What is the death toll by now? I wonder, as I sit down to write this Viewpoint. I could begin this article by recounting the latest news of the violence in the Middle East. The Israelis did this, the Palestinians did this, x number of people are wounded, y number of people are dead. But what's the point? As every major newspaper in the United States and no doubt the rest of the world has been reporting, this is a never-ending story of violence and fighting between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
We all want peace, that much is true. Our differences lie in our definition of this and in how we think it should be accomplished. This is a temperamental time and a sensitive one because the faces of the leaders of the Israelis are in the midst of changing. Ariel Sharon is the new rime minister of Israel, and in several months Yassir Arafat will step down from his position, and after that, who knows what turn of events will take place. Analysts (as well as people not so qualified) have made predictions and have speculated, but we will have to wait and find out.
Meanwhile, the violence continues and anger and hatred filter through these two groups. I want to set one thing straight right here and right now, though - no one group is to blame: They both are.
The facts are these. The Israelis have weapons and the Palestinians have weapons. Some will deny it, but these are the facts. The Palestinians have killed innocent bystanders and so have the Israelis. In a Viewpoint written on Feb. 7 ("No justice, no peace"), the writer asks, "This article portrays the reality of the lives of the Palestinian people. The Israeli people should never have to suffer through such injustice, so why do the Palestinians have to? Is a Palestinian life not worth as much as an Israeli one?" Yes, a Palestinian life is worth as much as an Israeli one, but an Israeli life is worth just as much as a Palestinian one.
Debates in our own country rage as media analysts accuse different publications of biased reporting, of inaccuracy and of racism. But here's the news - it occurs on both sides. On Feb. 9, Dina Karam wrote about Ariel Sharon ("Ariel Sharon - too laden with blood to fly with dove's wings"), "His name is synonymous with butchery, with bloated corpses and disemboweled women and dead babies, with rape and pillage and murder." Wait, was that about Sharon or Arafat? I guess it depends on who you ask.
It is a personal issue on both accounts. I do not mean to say that either the Palestinians are evil or that the Israelis are. Both are responsible for the current situation, whether one side instigated more than the other or whether the other side reacted inappropriately to taunting.
For both native Palestinians and Israelis, the fight over Israel/Palestine is about their homes, their lives, and the lives of their families and neighbors. For us hearing about the atrocities in the Middle East second hand, it is about our friends and our in the Middle East; it is about fighting violence, human rights, democracy, justice, and freedom.
But it's like that for all of us. No one can pretend that they are not to blame. No amount of passionate writing on either side is going to accomplish that, either, and as I am writing this, I am aware of a certain futility in articles like mine. I was inspired to write because of the finger-pointing nature of these Viewpoints up until now. It is one thing to be horrified and devastated by a situation. It is still another to cry, to lose sleep, to demonstrate your position on an issue and even to pray that someday this violence will stop. It is quite another to disown blame from yourself and assert that this issue is one-sided.
E.B. Solomont is a senior majoring in English. She is a member of Friends of Israel.
