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“Allahu Akhbar” comes the cry almost simultaneously from dozens of buildings across the Gaza Strip. This isn’t, however, just any other call to prayer in the Palestinian territories. Instead, militants from Hamas are celebrating the “liberation” of Palestine. Hamas declared an almost immediate victory as their forces steamrolled over the Fatah, their more moderate political opponents. Claims Hamas, today is the”second liberation of the Gaza Strip, this time from the herds of collaborators.” Hamas, somewhat deluded, believes they vanquished Israeli forces in 2005 and will proceed to crush their Fatah opponents in 2007.

For Hamas, 2007 is the year of government. In early 2006, Hamas won a majority in some of the West Bank and Gaza’s first democratic elections (although the results and methods of polling were contested). The government was controlled partially by Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman of the PLO Executive Committee, and the leader of Fatah. In recent years, Abbas’ voice has spoken for moderate Palestians, those who seek to live with peace and tranquility instead of war and destruction. It seems as if, at last, the voice of moderation has been drowned out. This week’s onslaught against Fatah makes the organization seem almost saintly, at least in comparison to Hamas.

Hamas has finally removed the last bastion against an Islamic government, leading the way to a country based strictly on Sharia law. International news coverage, however, barely begins to scratch the surface. Hamas’ attacks aren’t just an attack on Fatah. Instead, they’re the final strokes in an operation that began years ago. With this victory, Hamas has the opportunity to turn the Palestinian territories into a state run with an iron fist, quieting dissent and punishing protesters.What the majority of individuals fail to notice is that Palestine has been this way for years. The territory, once a well-governed section of the prosperous nation of Israel, has seen significant deterioration in recent years. The region has erupted into civil unrest dozens of times since the Israeli withdrawal. The government, despite appearences, held no real power in the territory anyway. The government’s most important ability, that to negotiate with other countries, seems to have been squandered as key fights between Hamas and Fatah (politically, this time, not violently) bogged down the Palestinian legislative authority.

While the government was busy attempting to compromise, the violent thugs of Hamas and Islamist organizations scattered across the West Bank and Gaza gave the regions a constant feeling of chaos. Since Israel pulled out, Palestinian citizens have lived in constant fear, not quite sure who to support in the neverendnig war for power. Support Fatah when they’re popular, and you may fnid yourself executed as soon as Hamas rises to power. What’s more, the situation in the Palestinian territories truly shows how incapable the region is of properly governing itself. Since Israel’s withdrawal, the areas have been provided with constant Israeli and US aid in an effort to push the Palestians to greater world understanding and tolerance. When it was clear that these efforts were in vain, the US and Israel continued their policy, paying more attention to the people than their beliefs and politics.

Palestine has been given endless opportunities for growth. The country’s not an independent nation, but that may very well work to its benefit. As a part of Israel, citizens receive the opportunity to commute to major Israeli cities to work at jobs not available in Palestinian territories. Were the country independent, regional change, not just civil war, would result. Neighboring countries like Egypt and Jordan would feel reprocussions as well. In this instance, however, Israel may end up being Palestine’s saving grace. Israel has an obligation to promote peace and equality in all territories, even if the territories they strive to protect often attack them (see the intifada, etc.).

Israel, argues Liz, should not piece together an international force to bring peace to the Palestinian territories. As Ryan so eloquently noted, Israel is not in the wrong here. Over the past fifty year, they have time and time again demonstrated their ability to effectively run a government. Currently, Israel stands as a world pioneer in numerous markets and boasts one of the most developed markets in the Middle East. Liz claims the intrusions of Israel into Palestine, an area of their own country, is preventing progress in the region. The fault, however, is not Israel’s. Palestine has been given dozens of opportunities to reform and exist peacefully with the rest of the world. Instead, they have chosen violence and destruction.

At this stage, it’s too early to tell if Hamas’ victory will be permanent. The violence in the Palestinian territories has brought a new meaning to political dissent. Palestinians loyal to Fatah are being executed in droves, and Hamas has begun targeting key Fatah leaders to dismantle the opposition from the top. Palestine clearly does not understand the concept of democracy. Hamas purports that they, finally, have given a voice to the Palestinian majority, but instead of ruling a government, they are smothering any chance for an equitable and fair governmental arrangement in Palestine.

