International Israel Policy Association Conference

For the past five years, I have been a proactive advocate for the safety, security, and the future of Israel. As a motivated young professional there is no opportunity I seek more than serving as a Goldman Bridge Fellow.

The aim of this study was to explore among a sample of Jewish Americans the prevalence of beliefs associated with intractable conflict and to test the role of different beliefs in predicting individuals’ support for a compromise solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. We found that the Jewish Americans we sampled tended to agree with a sense of collective victimhood and the Jewish Israeli narrative on the conflict. On the other hand they tended to disagree with the Palestinian narrative on the conflict and with statements that dehumanized the Palestinians and on average did not frame the conflict in terms of a zero-sum game. Jewish Americans in our sample tended to fall in the middle in terms of their endorsement of compromise

Imagine the Native Americans speak up and say they want to own their ancestral homeland back and that the Americans are not welcome to live there. If you were American, would you sit back and let them take it? Of course you would not let them do that because you would want to defend your family and homeland. This is exactly what happened in Palestine. The Israelis invaded Palestine and kicked out the Palestinians living there when Israel declared independence. The US should support Palestine in their fight for freedom because Israel has been invading Palestine and Palestine needs help to stand up to Israel.

Three Christian groups have collaborated to launch a 13-part original series titled “Why Israel Matters,” which aims to show how important the Jewish state is to America, Christians, and the rest of the world.

Despite the country’s financial prosperity, Netanyahu continues to ask for more U.S. taxpayer dollars. According to Greenwald, Netanyahu hoped to receive $5 billion USD this year. Netanyahu also openly opposed U.S. initiatives to direct Israel’s aid to American military contractors instead of Israeli ones. Greenwald puts this diplomatic faux pau into simple terms: “usually, when someone hands you billions of dollars in aid, you’re not in much of a position to demand more.” He continues that “the rules for Israel when it comes to U.S. policy, as is so often the case, are simply different.” Other journalists feed the

It is a coalition of diverse groups of individuals and organizations who seek to influence the US foreign policy in support of policies adopted by the government of Israel. The lobby delegation includes American-Jewish organizations, secular and Christian groups most of which work directly with the Israel government (Mearsheimer and Walt, slide 208). Through this connection, the Israel government is able to extract financial, military and political resources from the United States via different avenues that include policy formulation, direct lobbying, and pressure on media among others. The lobbying exercise is based on the fact that the US supports the existence of the government

One of the most talked about regions of the world in the realm of foreign policy is, of course, the Middle East. Always on the brink of war and full of uncertainty there is at least one constant that the world can be certain — the United States of America will support Israel in every way they can. From $3 billion in assistance each year, to protecting Israel’s interest in the United Nations, the United States is backing Israel. John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt argue that this support for Israel comes in large not from “shared strategic interests or compelling moral imperatives…” but from, as their article is titled, “The Israel Lobby.” (Mearsheimer)The Israel Lobby includes but is not limited to the organization American-Israel Public Affairs

The conflict between the Palestinians (Arabs) and Israelis (Jews) was over land, a place where they can call home. The ending of World War I (WWI), the land was known as the Palestine land. Three monotheistic religion called the land the holy land. In 1948 to 1949, the land was divided into three: the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. The Israelis claim ownership of the land because in the bible Abraham and his descenders was promise the land. The Palestine claim ownership of the land due to that fact that they have been living there for hundreds of years. The Palestine reject the theory of the biblical claims but if they were to entertain the idea, Abraham son Ishmael, is the forefather of the Arabs which makes the land promised to them too.

The turmoil in the Levant region is constantly viewed as an ancient conflict that has been going on for centuries, fueled by religious hatred. In reality the current conflict has less to do with religion than the conflicting claims of two groups to the same region. These claims were made in the early 20th century, anticipating the fall of the Ottoman Empire, with the backing of British promises of an independent state for both sides. These claims stoked nationalism on both sides. The regional arabs began to see themselves as Palestinian before arabs and the new jewish zionist movement called for a jewish state. From the end of the first world war to 1947 both groups claimed the land as their own. That was until the Holocaust.

