By Jack Zhang ‘14
EE News Editor
To say that senior Jason Nagel is familiar with the Palestine-Israeli conflict would be an understatement. According to many of his peers, he is one of the most passionate and involved members of the discussion.
Like many students at Trumbull High, Nagel has a personal connection with the events going on halfway across the world. During his break, he had spent nearly five weeks in both Israel and the Gaza strip. “It was a completely different world,” commented Nagel. At one point, he was even a host family to a child from Israel.
Looking upon the conflict, he sees one of the major problems as one of lack of realism in the discussion.
“Almost everyone agrees that there should be a two-state solution; however, the trouble is when you get down to the nitty-gritty about who gets what.”
Nagel takes a white piece of cardboard and starts drawing a map on it. He describes how he believes that the two countries should engaged what is known as a “mutually agreed land swap,” where less densely populated areas and important geographic/cultural sites are exchanged.
On issues such as the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, he believes that they should belong to Palestine because they contain significant portions of the Arab population. On the other hand, Nagel believes that the Israel should any settlements past “green” line, or the 1967 borders, but keep any settlements within a reasonable distance where they are already firmly established.
Yet, he takes a hard line on returning all the land of to Palestine. “Palestine has every right to the land up to the 1967 borders but it is unrealistic to return the land that is widely considered Israel’s. There are people with strong connections to the land and they are going to be attached to it.”
However, with the recent Israeli elections, there is new reason to hope for change. Recently, citizens of Israel elected more moderate officials into office. In the country officials are elected more on a basis of party and form coalitions to present their interests.
Because of this, the new government of Israel will likely be more compromisable minded in the past. Nagel shows optimism at the thought. “It is a major opportunity to make a deal to solve the nearly century-long conflict. It is the best chance they’ve got.”