What comes to mind when you think of someone who identifies as pro-Israeli? pro-Palestinian? All of this depends on what camp you sit in, and what your perception of the ‘other’ is. Like the word liberal and conservative, pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian are foolish to use. They are overused and mean so many things to such a large number of people, that it makes them have no true meaning whatsoever.

This pro-Israeli pro-Palestinian dichotomy also enforces the belief that there are two sides to a conflict. Generally what follows after is that my side is right and good, and your side is wrong and bad. I reject a side-based understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (and of all others as well). I don’t ever see a scenario where something that is good for Israelis is bad for Palestinians, and vice-versa. If pro-Israeli meant in favor of the interests of Israelis (and the same for pro-Palestinian), I am the most pro-Israeli (and pro-Palestinian) person you’ll ever meet! In fact I am pro all peoples, so just attach pro-[insert national, ethnic, or religious group] and, I’ll fit that label if it means supporting their true interests.

The same goes for the liberal versus conservative ‘divide’. Depending on where you stand, these words have radically different meanings to them. They could mean hundreds of things. Conservative could mean for freedom and also against the poor. Liberal could mean for equality and could also connote authoritarianism. I like some things about ‘conservative values’ (i.e. freedom and efficient government), and dislike other values (like not helping the poor and bigotry against immigrants). In the same way, I agree with the ‘liberal values’ of human rights and equality, while I dislike large government and centralization of power. What matters more are the actual policies that people support and what the consequences of those policies are. If modern political discourse continues to focus on using small, condensed buzz words, phrases, and labels, the quality of the discussion, by design, will never be fruitful. People should always strive to speak of the relevant issue and not get bogged down in whether the other person supposedly is ‘pro’ or ‘anti’.

The problem is now the label pro is used to describe supporting policies that generally the government is in favor of, but that may be harmful to the people’s interests. To take one example of many, I think that Israel staying a Jewish state is harmful to Israeli’s interests, Palestinian’s interests, Jew’s interests, Muslims’s interests, and everyone else’s interests! If Israel were to become a secular democracy, and eventually incorporated the occupied Palestinian territories into its borders, this would greatly benefit everyone in the region. Some might disagree with this policy proposal. Many people would. What they cannot say is that I am anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, or that I don’t care about Israelis; I’m making the decision with careful thought, and with the best interests of Israelis in mind. That highlights why using the pro-[insert group here] language makes no sense. Unless one openly admits to favoring one group over another, they should never be labeled as pro one group. Let’s eliminate all the Pro-Israeli and Pro-Palestinian talk. You are either trying to find a solution that has the best interests of all parties in mind, or you are favoring one group over another. I don’t think the latter can be justified on any grounds. It makes more sense to view the conflict in terms of what will help the people immersed in the conflict, regardless of political views, religious beliefs, or ethnicity.