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The Jewish-Arab conflict can be seen as an inability on both
sides to empathize with the other’s plight. Too often we
cannot see past the most recent killings by either side. Each
side sees their own killings as revenge for the past deeds of
their enemy, spiraling downward to a hopelessness that is
further crippling any hope of a cease-fire.
The Israelis begin every argument about this conflict from
either one of two beginnings; 1946 when the U.N. gave the land
now considered their "homeland," or the very beginning
of time, when the land was given to them by God.
This is a problem for obvious reasons to those of us who are
unbiased in the situation. First of all, the rational person
finds it ridiculous that foreign policy of any kind can begin
with the argument of "God willed it so." If there is
no way to prove that God sees Jews as the "chosen
ones" then we must begin to use more logical means to find
common ground. Pointing to the Bible and saying, "see, it
says it right there, Jews are the chosen ones," doesn’t
count as proof. Secondly, starting the argument from 1946 doesn’t
take into account the helplessness the Palestinians felt during
that time.
Contrary to what many fanatics say, there was a Palestinian
state at the time and they were not nomadic or unsettled. There
seems to be a feeling that pervades among Israeli Jews that the
land belongs to them because the rest of the world gave it to
them. Just because this is so (and many would argue that it was
given to them only by the Western world who wanted to get rid of
the Jews in their own countries), doesn’t mean we can forget
the rights of the Arabs who considered it their home for
hundreds of years.
There is much criticism that Palestinians target innocent
civilians. It is hard for the American conscience to understand
living with war. Although our country has been actively
participating in war since the beginning of our inception as a
country, we have been privy to a near total absolution from war
on our own grounds. So it is hard for us to understand what the
Palestinians are experiencing. After visiting the area in 2000,
I realized that they do not view the Jewish settlers as
innocent. Many have come to the settlements in the name of
taking over the land once belonging to Palestinians. Seen in
this light, one can begin to see the actions of settlers as
instigating this horrible conflict. To be fair, many settlers
were encouraged by economic initiative – the government
awarded large grants to those willing to settle with the promise
that they and their families would be safe, further aggravating
the tenuous relationships between neighbors.
There are many that believe I am pro-Palestinian because of
my comments on news shows and my articles, but it isn’t
necessarily so. I have always rooted for the underdog, and in
this case, the Palestinians are so far under that the mainstream
media refers to them more as terrorists than as a people or
nation. I would never consider their means of fighting for their
rights as just or right. I do, however, see their acts as the
last desperate ones from a people who have lost all hope. This
is not condoning their acts of violence, especially on innocent
civilians, but they are a nation under attack and in war there
are all types of casualties. Can you ever imagine the U.S. being
blamed for innocent German civilians dying in World War
II?
Because we never see the Palestinian side, we too easily
forget that they are a people under siege. Palestinians are
imprisoned physically and emotionally. There are fences and
border patrols to makes sure they cannot move about freely. They
are not allowed to vote for any of their own people to have a
say in what is considered by American politicians as a
democratic government. Palestinians have not been able to go to
work for months, further crippling their economy. Children are
not allowed to attend school, and innocent children and
civilians are targeted in the continuing violence. There is no
difference between what occurred in South Africa, and what is
now occurring in Israel. This is not genocide, as some suggest,
but blatantly a form of apartheid. This is not to say that the
conflict is to be blamed solely on Israel.
Sometimes I wonder if the Palestinian fighters will ever be
able to be part of a functioning government- all they seem to
know is war. Can there be a time that anyone can conceive of the
Palestinian people accepting the Jews as their neighbors in
peace? Even the Palestinians can’t see it, so we must start
looking into other long-term solutions.
This is not awarding their violence, or giving in to their
demands. The Palestinians can’t even agree on their demands,
much less have a government that is respected by the world to be
just and honest. In the continuing drama in the Middle East, we
must not get caught up in taking sides as much as looking for
solutions. Setting a time-table for a Palestinian Nation is an
idea that is central to reaching a solution, and one that is
considered regularly by European leaders. There can be no peace
without treating all the people in the region with respect and
dignity. Some say they do not deserve it, but I believe we need
to allow them the necessary tools to begin the process of
humanizing their spirits.
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