Palestinians Say 'no peace deal this year'

1. Palestinians say ‘no peace deal this year’. Mel Frykberg. Middle East Times, March 20, 2008 http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/03/20/palestinians_say_no_peace_deal_this_year/5609/

2. In this article, the Palestine peace leader Saeb Erekat said it would be very unlikely there would be peace between the Israelis and Palestinians this year. Regardless of optimistic talks by Americans, Palestinians say that it is very unlikely because Israel is not cooperating. In order to maybe have a peace deal, they must cease fire on the west bank and Gaza strip, and discontinue development there. Another term of agreement is that they must comply with the American negotiations set up for both of them. However, it seems Israel has not been cooperating. At a peace discussion meeting in Annapolis, Israel talked about other, less important details, and purposely avoided the land distribution discussion. They also seem to refuse to give up the west bank. To Palestinians, it seems that a peace deal is out of the question.

A. This document relates to the AP world theme, impact of interaction among or within major societies. In this case Israel and Palestine, who are in a large conflict, impact the entire Middle East and the western hemisphere. As the war rages on and they desperately struggle for peace, other Arabian countries chose sides in the argument, as well as the U.S. In this article, the U.S. has tried to hold peace treaty meetings and talks with the two-conflicted countries. The conflict also has led more countries to be racist against the Jews and Americans.

B. Israel and Palestine have had known conflicts since about 1947. At this time, the holocaust had ended and millions of Jews wanted a home just for the Jews. They were given the ancient land of the Jews, Jerusalem, back to claim for their own. They named their state Israel. However, this upset many Arabic and Palestinian countries, because their land was taken away from them. The Palestinians, with Arabic allies, declared war on young Israel, who won in a surprise to many. Now the Palestinians had no home, hundreds of thousands left on the streets. They hated the Israelis for their problems, and Arabs, who also participated in the war, hated the Israeli’s too. The conflict has continued on into the present, where the latest issue is over more land borders, this time places called the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Israeli’s have been developing homes and settlements there and the Palestinians want it back. This is where most of the fighting occurs.

C. The author of this article seems to be an insider to this issue, because he is from the Middle East. It is not known whether he is Israeli or Palestinian.

D. The author (Mel Frykberg) clearly demonstrates bias in this article. He continuously demonstrates a positive attitude to the Palestinians, while reprimanding the Israelis and Americans. He only published quotes from Palestinians, and all of them commented on the lack of ability Israel had in negotiation. He then goes on the say that the Palestinians were very frustrated because of “Israel’s government’s refusal” to cooperate. He complained that Israel was more concerned about the “niceties” then the core issues. They ignored the subject and chatted happily about unrelated issues. He says that Israel is saying one thing and doing the other. Frykberg also complains about Americans in the article. He says that the U.S.’s optimism is “hard to share” One comment I found quite rude was that Frykberg said that Americans are not doing their share to help the peace. “The Americans ought to speak up; that is their job.” Hence, we can tell that this author may be Palestinian, from his own conflicts with Israel and America.

E. To gain a full understanding from the issue, it would be beneficial to hear from and Israeli authority. Not only because the author conveniently omitted their opinion, but also I would like to hear their explanation on why they will not seek peace or give up land to make peace. I would also like to hear if they are really going against their word on negotiations, thus being the blame for stalled peace.

F. Overall, I was a little bit skeptic about the truth of this article. The author’s entire purpose was not really to report on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but to support why Israel is to blame. These little articles and reports only make the conflict larger and more intricate. It is not reporting, but taking a part in the war. In my opinion, neither country truly wants peace. After all the women, men, and children dying, these people are willing to continue fighting, even over little things such as road blocks. If they truly wanted peace, they would meet in a few meetings, sacrifice as much as possible and get peace. Those who truly want something will obtain it. However, these two countries have so much ancient hate stored in them, raging for generation in hot-blooded anger, to stop. I don’t think there would ever be peace in this region, but I try to be optimistic.