Christmas in the Holy Land

With the holiday season in full swing, the spirit of peace, charity and forgiveness ceases to exist in the ancient land where it was born. In the deeply cherished home of Christmas, the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict drags on, keeping the whole area in a constant state of stress and frustrating the politics of the region.

Unfortunately, the role of the United States in attempting to remedy the situation has consistently been ineffective. The Arab-Israeli conflict is a thorn in the side of American foreign policy, and for nearly 50 years, a situation that the United States helped create and fund has gone from bad to worse. It would be in everyone's best interest if the United States adopts an objective role in helping Israelis and Palestinians take real steps to permanent peace.

For five years now, the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, has been in full swing ignited by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's visit to a Jerusalem site holy to Jews and Muslims. Undoubtedly, a controversial visit by Sharon is not enough to generate five years of violence. The issues at hand are more complex, and a cycle of anger, frustration and violence manifests itself periodically in this tense region.

The United States has long claimed Israel as an ally and some estimates calculate that Israel has received $1.6 trillion in US aid since 1973, making it the number one recipient of US foreign aid. Much of the money is spent on Israel's military.

As any good political scientist knows, a strong military means a strong state with coercive power. With a well-developed nuclear program, the strongest and most active military in the region, unstable borders, and a history of aggressive wars with neighboring countries, Israel is at the front stage of politics in the Middle East.

Contrasted with Israel's strength, the Palestinian position is weaker and not nearly as well supported. The idea of a sovereign Palestinian state is increasingly implausible as Jewish settlements increase in size and power on Israeli-occupied territory despite this summer's hugely publicized Gaza pull-out. Palestinians have neither a strong state nor military, but rather a factional political situation and various armed groups, making any talks difficult and fleeting. Negotiations have usually hinged on the condition that Palestinians control their armed groups, yet this is not possible without an organized state and military.

In general, a deeply fractured political situation continues to hinder Palestinians in their ability to negotiate with Israel.

Furthermore, the bleak status of Palestinian social welfare creates a stark juxtaposition with Israel's modernized and streamlined society. Amnesty International statistics put the Palestinian unemployment rate during the intifada at 40% and two thirds of the population living under the poverty line while malnutrition and lack of facilities take their toll on a neglected people. Neighboring Arab countries do little to ease tense conditions on a Palestinian refugee population that grows in miserable camps.

Meanwhile, the US continues to pour money into Israel, reinforcing a fractured situation that has endured for decades and doing little to actually change the status quo in the region. American presidents have talked, negotiated, and reconciled time and time again to no avail.

The US needs to play a more involved and objective part as a peace broker between the two parties if there is to be lasting peace. The American economy has taken a serious hit as a result of the US employing a direct role in Middle East politics in recent years. With the mammoth task of rebuilding Iraq, the US simply cannot afford to continue funding the Arab-Israeli conflict as it has without being more responsible for how its money is spent.

This year, the US should make a wish to put its mind as well as its money into reaching peace.