The Palestinian Cause

The article, ‘Obama, don’t bring your smartphone to Ramallah’ by Khaled Abu Toameh, is about president Barack Obama's visit to the West Bank. The article mentions that there were posters protesting the absence of 3G communications technology in the West Bank. The said reason for the posters was to get Obama's attention to the fact that Palestinians in the West Bank do not have 3G internet service. The posters said, "President Obama, don’t bring your smart phone to Ramallah; you won’t have mobile access to Internet; we nave no 3G in Palestine!” They are not exactly sure who put up the posters. Some say local two local mobile phone companies might have done it for commercial purposes. Others think it could have been local youth groups. 

This has angered a lot of Palestinians because this 3G protest undermines the Palestinian cause. This problem is so insignificant compared to many other issues of the Palestinian cause. Focusing attention on the lack of 3G Internet creates the impression that everything is fine and there are only small problems, such as that, but the reality is that there are more important issues that need to be addressed.  The article also talks about how some Palestinian activists opposed Obama's visit because they believe he will not help their cause. Palestinians claim that Obama is simply going there as a tourist and will not get involved in any political issues. Palestinians want to pressure the U.S. administration to support them, but the Palestinian Authority is too weak and divided.

The book A History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Ian Bickerton and Carla Klausner, gives a great background on the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. It presents the Palestinian cause and what they are trying to achieve. To better understand some of the points the article brings out, it is important to know the problems in the area. 

The conflict between the two groups has been going on for many years and till this day is has not been resolved. Since the emergence of Israel as a Jewish state, it has found opposition in the Middle East. Jews achieved their goal of creating a Jewish nation, and the Palestinians were left without a nation of their own. This only added to the tensions and intensified the conflict. After so many years of fighting, in the 1990s it looked like there would finally be a settlement to bring peace. It worked for some time, but in 2000 the al-Aqsa Intifada occurred and the fighting resumed. The second intifada was a new wave of violence that was far worse than the previous. It was not only rock throwing, this time the Palestinian police joined in and the fighting was more intense. 

There were several reasons why Palestinians were so angry. They wanted a Palestinian state, they were not satisfied with self-rule. They also resented the expansion of Jewish settlements in occupied areas and Israeli control of their daily lives. Another thing they wanted was to allow Palestinian refugees to be able to go back to Israel. Israel in an attempt to defend itself, implemented strict economic sanctions against Palestinians, border closures and IDF checkpoints. With these implementations Palestinians could not get to work in Israel and with the checkpoints towns were isolated and imports and exports were blocked. All this disrupted the Palestinian economy and worsened their economic situation. Both sides retaliated against each other and the violence would get worse every time. Israel went as far as setting up targeted assassinations and bombed police stations and villages, in which civilians were killed. 

The Palestinian cause has in its agenda far greater problems than the lack of 3G internet service. That is why many Palestinians were upset that so much importance is given to such a small problem that does not affect them much. Due to the on going violence Palestinian infrastructure has been destroyed, making their economy worse as time goes by. Many do have lost their homes and hunger is rising as the war goes on. Many would say Palestinian organizations are terrorists and Israel is only responding to their attacks. Others might say Palestinians are only trying to improve their situation and that is why they do what they do. The truth is both, Israelis and Palestinians have reasons to act the way they have been acting and until they are able to understand each other point of view the fighting will not stop. in order for peace to be established, both sides have to make some concessions in regards to the other.

Khaled Abu Toameh's article has a simple main idea. He is reporting on how people are protesting about not having 3G internet service. The title  'Obama, don't bring your smartphone to Ramallah' is a great attention catcher because it uses "smartphone" and that is of much interest to many people today. The article almost sounds funny, but then it gets more serious as the more serious issues are addressed. Toameh presents people's point of views, but does not go into detail about what they are saying. The article is reliable because the issue presented is real and we can see that with the opinions from residents. The author presented the information accurately and since it is not a major article I do not think that too much research was required. The only problem I see is that people who know about the conflict could think he supports Palestinians because he shows how they are suffering, making them seem like the victims. 

Chaos in Syria

The article "Netanyahu on Syrian Options: 'Bad, bad and worse'," found in The Jerusalem Post, discussed a major issue in Syria. The article mentions the Bipartisan Congressional Delegation in which  three delegates from the United States met with the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, to discuss problems with Syria regarding violence and chemical weapons. Before going into further discussion with this article, it is important to know how Syria got to the state in which it currently finds itself.

The New York Times presented a great article explaining the conflict in Syria. In 2011 residents of a small city began to protest the torture by the government, of students who put anti-government graffiti on walls. The President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad responded by attacking those protesters and that caused more protests to spread across the country. The government responded by sending tanks to cities and opened fire on demonstrators, which led to violent protests and with that, the government was able to justify an escalation of force. As the attacks dragged, soldiers began to turn against the government. As the opposition grew, they formed the Syrian National Council, which was an opposition government in exile. Soon after that, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces was formed. This was an organization that unified different opposition groups into one to gain international recognition and more financing and military aid. Britain, France and Turkey were a few of the countries that recognized the coalition, but there were several extremist Islamist groups involved in the conflict that rejected the coalition. The Unites States wanted to get approval from the United Nations to intervene in Syria, but other countries, like Russia, did not allow it. Countries helping opposition groups were concerned that the money and arms they sent could end up in the hands of extremist groups who could further destabilize Syria. As of 2013 more than 60,000 people are believed to be dead and more than 400,000 Syrian civilians have fled to neighboring countries.

As we know Syria finds itself in the middle of a civil war, in which nobody has control. The United States and Israel have made it clear that they have a "close relation in all matters, including Syria." The Prime Minster of Israel believes their close cooperation is good because together they can keep the stability of the region and Israel is more secure. According to the U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro, there are two dangerous possibilities regarding nuclear weapons in Syria. Many are worried that the regime will use chemical weapons against the Syrian people. The other worry is that chemical weapons will be transferred to extreme organizations. Those concerned about the nuclear weapons want to prevent both of those options by keeping a close watch on Syria. Israel is one country who is monitoring the situation to understand specifically what is happening with the chemical weapons to be able to respond if it is necessary. The disorder in Syria is only making the situation more complicated because they do not know who is in control, so there is not much they can do to improve conditions. President Barack Obama was asked about the situation in Syria and he did not have a clear answer on what was to be done. He just hopes that whatever they do works in favor of everyone. 

The authors' point of view is focused on reporting the news on Syria. They do not clearly state that they are on one side or the other. They report the news in a neutral way, they do not express if what Israel and the U.S. are doing is good or bad or if it is wrong for Syria to have nuclear weapons. Based on this article, we could say that they have an interest in the U.S.-Israel cooperation against Syrian nuclear power. Most people would agree that nuclear weapons in the hands of Syria at this time could result in a catastrophe. That is because everyone wants to gain control and they will go to any extent to do it, even if they have to use nuclear weapons.