. Eritrea refused to give the town up, and the UN has not been able to enforce their ruling on the border dispute. If the UN cannot enforce resolutions between 2 poor African nations, then they certainly won’t have the power to resolve anything in the Middle East.
UN resolution #338 calls upon a cease-fire between Israel and Palestine. This is impossible. Palestine will continue to launch suicide bombing attacks against Israeli citizens. They will continue to do this as long as their land is occupied and their communities continue to get bulldozed by Israeli’s. Palestinians are sick of living in an open-air prison environment that resembles a refugee camp.
Many Palestinian homes are bulldozed by the Israeli military. That is what’s causing the anger. They are being humiliated by an outside force in their own land. Unless this changes, then the suicide attacks will continue. Of course, Israeli will continue to attack Palestinians since innocent Israeli’s are getting blown up on buses and in cafes. The closest these two sides came to peace was when Israeli Prime Minister Rabin recognized Palestinian self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Unfortunately, Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated. Prime Minister Sharon succeeded Rabin and is a well-known hawk. Sharon has rapidly expanded Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land, which is causing even more violence and resentment. Recently, Sharon uprooted most settlements on the Gaza strip and returned the entire Gaza strip to the Palestinians. This is not as significant as it sounds. The Palestinians gain valuable coastal land from the Israelis. However, the Israeli still control the airspace, borders, and ports. Israeli fighter jets still fly over the coastal strip. I’m guessing Israeli’s economy will continue to benefit from the Gaza strip, while Palestine will remain poor.
In conclusion, I feel the Israel/Palestinian conflict has been prolonged due to American interests in the region. As I mentioned in class, America openly supported Iraq during the 1980-1989 Iran-Iraq war. America supported Iraq, while they were secretly supporting Iran at the same time. America wanted to prolong the war and ensure that both sides would be tremendously weakened as a result of the long fighting.
The US did not want to see a winner. They wanted to prolong the war for as long as possible. The weaker the Middle-East is, the more control the US will have over valuable Middle-Eastern oil reserves. It seems to have worked for the US. The Middle-East is still underdeveloped and weak today. Especially Iran and Iraq. That allows for the US to dominate and control Middle-East oil. With that being said, I strongly believe the US has the same goal in regards to Palestine. Israel is an American weapon that is used to further weaken the oil-rich Middle-East. Israel exists in order to weaken the Middle-East and to prevent further Middle-Eastern sovereignty.
by Marco Mua
After the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars, the UN passed two resolutions in order to create peace. These resolutions remain unimplemented. Also, Israel and Palestine interpret the requirements of the resolutions very differently.
UN Resolution #242 was passed in 1967. It stated that Israel must withdraw from occupied territories. The problem with establishing peace is that UN resolutions are written in ambiguous language that can be interpreted very differently from various parties. The UN did not state which territories Israel is supposed to withdraw from. Israel interprets resolution 242 as meaning that Israel has to withdraw from some but not all territories.
Israel feels that they already met the requirements of the resolution by returning the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. Instead, the Palestinians interpret resolution 242 as requiring Israel to return the Golan Heights to Syria, and return all of the West Bank and Gaza strip to Palestinian control. I want to add that even if this UN resolution was written in less ambiguous language, it would still be irrelevant because the UN has little power to enforce their resolutions. The UN cannot even enforce their resolution pertaining to the border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The UN ruled that Eritrea had to give up the small and poor town of Badame to Ethiopia. Eritrea refused to give the town up, and the UN has not been able to enforce their ruling on the border dispute. If the UN cannot enforce resolutions between 2 poor African nations, then they certainly won’t have the power to resolve anything in the Middle East.
UN resolution #338 calls upon a cease-fire between Israel and Palestine. This is impossible. Palestine will continue to launch suicide bombing attacks against Israeli citizens. They will continue to do this as long as their land is occupied and their communities continue to get bulldozed by Israeli’s. Palestinians are sick of living in an open-air prison environment that resembles a refugee camp.
Many Palestinian homes are bulldozed by the Israeli military. That is what’s causing the anger. They are being humiliated by an outside force in their own land. Unless this changes, then the suicide attacks will continue. Of course, Israeli will continue to attack Palestinians since innocent Israeli’s are getting blown up on buses and in cafes. The closest these two sides came to peace was when Israeli Prime Minister Rabin recognized Palestinian self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Unfortunately, Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated. Prime Minister Sharon succeeded Rabin and is a well-known hawk. Sharon has rapidly expanded Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land, which is causing even more violence and resentment. Recently, Sharon uprooted most settlements on the Gaza strip and returned the entire Gaza strip to the Palestinians. This is not as significant as it sounds. The Palestinians gain valuable coastal land from the Israelis. However, the Israeli still control the airspace, borders, and ports. Israeli fighter jets still fly over the coastal strip. I’m guessing Israeli’s economy will continue to benefit from the Gaza strip, while Palestine will remain poor.
In conclusion, I feel the Israel/Palestinian conflict has been prolonged due to American interests in the region. As I mentioned in class, America openly supported Iraq during the 1980-1989 Iran-Iraq war. America supported Iraq, while they were secretly supporting Iran at the same time. America wanted to prolong the war and ensure that both sides would be tremendously weakened as a result of the long fighting.
The US did not want to see a winner. They wanted to prolong the war for as long as possible. The weaker the Middle-East is, the more control the US will have over valuable Middle-Eastern oil reserves. It seems to have worked for the US. The Middle-East is still underdeveloped and weak today. Especially Iran and Iraq. That allows for the US to dominate and control Middle-East oil. With that being said, I strongly believe the US has the same goal in regards to Palestine. Israel is an American weapon that is used to further weaken the oil-rich Middle-East. Israel exists in order to weaken the Middle-East and to prevent further Middle-Eastern sovereignty.
posted by Dr. AZLY RAHMAN at
2:04 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home