Today we, the United States of America, find ourselves in a very precarious situation. Not only are we already engaged in a war in the Middle East, tension between Iran and Israel have risen to extremely dangerous levels and the United States is directly involved.
The Iran – Israel tensions are no new development by any means. This quarrel has been going on for thousands of years and stems directly from the religious differences of the inhabitants of the Middle East. It has essentially been the Jews and the Muslims in a never ending death match over control of the Holy Land, which is Jerusalem for both religions.
Keeping in mind this is only a miniscule portion of the ill relationships surrounding Israel and the Jews, this story will begin post World War II era. The United Nations have signed a charter which took the land of Palestine (it was under British control) and carved it into two parts, Israel and Palestine (a very small portion of the original). The Israeli division of the land was designated for the Jewish population. This angered the entire Muslim population because their land was essentially given to another group of people. The small Palestinian portion was given to the Arabs. The designation of Israel to the Jews was due to a large amount of Western guilt for what had happened to them by the Third Reich. There were millions of Jews scattered throughout Europe (many from Nazi concentration camps) and the Middle East who had fled their homes and had nowhere to go. The Jews were a group of people that shared a common belief and identity however they had no place to call home, no land that was a representation of them; Israel offered welcoming arms to the Jews and they flocked by the millions to their new home.
The day after the signing of the Israeli declaration of independence, many of the surrounding nations attacked Israel. Israel did a spectacular job fending off the attacking armies; this was due, for the most part, to their superior technology (compliments of the U.S.). Ever since Israel officially became “The State of Israel” they have been hated by the majority of the nations in the Middle East and have been at war for the majority of their existence.
Come 2012, the same conflicts between the same nations are still going strong however it is now predominately Iran vs. Israel. The main reason that it is such a hot topic today has to do with Iran’s actions. The president/dictator of Iran has been quoted to say Israel’s existence is an “insult to humanity” and that “Israel must be wiped off the map.” When we hear things like this from the president of an aggressive war prone nation, it becomes a topic that no one can ignore. Iran is also currently researching nuclear power (supposedly for energy) which would give them the power to literally make Israel “…wiped off the map.”
The reason that this is so relevant to the U.S. is that we take a strong stance against nations that attempt to imperialize/destroy another nation (somewhat hypocritically). The U.S. is also very active in the spread of democracy and when Israel’s democratic existence is acutely jeopardized, we will fully back them.
If Iran attacks Israel, it will bring the U.S. into yet another war in the Middle East. Economic sanctions on Iran’s oil are already in place in an attempt to hurt Iran’s economy which would discourage them from getting involved in an extremely pricy war, however these actions seem futile, and it has essentially become a waiting game where both sides want to be the first attacker. With Iran saying that they WILL certainly attack Israel, the Israeli’s see no point in waiting for the inevitable.
Hopefully this nearly unavoidable conflict will be resolved democratically and with no lives lost; however it seems as if Iran will not be satisfied until the State of Israel no longer exists.