Team Peace

One of the most pervasive and problematic aspects of American politics is the viewing of everything through the sports lens. From horse-race election coverage to the red team against blue team mentality, Americans think of politics like a sports game when nothing could be further from the truth. Politics, in essence, is a conglomeration of diverse people with diverse opinions working towards consensus built around fundamental equalities. The us vs. them mindset is both structural from our two-party system and evolutionary from our tribal ancestry. But it leads to bizarre, illogical outcomes.

The current Israeli-Palestine conflict is a perfect and sad demonstration. Both Democrats and Republicans have generally sided with Israel quite explicitly. But a significant portion of the far right has long been antisemitic. And the far left is extremely pro-Palestine. So are the raging liberals and neo-nazis on the same team? Are mainstream D's and R's united? Everyone seems angry and certain the other side is wrong even if they don't really know who or what the other side is. And very clearly, there is no rational discussion with consistent logic intended to solve the problem. We just want to beat the other team, even if it's only by yelling louder. 

But if you step away from the two-side fallacy, things become much clearer. If your goal is peace and you want to prevent people from dying, then analysis is easier. Hamas killing 1,500 Israeli civilians is bad - an atrocity. Israel killing 10,000 Palestinian civilians is bad - an atrocity. If it's wrong for Hamas to deny Israel's right to exist, it's wrong for Israel to deny Palestine's actual existence. I believe we should start by acknowledging Palestinians are human beings who deserve a right to live free from violence with political self-determination and autonomy just as much as Israelis are human beings who deserve a right to live free from violence with political self-determination and autonomy. Both sides are right. Both sides are wrong. The only thing that matters is how to move forward towards a better future.

And the only path to peace is with a Palestinian state. If Israel deserves to exist, so does Palestine. If Israeli's deserve a representative government and a military to protect their country, then Palestinians do too. It's the only logically consistent solution. And Israel is the team that currently has the power to allow such a solution. They have the ball. The Israeli government is the only democratically elected entity, governed by a constitution and subject to international law, that is preventing such a solution. Instead, Israel operates an apartheid state that denies fundamental rights to a large population living under its control, and such a regime only perpetuates violence on all sides. A two-state solution will not guarantee peace. Nothing will do that. But it's the onlysolution that offers peace as a possibility, and the only thing that is fair.

The alternative is genocide. Israel can simply annex the occupied territories (which it has been doing piecemeal over the last thirty years) and either expel or exterminate the Palestinians. I guess some would call that an Israeli win. While it would end the current two-side debate and fighting, I think we can all agree it would not be a lasting peace and would only create a larger fight between more nation-states. There is no real win for Israel without a win for Palestinians. This is not a game. Don't think about which side wins, but how to prevent all deaths and preserve all life. Peace should be the goal for everyone.