There have always been Jews in what is now Israel and Palestine. There has been an uninterrupted Jewish presence from the Hasmoneans through Roman rule, Byzantine hegemony and a revolving door of Muslim caliphates until the League of Nations Mandate administered by the United Kingdom. Arabs have also been a continuous presence in the region. Jews have for at least the last millennium been a minority, but the claim that only the Palestinians are indigenous to the land and that Jews are merely colonizers ignores the demographic history of the area. Even outside the dubious claims based on a kingdom gone for two thousand years, or the rationale given by Christians looking to jump start the End Times, the Jews had as much claim to some of the land of the Palestinian Mandate as the local Arabs. The United Nations apparently agreed.
The United Nations partition of Palestine granted to a proposed Jewish state the areas where Jews were the majority plus the sparsely populated Negev desert. The Arabs were to receive the areas that were majority Arab. (I use the term "Arab" rather than "Muslim" since the Arab population included a Christian minority). There was much organized opposition to granting the Jewish population even token political rights much less a nation of their own. Most people know that the independence of the new State of Israel was declared in 1948 and that it was immediately attacked by its Arab neighbors. What most people don't know is that the occupation of The West Bank and Gaza did not occur in the aftermath of that short war. The occupation didn't take place until 1967 after another war by Arab states against Israel. Jordan had been occupying the West Bank and Egypt the Gaza strip.
This is one of the mysteries about this conflict. There could have been a Palestinian state in 1948 based on the U.N. Partition Plan, even after the Arab countries lost their war on Israel. In addition, at any time between 1948 and 1967 Jordan and Egypt could have established an independent Palestine - but they didn't. From the Arab perspective it was all or nothing - either Israel would be eliminated and replaced by an independent Palestine or they would refuse the half loaf and keep waiting and fighting. This set the stage for cycle after cycle of violence. The Arabs, at least their most vocal leaders, claimed that Israel had no right to exist and dedicated themselves to eradicating the Jewish state. The Israelis, seeing that their very existence threatened from all sides dedicated themselves to protecting their home at all costs.
When the dust cleared after the 1967 War, Israel had taken The West Bank from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Lebanon, and Gaza and the Sinai from Egypt and militarily occupied them. This added an intractable problem to the already impossible situation. In addition to dealing with being surrounded by enemies dedicated to erasing it from the map, Israel had just effectively taken some of those enemies within its borders and made itself responsible for them.
I'm not going to attempt a comprehensive list of the provocations and atrocities from each participant. Israel's horrible treatment of West Bank residents, including the violence by the so-called Settlers with the collusion of the military, is inexcusable. (They are also, tract by tract, stealing the Palestinians' land) The regular firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel isn't making them any friends. Last October's attacks on Israeli civilians, including rape, murder and kidnapping was met by thousands of deaths of Palestinian civilians. Palestinian governing bodies, instead of trying to make a better life for their people, prioritize fruitless attacks that provoke retaliation, making things worse. Of course, in this conflict Israel is in the position of power and the Palestinians the oppressed people. Although a case could be made that the hopelessness of the situation makes even bloody acts of terror seem reasonable. Israel, understandably anxious after 80 years and several wars, puts security as a high priority, but in doing so they have become the oppressors themselves.
One could reasonably ask, regarding either the Palestinians or the Israelis, "what were they supposed to do?", but in almost all cases one side is perpetrating an atrocity as a response to the other guys perpetrating an atrocity, which in turn was retaliation for another atrocity. I don't "stand with" the total war in Gaza or the elimination of the Arab presence of the West Bank and I don't "stand with" the Palestinians who provoke retaliation by murdering civilians. Both sides think they're justified in their actions and nothing outside parties do will convince them otherwise.
There's no "good guys" in all this, just innocent bystanders.
No comments:
Post a Comment