Palestine’s application to join the ICC (International Criminal Court) has been approved, much to the chagrin of the governments of the U.S. and Israel. The announcement was made by the South Korean UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Palestine’s intent is to bring Israel to trial on war crimes. The move was a response to Palestine’s failed UNSC (United Nations Security Council) resolution to have all Israeli troops gone from Palestine by 2017.

Ah, the eternal argument. Who is guilty, Palestine or Israel? Who really should be in charge of the Gaza strip? These questions have often been whittled down to a Jew vs. Muslim conflict,especially in U.S. protests. Both sides seem to believe that their side is completely in the right, and the other is completely in the wrong.

Let’s take a brief look at the modern history of the issue:

After the first World War, the British took it upon themselves to carve up the land, regardless of ethnic, tribal, or religious background (Cause that can’t go wrong, right?). The consequence of their actions was grouping a bunch of people who hate each other in the same country, leading up to everything that has happened in the Middle East today. They were awarded mandate to govern Palestine in 1922, causing several non-Jewish revolts prior to World War II. In an attempt to ease tensions in the region, the UN General assembly adopted a resolution that partitioned Palestine into an Arab State, Jewish State, and Special International Regime in Jerusalem *hence the Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Armenian quarters)

Following was the Palestinian exodus of 1948, where Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes, and not allowed to return. After that was the Arab-Israeli war, where Israle captured more land, including the Gaza Strip. During the Six-Day war, Israel captured the rest of Palestine from Jordan and Egypt.

So now we have a Jewish state, with Muslims living in what they see as occupied territory, and several Arab states that hate the one Jewish state. This caused several more conflicts, including the Yum-Kippur War, and every conflict in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Essentially in the conflict, both sides are guilty of war crimes. Both Israel and Palestine have killed civilians, bombed targets that have not been military, and blamed the other side for all of their problems.

However, the Israeli government has not exactly been nice to the Palestinian population as a whole. Several laws have treated Palestinians as second-class citizens, and make it extremely difficult for a Palestinian to go anywhere.

So is Palestine’s attempt at trying them for war crimes somewhat hypocritical? Yes. But in the end, Palestine doesn’t want war or any form of military aggression. It wants independence. And Palestinian independence may be the first step to peace in that region.