Alison Stackhouse
Rot. B, AP Gov
11/11/10
Israeli/Palestinian Conflict Contrasting Platforms
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the longest lasting conflicts in history. To Jews, Israel is considered their ancestral homeland, and they believe that they deserve to have it dedicated to them, especially after the years of harsh discrimination. However, the Palestinian people, who have lived there since biblical times, believe that it is their land, and are opposed to Jewish inhabitation of it. Palestinians believe that they are a “national entity”, and deserve “the rights of all nations, including a Palestinian state” (israelipalestinian.procon.org).The division of the land and how to go about solving this dilemma has raised many questions, caused many concerns, and leads many to wonder if a resolution will ever be reached. Any two groups of peoples vying for the same land would of course be a problem, but the Israeli and Palestinian situation has taken this battle to a new extreme. Of course, Americans have very strong views regarding this issue, and just like any other issue, the views are somewhat divided between parties.
Republicans and Democrats have differing views on world affairs and intervention, which contributes to their response to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. Republicans tend to support foreign intervention more so than Democrats. A partisan divide has erupted surrounding this particular issue with members of the two parties “holding dramatically divergent views of the conflict, what should be done to solve it and the role the U.S ought to play” (Huffingtonpost.com). There is a common consensus that there should be something done about the issue, each group of people do have equal rights, and that this issue is impacting American and Middle Eastern affairs. A slight majority also seems to believe that if the United States cannot stop Israeli expansion, it will cause a loss of respect for the U.S. on world- wide level (aaiusa.org). One of the first differences in opinion occurs when regarding the interests of the United States and Israel. About 75% of people who voted for John McCain believe that the concerns of the two countries are “identical”, while about half of Obama voters disagree with this statement (huffingtonpost.com).When asked about relations with Israel and Arabs, 68% of people who voted for Obama think that they are equally important, and 7% put Israel first. As for McCain voters, only 48% feel that having good relations with both is important, and 46% feel that Israel is most important (huffingtonpost.com). Republicans obviously have a much more decisive opinion on the fact that Israel deserves more attention rather than conceding to both countries. In correlation to this, only 42% of Democrats approve of what Israel is doing as opposed to 92% of Republicans (aaiusa.org). Israel has been the more violent aggressor in this conflict, with nearly 7,000 Palestinians killed since 2000, compared to only about 1,000 Israelis killed. (ifamericansknew.org) Based on party values it is obvious why Democrats have a much lower approval rating, seeing that they do not usually support violent responses, and tend to support more peaceful alternatives.
Just like most issues that plague world politics, the United States refuses to take a bipartisan stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Republicans largely support Israel as opposed to Democrats, who would rather stay more neutral rather than taking a certain side. There is also a gap concerning interests of our nation as well as theirs. Democrats strongly disagree that we have similar interests, while Republicans seem to think that they are nearly the same.
alison, nice paper! did you take my econ book out of mrs. baldwin's class and just not tell me this whole time?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Republicans seem to act more opposed to Democrats. Republicans seem more violent and care less about social issues than the latter does.
ReplyDeleteThere also seems to be a correlation between this subject and that of the Immigration Reform. Republicans and Democrats can not seem to come to a concensus on the issue. In a way this is good because once a decision is made it will be a good one based on how every aspect of the issue is accounted for first. This is just one of the factors that make a democracy so productive and successful.
I think it is very intriguing that Republicans favor Isreal more than Palestine to such an extensive degree. The statistics you provided (which were very helpful) make me wonder how many people voted on this issue without understanding the question or the ramifications of either answer. Very nice report!
ReplyDeleteGood job, Alison. I think that by your paper being at the top, most people are going to comment on it. That kind of sucks for you...
ReplyDeleteAnyways... This is such an extreme topic to discuss. What do you personally believe? I have no idea what to go for on this subject, but it interests me that Republicans side with Israel while the Democratic America agrees to stay neutral.
nice statistics, and like erin said, it is interesting to see that repub's favor israel more than palestine. especially since israel is more aggressive, but it makes sense - war over peace right? that's how america gets business done.
ReplyDeleteAlison, you used very good reasoning and statistics to portray that the U.S. is confused on what action to take. The recent Israel-Palestine diplomatic mission convened by President Obama was, like all others, a failure. However, this does not mean that the U.S. should start a religious or history based war we clearly cannot fight when we are fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan.
ReplyDeleteI commented on Driscoll's (??) blog stating that it is no shock that the Repulican party is leans more to a violent side considering they value personal protection over peace and therefore want lower gun restrictions. But 92 percent of Republicans siding with the more violent aggressor, Israel, compared with the Democrat's 42 percent seems incomprehensible and gives the party an inhumane image. Those select statistics shock.
ReplyDeleteI kind of think it sucks that if WE don't do anything about it, it's going to look like a failure. Why can't China step in on this one, or India, or Britain. I would just like to know why it always has to be OUR problem. We didn't make, why should WE have to fix it. We have enough of our own issues. Isreali's and Palestinians need to put on their big girl panties and deal with it themselves.
ReplyDeleteIt makes total sense that more Republicans would rally behind the Isreali's, it's the same kind of pro-violence moral they have towards guns, war, ect. It's all the same sentiment.
Thanks Allison!
Wow, I'm also a dumbass who can't spell IsrAeli. sorry. typing babble.
ReplyDeleteHey Allison, nice paper!
ReplyDeleteAnyways I found that our two topics are somewhat similar in the way that Republicans seem to support foreign intervention moreso than Democrats. I thought it was interesting that Republicans side with someone who is more aggressive, but I think the main idea is that Republicans support Israel's intentions, not just their aggression.
Great paper! it seems like the republicans are more for israel because they more aggressive. I heard that alot of our defense budget goes to israel and with repubs being more aggressive themselves, it makes sense they would support them. But either way, democrats or republicans, just like sam said it's none of our business! weho cares about our freaking reputation!! Half the world hates us anyway! We need to go back to the isolationisst ideal at least until we get back on our feet with the economy. I didnt know anything about this topic so glad i read it !!
ReplyDeleteHey Alison!
ReplyDeleteNicely written paper, and great job presenting this topic in a way that even those who generally don't know much about this topic can understand. You also did a good job presenting the ways republicans and democrats feel about this topic. Overall I feel like Americans should get more involved this, but then again, I am under informed, so my opinion could be invalid depending on certain aspects.
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ReplyDeleteOf course I had heard of the Israeli Palestinian conflict and I knew the basics, but I was not clear on each political party's opinion of the entire issue. I found it interesting that the Republican party took such a strong position on the issue while the Democrats did not. I do somewhat agree with what Ryan and Sam said about it not being our problem so why should we have to fix it, but it just seems unrealistic to. Because the United States is such a global power it many other countries issues become our issues as well. Our reliance on other countries for trade and resources makes it impossible for us to look away from other countries problems.
ReplyDeleteAlison! Lol.
ReplyDeleteLike Taylor, I wasn't completely sure of the party's opinions, or at least not in detail. In that way your issue paper was very informative. I hadn't realized the extent of either opinion on the matter, which made it very interesting (like republican support of israel, etc.). Overall, it was a very well written paper, and you conveyed the facts in a way that was both easy to read and contained lots of facts. Good job!