Israel/Palestine conflict

[Bell]

Alright lads the forums are a bit dull at the moment and I'm currently living in the West Bank so figure why not open this can of worms again.
The last 4 months have been a big eye opener for me, there is a lot of subtle shit going on here that doesn't make international news.

From what I can gather the Israeli Government continues to expand current settlements and actively support the creation of new ones referred to as 'outposts'.
The 2 state solution is a total scam due to Israel currently doing the complete opposite of what it should be doing if it was serious about it.
The military controls everything in the west-bank, they constantly go into areas they are supposed to be under PA control and the areas they are legally allowed to control are vast.
The status quo is in Israels favour and is generally working for them so they have no interest in any serious negotiations.

Meanwhile Israel is under increasing international pressure as the UN nations by a huge majority disagree with Israeli policies, they have lost Turkey as an Ally and may lose more to the Arab spring, such as Egypt.
The boycott movement is also gaining momentum with South Africa requiring labeling on Settlement products and some European countries expressing interest in doing the same.

My daily life is relatively normal apart from seeing military everywhere. I have to get my passport checked and sometimes questioned by the IDF at stationary or mobile checkpoints and everyday f15's and f-16s fly over my house.
I even saw what must have been dogfight training between 6 or so fighter jets right over my head when I was in the desert one night.

Here are some of my more interesting pics.

The town I'm living in


The wall, taken from the Bethlehem side in the West bank


Settlers at their bus stop in the middle of the West Bank being guarded by IDF


IDF patrolling a settlement located inside the heart of the major Palestinian city of Hebron

[Zarkov]

Were you able to get a room in the Nativity Inn?

Or are they only full at Xmas?

[private_hell]

have you though about asking any patrols to dance to lady gaga?

also i dont see Israel changing its attitude until the US stands up to it - and even then its not a guarantee that a proper peace solution will be implemented

[Bell]

Or are they only full at Xmas?

This is most likely the case lol

[Bell]

have you though about asking any patrols to dance to lady gaga?

Not so much, they generally have their i'm a serious 20 year old with a gun faces on.

[Tandoori]

Can't say I've ever really read up on this - seems to be a lot of history there.

From the outset though, I've always had this sort of affinity to the plight of the Palestinians; seems like they're getting a shit deal in their own country.

Regardless of whether anyone can be 'right' or 'wrong', it seems Israel is taking a really unsustainable approach to the issue (seemingly because they have much more leverage).

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

What kind of Job do you have over there?

[Zarkov]

He fires rockets over the wall.

[Bell]

I'm doing some voluntary work for the UN, and my girlfriend is working for an Aid agency here.
I'm in the process of getting a proper job so might be leaving soon.

[Bell]

Few more pics

Me and a danish volunteer in the settler area in Hebron


The Wall and IDF Guard tower overlooking a refugee camp in Bethlehem

Israel/Palestine conflict

View from Bethlehem of a large Israeli settlement which is really just an extension of Jerusalem in the West Bank

[Xsannz]

wow thanks bell, brings back my 6form history study of the Palestinian conflict.

[Retardobot]

This sort of thing could be on the cards for me in the near future.

Partner talked with me a couple of months ago. She's the humanitarian type and asked if I would go with her to an under developed, ravaged country for a few months so she could practice vet as a volunteer. Wasn't to over joyed about the prospect but would do it to support her.

You looking forward to making it out of there, Bell? Or have things become the 'norm' and you've become pretty comfortable?

[oefox]

As soon as they get this then problem solved http://theoatmeal.com/comics/religion

conflict will never be resolved

[Black Heart]

Wow, I was there <24 hours and hated every moment of it.

[Bell]

conflict will never be resolved

That's probably what Israel wants you to think since apathy is working so well for them.

[Bell]

This sort of thing could be on the cards for me in the near future.

