SIMPLIFIED by Priyesh!

ISRAEL & PALESTINE

Israel & Palestine is not a strange topic but there is a lack of clarity in most of the minds. Today, we will cover and clear most of the basic questions and events that occurred as per the actual timeline and keep it as simple and articulated as possible.

WHO ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

ISRAEL

Resident addressed as Israeli 

President - Reuven Rivlin

Prime Minister - Benjamin Netanyahu 

PALESTINE 

Resident addressed as Palestinians 

President - Mahmoud Abbas 

Prime Minister - Mohammad Shtayyeh 

GAZA 

Resident addressed as Gazan Palestinians 

Governed by Hamas administration 

Prime Minister - Ismail Haniyeh 

Hamas 

Aim- To liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation & to transform the country into an Islamic state. 

Founder - Sheikh Ahmed Yassin 

THE SERIES OF EVENTS! 

● In east Jerusalem, there is a neighborhood known as 'Sheikh Jarrah', here many Palestinian Arab families were ordered to evict the area. 

● Around a week ago, some extremist right-wing Jews had a violent rally & chanted "DEATH TO ARABS" over the east Jerusalem area. 

● This rally led to tension between Arabs & Jews, the issue was fueled up by the extremist right-wing politicians through their hate speeches. 

● On 7th May, Palestinian Arab worshippers were conducting a peaceful protest against the eviction order. But sooner the so-called peaceful protest turned violent. There was stone-pelting and this attracted Israeli Police, end result being both sides were injured. 

● On 10th May, Israeli Police raided Al-Aqsa Mosque and fired rubber bullets and stun grenades on Palestinian worshippers. This time there wasn't a protest going on, people were just praying!

● When inquired, Police said they had the insightthat people in the mosque had collected stones and there was another stone-pelting session brewing among the midst. 

● After this Mosque event, Hamas gave an ultimatum to Israeli troops to stand down and leave Al-Aqsa Mosque; else they will have to interfere in the matter. 

● And a few hours later, thousands of rockets were launched from the Gaza strip by Hamas towards Israel. Reverting back on this, Israel had around 130 Airstrikes on Gaza. 

WHO IS RIGHT AND WHERE DOES INDIA STANDS? 

Till the time you read this article, another innocent life would be lost here. People in India are divided into two groups. Indian Twitter was trending with #IndiaStandsWithPalestine & #IndiaStandsWithIsrael at the same time. 

The eviction order by Israel to Palestinians was definitely wrong. But this doesn't make the act of rocket launching from Gaza to Israel any right! Both these activities are led by extremists.When love for a nation becomes greater than love for the human soul, it leads to an extremist mentality. 

In such scenarios, only the common innocent public becomes vulnerable and suffers!It is immaterial who you think is wrong BECAUSE NO ONE IS RIGHT! On humanitarian grounds, the only hashtag that should become trending is #AnIndianStandsWithIsraeli&Palestinian. 

The Government of India is diplomatic in this situation and has not taken a clear stand. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while thanking nations who supported Israel in this war did not mention India. 

WHAT SHOULD I DO AS AN INDIVIDUAL? 

First, get all your facts right. Having a stand is important but just cross-check everything you read, hear or see. Study it yourself!Learn about Israel and Palestine history. Ask questions such as why they have such geographical distribution and why is the UN not interfering in this matter? 

And lastly, just be a little sensitive towards such topics, because we can just tweet from 1000 kilometers away from the actual spot. We learn about a drop and start tweeting whereas the actual ocean is yet to be discovered. 

Imagine having sight of tons of rockets coming towards you! That is what faced by the common public of both parts. Hope you got the scenario. 

Thank you for reading SIMPLIFIED by Priyesh!

Signing off, Take care & Be safe