The Danger of Neutrality

 

In the ted talk, "The Danger of Neutrality" Anna describes her personal journey as an American. She traveled to Palestine to tackle the question "shouldn't the US be a moderating force rather than being one-sided?". When she arrived she found a system of segregated roads. Excellent roads are for Israelis and separate roads are for Palestinians. She then argues furthermore that neutrality is not an option in the Palestinian-Israel conflict because the Israeli government relies on the international neutrality clause to illegally occupy Palestinian land with consequences. Baltzer also blames the media's framing of the conflict as a "cycle of violence" and she then argues that the power between Israel and Palestine is unfair. She highlights the fact that Israel has a highly advanced military and the backing of the United States, while Palestinians have few resources and no state to protect them. She emphasizes the importance of taking one side in the conflict, not in terms of supporting one and declining the other but standing against those that recognize that Israel is in the wrong because of their supporting of the strongest country in the world contrary to Palestinians who suffered and suffering from the destruction Israel is performing they also have very limited resources. She assumes that people who have a neutral mindset are most likely in privileged positions that are not involved in the conflict directly. Instead of neutrality, Baltzer advocates for solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle for freedom and self-determination. She stresses the importance of listening to and amplifying Palestinian voices, rather than relying on Western media perspective and manipulation which is the reason for the atrophy of the Palestinian state. She delivers a very inspirational message that conveys the prominence of taking a stance and having a voice in the israeli-palestinian conflict. Finally, Anna Baltzer calls on the international community to take action to hold Israel accountable for its human rights abuses and violations of international law. This can be done through measures like boycotts, divestment, and by pressuring governments worldwide to cut off military aid to Israel to prevent any further catastrophe from happening.

I try to express myself in every action I see possible. I try to pass down my knowledge and experiences to my younger brother so he can be more prepared for life than I was when I was his age. I always encourage him to be more sociable because there will be a time when he will travel and won't be able to see his friends again, to study hard but enjoy life at the same time while playing a little of video games on the weekend won't hurt, and to work out and to become a better self man. This video is very strong and I have gained an impactful message. I will try to go by it every day as it can be a life-changing event that will reveal my next upcoming years of university. This video reminds me of a book that has been introduced to in my English class recently the book is "Tuesdays with Morrie". Not only the video left a very powerful message inside of me but I feel that the book will majorly impact and pave my future path as to what I want to do with my life as hyped by Ms.Omneya in the past week.