One hotbed of information and conflict in the world is the Israeli/Palestine debate that had been going on for a long time. This is an article that discusses recent developments in the fight for Palestine to become an independent state. Scratch your chin and ponder some of the following questions:
Does this promote unity of the Palestinians?
Is this civil disobedience at the international level?
Who gets to decide if Palestine gets to become a
state?
Imagine being a Palestinian-would you support a push for UNESCO recognition? Why?
Check it out here
Does this promote unity of the Palestinians?
Is this civil disobedience at the international level?
Who gets to decide if Palestine gets to become a
state?
Imagine being a Palestinian-would you support a push for UNESCO recognition? Why?
Check it out here
On this point I agree with the US, Israel, France, and others. Having said that, this is clearly a complex problem with no simple solution and the requests of the Palestinian people should be considered by the International community. It's just that giving them membership status in Unesco (when several members are in strong disagreement) essentially gives them "instant Nation status" when many (most?) nations still do not recognize them as a separate nation.
ReplyDeleteThe Jewish and Palestinian people have been disputing ownership of the land for several decades now, and my understanding is that the Jewish people originally laid claim to the territory and were surrounded by several Arab nations. However, Romans significantly "erased" the separate identities of the Jewish and Arab people living there in the first century while attempting to quell rebellion(s) there. This continued for several centuries until the Muslim Arabs fought (and won) ownership of the territory from the Byzantine Empire.
After WWI and WWII, European Jews returned to Israel and the international community largely supported the strengthening of their nation. The Arab contingent rallied around their more recent Palestinian lineage and want their own identity and land.
Again, a pretty complex situation and made more complex by centuries of war and meddling by the Nations and Empires that controlled the land.
So I think the Palestinian people should have the opportunity to strengthen their position in the Middle East, however, the Nation of Israel should have a strong position along with the international community in making the decision. Today they are not yet recognized as a Nation by most of the international community, so it seems unreasonable to give them membership (or the opportunity for membership).
The topic of Palestine becoming an indepedent state is one of hopes and dreams for some, but across the border, the views for this topic are quite opposite. The people of Israel and the people of Palestine, have been "disputing" over the land for many years. The issue is that the jewish people of Israel have "claim" the land by being there first, in my opinion, but then the countries of Lebanon, Jordan, Eygpt, Syria and many other Arab countries have surrounded the small country of Israel, forcing the dispute. The wars of the Israeli people versus the people of the surrounding country have been going on for many years, decades actually, to no avail. I certainly agree with geekdaddy, when he says, " the Nation of Israel should have a strong position along with the international community in making the decision". The people of Israel were there first, which gets overlooked by the swarm of the countries surrounding it. The voice of Israel needs to be heard. This situation can be taken into perspective when discussing the Native Americans and the first Europeans to "discover" America. The native americans, people of Israel, had been there first, but the Europeans, surrounding Arab countries, have taken over. In the article above, I agree with Hilary Cilton when she says, "I would urge the governing body of Unesco to think again before proceeding with that vote because the decision about status must be made in the United Nations..." I am a firm believer in this statement because it lets the United Nations discuss and decide on a topic that would best be decided upon by the nations of the world, not just the small "auxilary" groups around the world. This situation presents pros and cons for both sides, and everyone has their own views and can agrue their own points. The UN needs to step up, along with UNESCO, to perserve the truth of the matter and seal the deal over Palestine.
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