Day Four: Sometimes I'm Ashamed to be American

When I registered for classes this semester, Intro to Philosophy was full. I opted for Intro to Religion instead [funny choice for an atheist, but I digress]. We're nearing the end of the semester and so far we've covered several philosophies as to what religion is to people and the major world religions. Now, we're covering religion in everyday life. One of the topics we covered was the Iraeli-Palestinian conflict.

I wont pretend I'm well versed in politics, foreign policy or even the everyday news. It's not something I have ever held much interest in or honestly, can even entirely understand. After discussing the conflict and seeing a documentary on what has been happening in Palestine, I can honestly say, that if what we have been taught is real, then I am not really proud of being an American in this situation. Maybe I'm ignorant of what's really going on or am too young to comprehend everything, but from what I've learned, I feel something just isn't right.

For those that don't know much about the conflict, I'll give you what my basic interpretations are. Israel/Palestine is the holy land which is important in the three religions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Each religion has been trying to take control of this land because it is important to them. After WWII, the UN decided to give it to the Jewish people as a way to apologize for the Holocaust. However, many Muslim people in addition to the Jews inhabited this land. The Dome of the Rock [a great mosque] is even located in Jerusalem. The Jews pushed about 750,000 Palestinian people out of Israel or into the Gaza strip and West Bank. From then on, the Israelis have taken full control over the Palestinian areas and control every aspect of Palestinian life. Despite both sides being violent, many more Palestinian people have been killed than Israeli people.

Being the country we are, we get involved in everything [perhaps another ignorant statement]. The US has sided with Israel, for 3 reasons we learned. 1) The US does not want to be labeled anti-semitic. 2) Israel is considered a Western ally. 3) The US is a Christian nation [and here I thought no official religion would be established?] and those that are radically devout and follow the Bible quite literally feel that the holy land was given to Abraham by God and that shouldn't be questioned. These people are also a large voting block.

As a country we support people oppressing other people. The US even funded the building of suburbs within the West Bank by Israelis despite it being intended as Palestinian land. The Palestinians live in small camps surrounded by Israeli camps and they are persecuted and humiliated on a day to day basis. Lots of newborns have died because Palestinian women were not allowed to cross the check point and thus could not reach a hospital. Life there seems nearly unbearable.

In class today we read an article that President Obama is looking into addressing this issue, which makes me feel a little better. I'm ashamed though, because our country supports such a horrific thing. People are people and all people deserve to be treated equally no matter their beliefs, where they came from, etc. No one deserves to be oppressed and treated the way these people have over a piece of land, or anything for that matter. I may be countered with "Well, Palestinians are suicide bombers", and that's fine. But, how would you feel if you were treated like they are day in and day out? Wouldn't you be ready to retaliate too? That's all besides the point though. However, I'm even more ashamed that as an American I didn't even know this was happening. I hope that when I have kids, they don't see the world like this. Though, I feel it will almost be inevitable.