Interesting Link: A Palestinian-written editorial in YNetNews provides an interesting perspective on Israeli-Palestinian relations in light of the current conflict

Popularity: 60% [?]

I must fundamentally disagree with Liz’s characterization of Israel:

Once again, Palestinians are dying. This time, however, they’re not actually being killed by the Israelis.

…

Israel is clearly in the wrong with its imperialistic attitude toward its Arab neighbours, but if the Palestinians want a nation of their own, they must prove that they can govern it without terrorizing their citizens.

Let us first observe that Israelis are so too always being killed, the difference is they’re always being killed by Palestinians! That’s just one example of the primitiveness of the culture surrounding Palestinians–they’re essentially engaged in tribal warfare. You cannot begin characterizing Israelis and Palestinians on equal moral grounds when Likud and Labor handle disagreements through elections and open debate while Hamas and Fatah handle them with TNT and roadside bombs. Do not ignore the distinctive moral nature of each side when examining the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians: Israel is a free and secular republic while a Palestinian state would resemble nothing more than another Arab dictatorship, ruled by Shari’ia and bent on complete destruction of Israel.

Second, it is completely backwards to smear Israel as imperialistic towards its Arab neighbors when its Arab neighbors initiated the years of perpetual conflict nearly six decades ago. Immediately after its founding in 1947, five surrounding Arab nations, not counting stateless forces such as the Arab Liberation Army, invaded Israel with the goal of destroying the UN Partition plan and obliterating Israel. Only after Israel single-handedly defeated the cohilition of five nations did they proceed to take the land that was designated for Palestine, in the same way that Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula only after Egypt took control of the Straights of Tiran in 1967.

It is ironic that Palestinians today beg for an independant state when the origional partition plan was itself a two state solution. The Palestinians were the ones who invaded Israel and ultimately erradicated the partition.

The military force that Israel has used over its history has always been for the moral purpose of protecting its freedom against neighboring belligerents. Imagine for a moment that your nation, upon its conception, was invaded by five neighboring states and lived in a state of constant terror and constant hostility as you were surrounded by an entire region of people who wanted nothing short of its annihilation. How could that nation not be justified in fighting back? While the entire ”international community” of bleeding hearts weeps for Palestine, Israel has stood firm in recognition of the fact that freedom is not free, and that in order to defend the freedom of its people, the Israeli government must use unequivocal military force against its attacker, lest its freedom cease to exist. 

Popularity: 61% [?]

Once again, Palestinians are dying. This time, however, they’re not actually being killed by the Israelis. No, this time, it is Fatah vs. Hamas for the control of the Gaza Strip, a tiny piece of land in the West of Israel. Fatah, often considered the more “moderate” of the two main Palestinian parties, was defeated in the 2006 elections by Hamas, the far more militant group that is now the majority party in the Palestinian Authority. After the elections, the Saudis brokered a deal in an effort to prevent exactly what is happening at the moment. Under this deal, Fatah ministers would serve in a Hamas-dominated government. The latest news it that the President of the Palestinian Government, a member of the Fatah party, has decided that Fatah ministers will no longer take part in the government if the shooting does not stop.

The fighting throughout the day could be tracked by the content on a Palestinian TV station, which, at one point, played music supporting Hamas, and, at another, played music supporting Fatah. With dozens of men already dead, the area is slipping even further towards civil war. Hamas has more men and guns, and observers generally note that it will not be long before Hamas controls Gaza completely. This could have international consequences.

The goal of this coalition government was to secure international aid/recognition and to stop the fighting between the factions. Clearly, neither goal has been accomplished. Nearly every Western nation prefers the relatively moderate Fatah to Hamas, which is widely regarded as a terrorist organization. For once, however, Israel seems reluctant to intervene and the Israeli government is facing its own stability issues at the moment. As the violence becomes more extreme, some are advocating the deployment of a multi-national peace-keeping force.

