Israel is Moving In

Recently, Israel has declared new plans to accelerate settlement in the West Bank due to the admittance of Palestine as a voting member of UNESCO. This follows on a failed attempt at recognition by the UN Security Council by Palestine, which was vetoed by the United States, an Israeli ally. Palestinians have called for a full halt of settlements to continue peace talks, but Israel has not shown any sign of stopping. These settlements are a way for Israel to claim more and more land so to take over most of Palestine's terrirtory. Though Palestine is not considered a legitimate state due to its lack of formal government or territory, it still is seem as a nation due to the shared ethnic and cultural backgrounds of its people. Both countries think there is little chance at peace due to these recent events. These settlements, first and foremost, are illegal as declared by the United Nations and cautioned against by the United States. It is interesting that Israel would chance such a risk of negative consequences.

The human rights violated here are the Palestinians' rights to be a citizen of a country and to exist, in a sense. Israel is preventing Palestine from having its own country and land claim subjecting Palestinians to be people without a country. They are not really considered citizens of any existing country and that in itself limits the rights awarded them by the countries of the world. The right to exist is broken in the sense that to Israel it would be much better if Palestinians did not exist and they do their best to suffocate them as much as possible.

I, personally, have been appalled by many of the things I have seen come out of Israel on their treatment of the Palestinians. I know that it is a two way street, but in the Palestinians case it is almost justified because they have been kicked off their land and treated like second class citizens by the Israelis for several decades. Israel should be held to a somewhat higher standard because they are the most stable democracy in the Middle East and they are considered a relatively developed country. What right do they have to oppress an entire nation? Does it not seem as if they should be the last people who act out oppression on others?

Should the Israelis be allowed to build these settlements even though it is against international law? Why do people overlook these human rights violations so much? Why does the United States continuously support Israel when it continues to perpetrate these acts?