By Matthew Farrell
Martin Luther King Jr. famously said from a jail cell in Birmingham, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
In a simple and concise manner, it articulates the notion that all men are equal and should have a universal interest in each other's well-being and that incidences of injustice shouldn't be looked at as isolated incidents, but as actions that are helping to shape what is viewed as acceptable in our society.
With this in mind, I want to talk about the Palestinian / Israeli conflict. What's interesting about this conflict is that while the United States continues to use violations of United Nations regulations as a pretext to rally international action against other foreign countries such as Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria, we as a nation continually underplay the fact that Israel is in violation of multiple international laws.
To give a brief overview for those who aren't familiar with this, Israel's admittance as a U.N. member state was under the condition that it abide by general assembly resolution 194 calling for the right to return and compensation for Palestinians. A condition it still hasn't fulfilled. The U.N., in addition to the International Criminal Court, have repeatedly ruled that Israel's naval blockade, separation wall and settlement programs are in violation of international law.
Israel has also been determined by the U.N. to be an occupying force in Gaza which make its treatment of Palestinians there, including it's extra-judicial killings of military and political figures, illegal. Recently, the U.N. released a report detailing how Israel Defense Forces coerce abused children to open bags suspected of containing explosives at gunpoint and even use them as human shields.
You might be wondering why I'm listing Israel's international crimes without addressing those of the Palestinians. My point is not to demonize Israel. My intention is to highlight the point that people are aware that Hamas has violated international law, but not many are aware of the scope and gravity of Israel's crimes. As a democratically elected political party, Hamas has routinely labeled terrorists, their government is de-legitimized and they also face sanctions and blacklisting. Yet many people are unaware that Israel routinely violates international law and Israel only faces minimal international pressure for it's violations of international law.
It can't be denied that this is a complex situation whose resolution will extend far beyond the admittance of wrongdoings on both sides. However, it simply cannot stand that we continue to ignore the rulings of our international governing bodies when it comes to states that our government favors. At the very least, our country needs to acknowledge that Israel has a lot to account for in this conflict. Contemporarily we are setting a dangerous precedent. We are showing that it is okay to violate international law as long as you are, or have the backing of, a superpower. ?
Matthew Farrell is an incoming senior in the School of International Service
edpage@theeagleonline.com