This force should not be deployed. Israel is clearly in the wrong with its imperialistic attitude toward its Arab neighbours, but if the Palestinians want a nation of their own, they must prove that they can govern it without terrorizing their citizens. Gaza, small as it is, was given to the Palestinians to run, not to blast to pieces. In the short term, refuge must be offered to Palestinians fleeing Gaza until the area is stabilized. If Fatah and Hamas really want to blast themselves to pieces, no international peace keeping force is going to stop them; they will unite long enough to terrorize the peacekeeping troops and then turn on each other as soon as they are left alone. Egypt has also offered to broker a deal between the factions, but such a deal would be ineffective, just as the Saudi agreement has been. In the long run, the only way to solve this issue will be for Israel to get serious about economic opportunities and equality for the Palestinians.

Popularity: 49% [?]

Science and Religion have been at each other’s throats for the past 400 years, ever since Galileo was arrested for thinking outside the box. Today, the battlefield is in two main areas:
The first, evolution. The second, stem-cell research.

Evolution is a theory. A theory, however, in science, means that it has been backed up with tons of evidence, experimentation, and the like. In layman’s talk, a theory is equivalent to that of a hypothesis’ value. Thus, creationists enjoy using such words to inspire doubt.

Teaching the controversy and intelligent design is basically an attempt to teach religion in science classes. This is unacceptable-it is akin to teaching children philosophy in neuroscience. It breaks church and state and essentially will dumb down the curriculum while other nations laugh at us in our ignorance.

Stem-cell research, however, is a sign of progress that is being countered. Cures for millions of people are put into doubt because an unliving thing cannot exist. The “thing” is as alive as the cells on the umbilical cord and placenta-those are property of the mother, and as such, the mother can choose what to do with the embryo. If she wishes for it to be used in stem-cells to create new organs for people (which will encourage new industry), she should be perfectly able to do so, especially as it her right to do what she wills with a fetus, not the government, and certainly not the church.

The church is a good institution that has gone wrong because mindless zealots seek to incorporate themselves into other things, and, finding them incompatible, refuse to compromise and instead attempt to suppress and bring down a totalitarian system upon us all, especially a theocracy. A Christian Theocracy of America would be as bad as the Islamic Republic of Iran. Religion should stay in religion’s realm, and science should stay in its realm.

This post was written by Ryan Chou, one of New School Politics’ new writers. As with all other articles, the above piece of writing does not mirror the sentiments of New School Politics, only those of the individual writer.

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Schools in the UK are planning to drop the required teaching of the Holocaust and the Crusades in an effort to dodge any criticism from religious parents. One school was “strongly challenged by some Christian parents for their treatment of the Arab-Israeli conflict-and the history of the State of Israel that did not accord with the teachings of their denomination.”

The teachers who refuse to explain to students the seriousness of these issues, out of fear from any religion, should immediately have their teaching certificates revoked and be fired. Schools have an essential responsibility to society to provide an unbiased understanding of society and prepare children for life in the real world. This is one reason why I disagree with certain private schools, as they are allowed to bend what’s taught. However, with true “separation”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church-state_separation of religion and state, there should not, in any circumstance, be the removal or addition of curriculum simply based on religion. Private schools provide a venue for religious teachings. This should not be intersecting with secular, government-run schools.

This argument is quite similar to the Kansas School Department agreeing to teach intelligent design, alongside evolution, based on the demands of local Christian parents. It’s not right to advocate a theology that completely eschews the fundamentals of science. It should not be part of the science curriculum, just as schools should not be sidestepping history in the history curriculum. Something as important to the 21st century as the Holocaust simply cannot be ignored into today’s world.

The UK Department of Education’s submission to the religious demands is simply sickening and deplorable to the fundamentals of true, transparent education. This should not be happening anywhere in the world. The people of England should be demanding that ALL of their schools refuse to rewrite history just because a few loud theologists demand it, out of respect to their religious beliefs. It’s absolutely ridiculous.

Popularity: 70% [?]