Partner talked with me a couple of months ago. She's the humanitarian type and asked if I would go with her to an under developed, ravaged country for a few months so she could practice vet as a volunteer. Wasn't to over joyed about the prospect but would do it to support her.

You looking forward to making it out of there, Bell? Or have things become the 'norm' and you've become pretty comfortable?

It's pretty comfortable here, the military isn't an issue if you are a foreigner and the Palestinian people are quite nice.
I have always been interested in politics and issues like this so actually being the ground has been extremely interesting for me, so i'm definitely glad i've come.
If I had a steady job instead of just this part time volunteer thing I'd be sticking around longer, But I'm hoping a job I interviewed for last week comes through and I head off to Georgia (the country).

Where does your girlfriend want to go?
My advice is to find countries where you have options, if I wasn't around my GF would go somewhere like Sudan but I'd struggle to find anything to do there at the moment.

[BerG]

The respect this man would usually gain by walking around with a massive gun is instantly negated by the little girl style neck sunburn protection hat.

[Hmmmgood]

Thanks for posting the pics Bell,what do you do for work if you dont mind me asking?

[Bell]

I'm just doing some volunteer programming work for the UN that i'm doing from home.

[SteddieEddie]

God those photos are depressing, what a hell hole.

I can't imagine what your state of mind would have to be like to live your life like that. Any loud noise and you would have to change your undies

[Bell]

Well those are my more dramatic pictures from certain hotspots it's not all like that.

[Bell]

And so the shit continues...
Now that I have a little bit of knowledge about this conflict it's been interesting to see just how little analysis most of the news organisations are doing on this, they like to put up pretty pictures and maps but don't really give you any insight as to why this is happening.
Most of it has been boiled down to "Hamas fired rockets so Israel assassinated their military commander and is bombing their military sites", which is super simplifying matters.
The more extreme groups like Islamic Jihad have been the ones firing the rockets and they have been doing so for years, every week I was in the west bank I read reports that one of these groups who were not Hamas fired a rocket and every week there were reports that Israel had bombed Gaza.
So to suddenly be up in arms and to claim something needs to be done to defend Israel because they have sat by quietly while being attacked is bullshit, they have been retaliating all year.

From my perspective this sort of came from nowhere, the Israelis decided to assassinate a top Hamas official knowing Hamas would have to react and be forced to try and act tough by firing their pitiful arsenal of weapons.
To me and most of my friends over there this smells like Israel inflaming the situation to help justify something, I'm not sure if it's because there are elections coming up and the right-wing wants to make sure it keeps all the power by showing how 'tough' they are or it is some weird tactic to stop the Palestinians from seeking recognition as a state at the UN.
Either way this won't do anything to keep Israelis safe and will do nothing to solve the conflict and won't help anyone except to enable extremists on both sides to score political points.
 
That's my take and if you want to read the one article that made a lot of sense to me check out this one http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/11/20121115114058876781.html

[Bell]

My girlfriend was in Tel Aviv last night but got out this morning and is returning to the west bank now so might have a story to tell.

[Aloysius]

Tbh the most interesting aspect of this thread is what you're getting up to, not Israel/Palestine.

Sooo.... What else you been up to in Israel?
Also,
What's happening with the whole Hasidic Jews, getting out of military service much to the disgust of a majority of the Israeli population? Moreover, do you reckon there's any chance of benny's opposition winning the election?

[Bell]

I'm not in Palestine anymore I'm currently working for transparency international in the Republic of Georgia.

Last I heard on the Hasidic front is their exception is being revoked and they will be forming Hasidic only military units because they can't handle being put in units with women because their religion is so fucked.
I would not want to be a Palestinain when the Hasidic brigade rolls into town :/

To be honest I don't know enough about Israeli public opinion as a whole since I never really got to talk to any of the vast amounts of crazies there.
I'm going to assume since he is promoting settlement building and bombing the shit out of Gaza that means all of the religious types will vote for him.
The left wing is on life support at the moment so I don't have much hope for the next decade.