OPINION

02/20/2002

Last week alone, 45 Palestinian and Israelis died. Can you imagine yourself living in that kind of world. When you go to the buy groceries, watch a movie, eat in a restaurant you are at risk for being killed. All of those places have been bombed over the past 17 months of battle between these two peoples. When I REALLY look into the details of the debate, it's impossible for me to decide who is morally right. This is because both sides are committing atrocities. Hapenning sometimes 3 times a day, attacks from both sides will occur. The Israelis claim they are retaliating for Palestinian attacks, while at the same time Palestinians are claiming to retaliate for Israeli attacks. The media mostly portrays Israel as the innocent victim. How can this be so, honestly. If you are an educated, moral person and take a close examination at what's happening over there, you won't think Israel ALONE is the innocent one. Both sides have suffered horrific deaths. Hundreds of Palestinian CHILDREN have been murdered either DIRECTLY or indirectly. Innocent Palestinians, as mentioned before, going out on the town for the night are gunned down or blown up by nail bombs strapped to a Palestinian suicide bomber. Humanity can't get much darker than it is now over in this region of the Middle East.

It has come to the point, similar to many points in larger wars, when both sides realize they have suffered such tremendous losses that there is NO WINNER AND NO LOSER. If tommorrow, Palestine were given the state they have so long wanted, they would not be winners. The devastation to their society will take decades to recover. Depression, hatred, and poverty will linger on for years. Also, if Israel tommorrow makes a treaty with Palestine that goes to most of their wishes for recognition of their state by the Muslim world and recognition of a Palestinian state excluding those areas occupied by the Israeli settlers and the Golan Heights, they too would not be winners. The fear and distrust of Palestinian people will not subside for many years. Racism against Palestinians will last on and on. The core of Jewish religions beliefs will be shoved aside for decades until a generation has passed and these terrible tragedies slowly fade into the hisory books.

I can't think of an answer to the evil occuring, however one thing is for sure, something needs to be done IMMEDIATELY to end the violence so that the next generation of children will live together in harmony with their neighbors just as blacks and whites live in harmony a generation after Martin Luther King was killed...8^)...Ev

...Ev
Evan Lowery