Outsider Intervention

  

I distinctly remember the first time I learned about the Arab-Israeli Conflict. I was in my 8th-grade social studies class, we have just finished our unit on comparative religion and then moved on to learn about the conflict. It was the first time I had learned about something so multi-faceted. This led me to take a number of International Relations classes in high school, and then to my International Studies degree.  As addressed by Friedland and Recht the politics of sacred space is complex especially when that space is sacred to multiple groups. Throughout my experience learning about this conflict I have favored either side when it comes to different points. It is impossible to argue that one group is "right" when both have deep connections and claims to the land. However, it has always remained consistent that I find myself frustrated with the intense involvement of other actors which I think is perfectly exemplified in the move of the US Embassy to Jerusalem.

The international community has deemed Israeli settlements in Palestine as a violation of international law.  The United States abstained from the Security Council vote to condemn these actions. The US and other regional actors continue to use the conflict to further their own agendas. This only works to polarize the parties as well as fuel the violence in the conflict. The US has a very long history of providing Israel with weapons despite them being used to commit human rights violations. The US's exceptionalism, when it comes to human rights, is directly impacting the welfare of individuals on both sides of the Arab- Israeli Conflict.  

This brings us to the move of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Tel Aviv is a major city in Israel and therefore the most logical place for the US-Israel Embassy. The move to Jerusalem was a symbol of US support of Israeli's claim to Jerusalem, further exaggerated by hosting the ceremony on nakba. This action advanced Israel's position and further polarized each side of the conflict all while US officials were calling for peace. Emma Green also quoted a young British Jew on his opinion of Trump. Again another outsider to the conflict. These outsiders remind me of some of the poems we looked at earlier in the semester. In multiple of these poems, the authors criticized outsiders and tourists coming to Jerusalem and not paying any attention to the people who live there and are constantly impacted by the conflict. I feel as if actors like the US are making decisions to further their own agendas instead of working to find a solution that ends violence and human rights violations. 

Image from The Higher Learning