Thread by @Noahpinion

A friend of mine who made a movie in Israel & Palestine (jerusalemthemovie.com) pointed out that while everyone talks about Gaza, it's the West Bank where Israel has supported settlements, restricted freedom of movement, and created a huge state apparatus of repression.

And while Israel's defenders always talk about Palestinians' desire to ethnically cleanse or genocide the Israeli Jews, it's also true that Israel's settlement program in the West Bank -- which is what all the oppression is in support of -- is also an ethnic cleansing attempt.

Israel didn't have to support those settlements. Those settlements are not necessary for Israel's continued existence or defense. Israel's right-wing leaders obviously hope that eventually they can force West Bank Palestinians to outmigrate.

In Israel/Palestine we have a situation where two peoples -- or at least, their leadership -- each want to ethnically cleanse the other and seize all of the land, without coexistence. And neither one really has the ability to do so. The West Bank Palestinians are not moving out.

(As an aside: Why do Israel opponents in the West focus on Gaza while failing to center the West Bank, where land seizures are happening? My guess: Hamas' "resistance" feels romantic to them -- strong and bold and tough, where the West Bank Palestinians are weak. Sigh.)

The Israelis and Palestinians seem determined -- for now at least -- to fight this out to the finish and claim 100% of the land that currently comprises Israel & Palestine. Israel has the upper hand but has no chance of claiming final victory.

The U.S., with massive military aid to Israel, is supporting one side in this nasty, unwinnable struggle. Which is why people are understandably mad at the U.S. We've put ourselves in the middle of this.

It seems to me that no solution will happen until at least one side recognizes that it will NOT be able to ethnically cleanse the other side.

And we, the U.S., have much more leverage with the Israelis than the Palestinians, because of all that military aid.

So it seems to me that the right thing for us to do is to use our military aid to put strong pressure on the Israeli government to withdraw all support for West Bank settlements and dismantle the entire apparatus of state repression in the West Bank.

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