Monday, September 29, 2008

US Politicians Speak Out About Israel

In light of the upcoming elections, I figured that I would highlight the way our current presidential candidates feel in regards to the Israel, the Israel Lobby, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Do you think that perhaps we have an issue if all of our candidates want to continue unprecedented and UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT for a nation that is the cause of over 4.25 million refugees worldwide??

Barack Obama speaks to AIPAC (American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cOJNC2EuJw

John McCain speaks to AIPAC (American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmdXkc9cuRk

Thursday, September 25, 2008

World Focus: Palestine

Every so often, I will post about a specific refugee crisis around the world. These "World Focus" posts will cover the history of conflict, current refugee situations, and how the US is contributing to the conflict, either positively or negatively. While I will cover some of the more well-known conflicts, I do hope to raise awareness about situations that most Americans aren't as knowledgeable on. For my first World Focus, let's shift our attention to the Middle East...

While it would take me much more then a short blog post to explain the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I do feel that this is something that Americans MUST become educated on. Palestinian refugees are unique since the term covers not just Palestinians that were originally from the British Mandate of Palestine but then were forced to relocate as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the creation of the state of Israel, but also their descendants. According to UN information about the conflict, there are over 4.25 million Palestinian refugees who have been forced to relocate and are currently living mostly in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. These numbers don't even include the rest of the Palestinians who have always lived in Gaza and the West Bank and are living in refugee-like situations due to the Israeli occupation. The reason that there are so many refugees is because of Israel's official stance on displaced Palestinians - they feel that a solution to the problem must include relocation to other states, and they refuse to allow Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland within the state of Israel, even though many have illegally tried to return. Because of this, the surrounding countries have become homes to HUGE refugee camps - Jordan is housing 1.8 million refugees, and both Syria and Lebanon have over 400,000 refugees. Even if they were able to return though, they would find nothing the same. Israel has confiscated all of the property of refugees who have fled, and continues to practice removing Palestinians from their homes only to bulldoze the land and then build homes for Israeli citizens there.

One of the main issues that is perpetuating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is disputes over Palestinian refugee's "Right of Return." The United Nations has always supported the belief that a displaced person should be allowed to return to their home country, or if they choose not to, be compensated for their lost land and property. The most commonly quoted source of this belief is the UN General Assembly Resolution 194, passed right after the end of the Arab-Israeli War in 1948. The Resolution calls for protection and free access to the holy places in Israel and the demilitarization and UN Control of Jerusalem, among other things, but most notably is Article 11, which calls for the return of Palestinian refugees.

"Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible. "

Israel refuses to do this. They are in direct violation of this and many other UN Resolutions, and yet the United States still gives Israel more aid then any other country. In fact, over 1/3 of the US's foreign aid budget goes to Israel. Even though all recent US administrations have dissaproved of Israel's settling of Palestinian property, they still increase the aid given to Israel every year, with less and less oversight. Should our government be giving unprecedented amounts of money to a country that goes against UN resolutions and is systematically removing a population from their country? I am not in any way trying to be anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic or claiming that the violence on the part of the Palestinians is acceptable, since I feel that violence in any way, shape, or form only hinders the peace process, but I do think that we, as the American people, need to start asking our government why they are giving so much money to a country that is responsible for one of the largest humanitarian and refugee crisis in the world.

Interested in learning more? Check out these websites...

http://www.un.org/unrwa/

http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml

http://www.mideastweb.org/refugees1.htm

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

What is a refugee?

As far back as we can go in history, there has been conflict. Sometimes, this conflict is justified and other times it is not, but regardless of the reasons, every conflict ends up hurting and displacing people. The silent victims of these conflicts are the refugees, the men, women, and children who face horrible conditions around the world as they try and flee violence and persecution. According to the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), as of the end of 2007, there are over 67 million people in the world who are either international refugees or internally displaced as a result of war and armed conflicts or natural disasters. That is over 20% of the population of the United States. With such a large number of refugees around the world, it can seem like a problem too huge to tackle, but many organizations are working to help the plight of refugees worldwide.

It seems like in the news people are talking about "refugee crisises" all the time, but what exactly is a refugee? The current meaning of the term was officially defined at the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. They decided that a refugee would be anyone who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that country." This definition was expanded to include people who were fleeing war or violence in their home country, or who were displaced by natural disasters making their home country unsafe to live in.

Currently, there are many conflicts causing large numbers of refugees. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, fighting in Sudan, and the current situation in Myanmar are the largest sources of refugees in the world. As Americans, we have contributed to the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine - 3 of the 5 largest sources of refugees. Even so, the aid we give to refugees is dwarfed by the amount of funding the US spends every month promoting war abroad in these places. We have an obligation to help these people return to the lives they had been leading before our soldiers or weapons or aid and support caused them to be displaced, losing their homes, safety, security, and many times, their lives. No longer can we sit by idly, while our government supports policy that is detrimental to the lives of millions abroad, mostly women and children. Before we can help though, we must understand why and how these conflicts came about, and what the United States has done to contribute to the conflicts. That is what my intention is for this blog - to spread information, raise awareness, and be a voice for the silenced.