What Do You Say About The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?

It was sad news this past weekend to see tensions flare back into brutal violence on and around the Gaza Strip. A few were killed in Ashkelon and Ashdod by rockets, while hundreds were killed by airstrikes in Gaza and near other key militarily strategic sites. The first group were Israelis and the latter Palestinians, but they all live in a land no bigger than the state of New Jersey. It is so tragic to see the death and destruction in what is such a beautiful place.

Back here in America, the verbal conflict is just as bad in many progressive circles. DailyKos was a blaze with diaries sporting thousands of comments over who was worse, Israel or Hamas. The "I'm right and you're wrong mentality is set in their minds like a granite slab in Central Park.

Last night as I was walking through Union Square in NYC I saw a protest out of the corner of my eye and without seeing the signs that were waved, I knew what it was about. My girlfriend and I walked through part of the crowd and within twenty seconds two people were ready to shove informative flyers in my face to tell me how bad Israel is. "Do you know what is happening in Israel?" one asked.

Yeah, I know. I know all too well.

I know from my friends and family in and out in the diaspora of Israel what Hamas has done to Israel and the hate they teach new generations, helping them along to hate the newest generation of Jews there. I know about the suicide bombings, one of which killed my cousin's close friend. I know about the need to wave people to check for explosives when entering a densely packed store or restaurant.

I also know what the state of Israel does to Gaza and the West Bank. I know about the increasing amount of settlers when they weren't supposed to be there in the first place. I know about what happened in Jenin. I know how houses are razed. I know that those "targeted" strikes by the IAF end up killing infants. I know. I know. I know.

Yet, no one on other side is "right" nor are they "wrong" about what is going on. They feel the way they feel. As long as their passionate views are kept boiling on the stove fueled by ignorance and blind hatred, nothing will change.

I will not take a side here, even though some of my family may call me a supporter of terrorists. I will not even if others accuse me of ignoring the domination of Israel over the Palestinians. What they don't get is that taking sides only keeps the hate and the war going. If Israelis stopped settling Palestinian land, if Hamas-run schools stopped preaching hate, if Israel would allow commerce to happen with their immediate neighbor, if Hamas stopped firing rockets into Israel...how different things would be.

As John Lennon once said, "War is over if you want it." That applies to Israel as it does all over the world.