In order to achieve peace in the Middle East the U.S. must stop completely supporting Israel.

"Should Israel really punish the innocent Palestinians who have done nothing but existed in the land that the Israelis think rightfully belongs to them?" Should Palestine really punish the innocent Israeli's who have done nothing but existed in the land that the Palestinians think rightfully belongs to them? And so we are at an impasse, albeit not for much longer. "When the Israeli government does these things, it only angers extremists more who already believe that Israel should not exist. This causes more terrorist attacks" Like I said earlier, anti-semitism is bred in to most Muslims from an early age, forget about extremists. The common Muslim has an aversion to the common Jew by virtue of their religion, their culture, and their disposition. What you are suggesting is that appeasement will bring about peace. You don't seem to understand the Middle East. Until the entire world is converted, there will be no peace no matter how much you attempt to placate them. Placating hasn't worked in Europe, Africa, or the Middle East, and it surely won't work in Israel. "The United States needs to be unbiased and needs to enforce that terrorism stop and that Israel treat the Palestinian civilians better." It is not the job of the United States to remain neutral despite reasons for a preference. It would be like asking the US not to side with Canada when Iran attacks them. Would you be unbiased towards a stranger in stead of your own sister? The US didn't sort of haphazardly come to the aid and support of Israel, nor did they sort haphazardly deny the illegitimate Palestinian government. There are very real reasons why this is so. "Jordan was separated from the British Mandate in 1922.This is when the area now known as Israel was then referred to as Palestine, although not a declared state." The area known as TransJordan was separated for a specific reason, which I've already stated earlier. The people you know as Palestinians are actually Jordanians from Arab stock. Does Jordan offer to help? Do any Arab nations offer to help? Only when it comes to arms. They will provide an unending supply of arms to Palestinians for the purposes of destroying the Jews. The heads of state in many Arab nations are using Palestine as a wedge and as pawns to destroy the Jews. "While I have not read the Qur'an, I can tell you that Muslims do not believe in killing all Jews and Christians." "O People of the Scripture! Do ye blame us for aught else than that we believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed aforetime, and because most of you are evil-livers ? Shall I tell thee of a worse than theirs for retribution with Allah? Worse is the case of him whom Allah hath cursed, him on whom His wrath hath fallen and of whose sort Allah hath turned some to apes and swine." - Sura 5:59-60 "Slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out ... Slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them captive, and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush." "I shall be with you. Give courage to the believers. I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, strike off the very tips of their fingers." -Sura 8:12 "historically, the Muslim people have been kinder than Christians to the Jews" This is an absurdity beyond the pale and is a total contradiction in terms. First of all, many people claim that America sides with Israel because of their Jewishness (that they are the Chosen People) and that the End of Days is focused around Israel. These sentiments can be directly found in the Bible. While it is true that some Christians, including prolific ones like Martin Luther, were anti-semitic, the common Christian claims that Jews are simply spiritually blind, but that God in the last days will reveal to them the truth about Jesus. "I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in tears for him, as one that is in tears for his firstborn." -Zechariah 12:10 Again, please review this and tell me how many Christians were involved, and then tell me how many Muslims were involved: http://www.johnstonsarchive.net... "The Islamic fundamentalism has evolved from the West's violent, imperialist policies. Although terrorism is wrong, the West and especially the United States has to some degree, provoked this. Look at your history, and you will see that the West have been more imperialist and violent than the East." Really? Pol Pot, Stalin, Lenin, bin Laden, Ghengis Kahn, Mao Tse-Tung, Saladin, etc, etc, are all Easters who have slaughtered millions upon millions of people to further their imperialist goals of turning the entire world in to what vision they have fashioned. The US has not done anything to somehow justify the slaughter of Americans which has occurred since the 1970's. Incident after incident has happened to civilians who simply want to exist in peace. 16 times was the US attacked without provocation BEFORE 9/11. That's before! This doesn't account for the myriad of attacks leveled at other western countries who have done nothing but befriend the very people that end up killing them. "Givat Ze'ev, Ma'ale Adumim, these are all names of Jewish settlements in the West Bank." It isn't illegal for Jews to live in the West Bank just like it isn't illegal for Palestinians to live in Bethlehem. The problem was that Palestinians wanted to be distinguished from the Jews to enhance their own identity. The fact of the matter is that Jews have been giving up land, land that belongs to them, as a way to foster peace. Palestinians and the Arab world has rejected this. This is because nothing will make them happy except watching the Jews being pushed in to the sea. All peace talks and conferences have failed... every one of them. This is because Palestinian authorities will never be satisfied until Israel is dead and gone. This is honestly the situation. The hatred for the Jews is so strong at this point that nothing will abate it. http://www.youtube.com... http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org... In closing, my opponent has taken the idealized approach that if only the US and Israel acquiesce to unreasonable demands will the angry hoard of dissenters come to some sort of resolution. The situation in the Middle East is far more complicated than my opponent seems to understand. In her mind, if only the US and Israel would stop defending themselves, only then would Palestine act reasonably and stop terrorizing. Appeasement has never worked, and it never will. Though this speech was given for another reason other than the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, the argument he presents here is one and the same. Appeasement is not the solution... It never will be. http://www.youtube.com... Finally, I want to thank my opponent for starting this debate. I had a lot of fun.