When Israel joined the UN in 1948, they did not agree with the resolution (194) that all Palestinian refugees from the war had the right to return back to their homes and receive compensation for their losses. Israel managed to exclude the UN from the politics of the issue and there was tension amongst Arab states. The US was in full support of Israel as they helped aid advanced planes and missiles. The violations of international laws resulted the UN circle having great anger towards Israel. The UN thus then passed resolutions against Israel, which the US obviously does not support, for various violations of international laws. After the disputes, the State of Israel started to cooperate accordingly and now holds annual meetings, at the United Nations, with other Middle-east states for debates and resolutions. (Bennis, 2001: 1). In terms of peacekeeping, the state of Israel’s mission shows the promotion of international peace, prosperity, and security through the UN institutions (Israel diplomatic network). It is said that Israel has a high sense for the promotion of humanitarian awareness and responsibility. Israel is known to always be there for the protection and survival human beings, e.g. “Israel’s 200 strong relief team was the first on the scene in January 2010 after the earthquake hit Haiti”. Israel also provides staple, medical services and educational equipment, which are supplied by the UNHWRA (The UN Refugee Works Agency), for Gaza and most especially to the

The following essay takes a realist approach to the issue of Israel's refugee problem. The essay addresses the security issue of the 'Right of Return 'where more than 4 million Palestinian termed refugees clamor to return to their homes that they were displaced from during the 1948 war. Whilst Palestinians demand the right to return to their Israeli-located homes under the right of United Nations General Assembly article 11 of Resolution 194, Israelis fear the displacement of their state by a huge and exponential number of Palestinian refugees returning. The essay summarizes historical points that constitute the problem. Analysis of the problems shows that the traditional definition of 'refugee' has been corrupted to suit UNRWA agenda where the refugee number has grown and will continue to grow to absurd lengths. One policy therefore recommends that the UN amend this definition to reflect a more solid reality. An alternate policy recommends that the UNRWA be replaced by its more affective predecessor, the UNHRCA. The essay, too, recommends that America work in amending this change since by so doing America will be assisting her own terrorist problem.

Standing in front of the Knesset, the Prime Minister-designate gives a stern welcome to his fellow legislators. “I do not stand here with the glee of victory, but with a sense of grave responsibility in testing times,” he says. What has brought Benjamin Netanyahu to the head of government in Israel is the need to bring peace, to bring about an end to violence, and to erase the misdeeds of the past and renew the spirit of cooperation and harmony in the Middle East. It is a task of mammoth proportions, rife with possibilities for failure, but one which is the responsibility of any government that is to be taken seriously by the international community to undertake. The peace that Israel seeks is often hampered by those who claim that the

The Middle East has always been known as the Holy Land, the land of the Bible. For centuries, prophets have walked there, nations have collided and conquerors have come and gone. While Jews claim a three thousand-year-old attachment to this ancient land, Arabs also stake their devotion. In 1993, these two peoples, involved in a tragic conflict that has lasted more than half a century, saw the possibility of a new beginning. It was called the Oslo Accord, and it transformed the political realities of the Middle East (Peres, p.2) However, there have been many turbulent events that have followed the signing of the Accord, events that have undermined the agreement and are threatening to drive Israelis and Arabs

Despite all of the focus on Israel’s international affairs, ranging from relations with the United States, persistent conflicts with Palestine, and back and forths with Iran, Israel has a major issue of social inequality within their nation. Despite narrowing the number of Israelis in poverty and raising incomes in recent years, Inequality in Israel is still one of the highest of the Western developed countries. According to a report released by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 18.6% of Israelis live beneath the poverty line, which can be defined as those who earn less than 50% of Israel’s median national income. Meanwhile, the top 10%, much to the chagrin of politicians like Bernie Sanders, were taking in nearly 36% of the Israel’s income while the bottom 10% were pulling less than 2%. Therefore, I believe that for Israel’s economy to grow, the country must focus on addressing the rampant inequality that their citizens face. The more people that earn more, the better off the nation will be as a whole.

Hyatt Regency Hotel project was designed and built by the Crown Center Redevelopment Corporation(CCRC). CCRC selected Gillum-Colaco International Inc. as the consulting structural engineer, PBNDLM Architects, Planners Incorporated as the architects and Eldridge Construction Company as the general contractor (Brunet, 2007). Some of the companies chosen to carry out the different responsibilities in the project subcontracted the work as they saw fit. “The project was divided into three aspects: design team, construction team, and a safety inspection team” (Two Rods Don’t Make It Right, 2008). The hotel design consisted of “a 40-story tower section, a function block, and a connecting atrium” with three hanging walkways (Brunet, 2007).