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Is Israel or Palestine to blame for the seemingly never ending conflict in that region?
This past week, Israeli forces killed 9 Turkish citizens and wounded many others. The attacked people were on a boat delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza. Not surprisingly, this has elicited quite a strong reaction from all sides.
There is a ton of research showing that people on all sides of an issue perceive themselves to be unbiased. Many have theorized that it goes beyond this, arguing that people literally perceive their beliefs as facts. Just as 2 + 2 = 4, so too is Israel, or Palestine, to blame for the problems of the region if that is your belief.
The result isn't just biased processing of information about the conflict when people think they are objective. It is, beyond that, as if the other side of any issue is denying reality itself. It is, to an extent, as if they are insane. If a person holds a view that Israel is to blame, for instance, then denying that is akin to denying that 2+2 =4.
So who is to blame? I don't know, nor do I have much interest in figuring out my view on this issue. But I do know that both sides would be well served to realize that they are incredibly biased at many levels.
Just because we have been taught in the US that Israel isn't too blame, doesn't mean that they are not. And just because many have been taught Israel is to blame doesn't mean that everything Israel does involving Palestine is immoral and unjust.
People know this, but for whatever reason, it is like there is a knee jerk tendency to just "buy" whatever confirms your pre-existing beliefs.
