[Nicole Kwok]

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been misunderstood as a conflict between Palestine and Israel which is not true when you look at the surrounding actors in this conflict. Matti Friedman mentioned that it’s a matter of zoom; outsiders are zoomed in while Israel is zoomed out. In fact, this conflict has involved Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians, Lebanese Iran, Iraq, etc. To others outside of the conflict who are unaware, it would seem as though Israel is the larger player; however, Palestine is backed by many of the Arab surrounding nations which impacts the perceptions of the decisions that have been made surrounding this conflict, making it seem unfair. Additional, this war is complex and multi-layered and multi-dimensional. Matti Friedman also mentioned that even if Israel were not part of this, then the Middle East would be just as volatile and this is due to the factional leadership / dictators who have been leading.