I find myself in the middle often. I have Israeli friends as I visited Israel and obviously from the states. But now I also have Palestinian friends as the Arab world is obviously populated by many displaced people. Palestinians face a bit of a unique challenge in that many of them feel like Tom Hanks in "The Terminal". They are a people without a country.
And so I find myself being one of the few people in this part of the world who has heard and understands both sides of the issue(s). I have decided to remain staunchly and undeniably without opinion on the matter.
Whether you are of the belief that the Jews had no land and were given their holy land -or- if you are of the opinion that the Palestinans owned this land and were kicked out without permission, you are entitled to your opinions.
I think that the majority of people that I speak with are of a peaceful nature (as I type this a US fighter jet screams overhead - must be training runs). The rare person I have met that wants violence are usually disillusioned and/or uneducated. I did meet one well-educated man who said that violence was acceptable, and nothing on the peace/political front has worked, so maybe Hamas has a solution that might. However, he has never been to Palestine or Israel and is speaking in second-hand. His parents do not share the same beliefs as they have lived and breathed the difficulties of that life. They want to just be left alone and live in peace. Curiously, he is an American citizen.
In Israel, the military walks the streets fully armed, but the world is extremely serene. The residents of Tel Aviv are scared to go to New York City because of the murders and horrors there, but walking out alone after midnight is not a scary act.
In Qatar, if a woman is walking alone in a dark alley with both hands holding groceries, a man will walk up to her and help her carry the groceries home. (Although no one walks, so I figure this is more of an example concept than an actual occurrence).
So what have we learned? Most of the gulf is peaceful and doesn't want to be involved in bloodshed or political mumbo-jumbo. Most countries stay away from the Hamas/Israel confrontation. It really isn't the PLO any more, it is definitely now a struggle with the Hamas group. Most countries don't want to pick sides. But, by not choosing to support either is basically supporting Israel. By not giving money or supplies to Palestinians you are in effect siding with Israel in saying that you don't think giving money to a violent organization is a good thing - even if it means starving people.
Today, Qatar donated $50 million to the PLO. This made huge headlines and people are worried about being tangled into the mess.
What do I think? There isn't an easy answer - but I don't like to see people suffer over the struggles of a government. Worse is a government using its starving people as martyrs.
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