Public+Policy+-+Israel+Palestine+Relations


 * Israel Palestine Relations**

Israel and Palestine and the United States Congressional Session Since Biblical times, there have been a great number of issues with the relations between the nations of Israel and Palestine. These have been reignited over the last century with the creation of the country of Israel, which took a part of Palestine to create. With this new country, which has been maintained by mainly the United States, violence and rebellion has raged out from Palestine. With this in mind, the United States has sought to pass legislation to improve relations with Palestine and Israel. With the Congressional session in process right now, this issue has been a great source of new public policies. When discussing the issue of public of policies, it is important to factor in the way the president views the situation being question for public policies, which would be the issue of how to deal with the ongoing feud between Israel and Palestine. President Obama is able to see the need that Israel has for a homeland: "The Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust in which 6 million Jews perished." Obama, however, also sees that the formation of another country entirely will be needed to resolve the situation with Israel and Palestine: "Only through the creation of 2 states [for Israel and Palestine] can the aspirations of both sides be met, said Mr. Obama. With this view, Obama will be probably seeking for legislation that will help the creation of a nation for the people of Palestine, while also seeking to keep the people of Israel at bay. Such a task proves to be very daunting in nature, but America seems to be up for the task. With this view, it is clear that the president will be more apt to sign off on legislation that will create a state for Palestine while keeping the nation of Israel intact. There were 2 new bills that were constructed at the beginning of May. One of these bills was proposed by the company AIPAC and the other was proposed by J Street. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Minority Whip Eric Cantor were the major signors of the AIPAC bill, while Reps. Steve Cohen (D) and Charles Boustany (R) were at the top of the J Street bill. This new AIPAC bill received 378 signatures in the House, whereas the J Street bill received only 78 signatures in the House. While the bills do not differ to a great extent, AIPAC believes that the issue in which the United States and Israel disagree on should be kept quiet. In a letter to Obama, Barney Frank makes clear that he is in opposition of this idea: “‘Given the fact that we are both democracies where public policy should ultimately set with the support of the people in each country, it would be a mistake to refuse to discuss important differences on how to achieve our mutual goals in a way that the electorates in both countries could understand,’ Frank wrote.” President Obama also agrees with J Street and Barney Frank on this fact. With this new position taken by President Obama, Obama seeks to continue the close relations between Israel and America as well as include Palestine in the talks. When addressing the Muslim world, Obama stated that the United States,"...will align [their] policies with those who pursue peace, and say in public what [they] say in private to Israelis and Palestinians and Arabs." With theses pursuits of public openness by the United States, Obama verifies his position taken earlier, hoping to conduct peaceful conversations with both nations. By doing this, Obama hopes that there will finally be some sort of peace in the Middle East. One of the major problems with this situation which Obama presents is over the support of Middle East nations for Israel. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has been quite public in his negative positions towards the existence of Israel in this world: “In 2005, shortly after assuming power, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asserted that Israel should ‘be wiped off the map.’” With this sort of position, Israel is getting closer and closer to going into a war with Iran. In fact, the United States just passed legislation that would grant a new missile defense system to the Israel government: “Israel is on track to receive $37.5 million in US funding in 2010 for the Arrow-3 missile program…” One should also note that Iran is slowly creeping up the ladder towards making effective nuclear bombs: “Iran has significantly boosted its supply and output of reactor-grade nuclear material, according to a quarterly report issued Friday by the United Nations' arms control division.” It is these sorts of positions that give President Obama and others who search for some sort of peace in the Middle East a great source of uneasiness. Another major issue which people argue when talking about the issue concerning Palestine and Israel deals with the longevity of the feud that exists between the two nations. Many biblical scholars cite the beginning of these arguments started in the biblical times, during the Old Testament of the bible. This story occurs in Genesis 16, when Abraham, the ancestor of the nation of Israel nation, casts out Hagar and Ishmael, the ancestors of the Palestinian people. Those who do not look to the bible still see a period of constant warfare which most notably started again around 1948, with the creation of the nation of Israel by the United States and the United Nations. Ever since this time, Israel and the Palestinian people have been at a constant turmoil relationship. With either historical background, many assume that the simple creation of a new Palestinian nation will not be enough to stop the turmoil that exists in the Middle East. Most say that more action will be what is needed to eliminate this problem. Most people, however, do not know if it will ever be possible to eliminate the problem of conflict between these two nations. While the general belief of the situation is that these 2 nations will never be at peace, there are the few that belief otherwise. President Obama, being one of these with this frame of mind, feels that with the help of every person peace can be a reality for Israel and Palestine: “All of us have a responsibility to work for the day when the mothers of Israelis and Palestinians can see their children grow up without fear." With this sort of mentality, it is hard to argue that a task such as this cannot be accomplished. While no one wishes that this chaos between these 2 nations continue, the only thing that can truly bring peace about is peaceful conversations between both sides and hope for a better day.

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