By Albert Thyrniang
Israel or Palestine is called the Holy Land. But the territory has been in conflict for over 4000 years. Recently we witnessed yet another instance of one of the world’s most enduring hostilities, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. A high-rise building in Gaza was brought down by Israel. Hundreds of rockets were fired from Gaza by Hamas that were met with anti-rockets from Israel’s sophisticated Iron Dome. The warfare in the night skies looked like festive fireworks. The 11- day exchange of fire between Israel and the Hamas that controls Gaza claimed the lives of 248 Palestinians, which included 66 children and 12 people in Israel, two of whom were children. Besides the blame games between the two the flare-up revealed long pending polarised views. An online war ensued. Rallies in support of the Israeli or the Palestinian cause happened in many cities around the world. Two narratives – one that Israel has the right to self-defence and, two, Israel committing crimes by bombing civilian targets, were disseminated. A third moderate voice saw both parties responsible for the violence and therefore appealed for immediate ceasefire.
Radicalised elements from both sides have deepened the divide. The extreme right among Jews consider Israel to be (exclusively) meant for the Jews while Arab militant Muslims say Israel should not even exist. To make matters worse, the 53 year political conflict has its genesis in religion. The Old Testament says Palestine or Israel was Canaan and this land was given by God to the Jews or Hebrews or Israelites who called it the Promised Land. But was the land presented by God to ‘His’ people just like that? Did the Israelites just occupy an empty piece of real estate? No. Canaan was occupied through warfare. According to the Bible, after crossing the Jordan River the Israelites captured the cities of Jericho, Ai, Lachish, Debir, etc., in holy wars. Following that the Jewish leadership worked towards the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel as divinely willed eventually achieving the objective during the ‘monarchic’ era of Saul, David and Solomon when the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, the Philistians, Jebusites (owners of city of Jerusalem) etc., were defeated. The Bible justifies the occupation, the wars, even slaughter, genocide and ethnic cleansing as the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham to inherit the Promise Land. Did God order the manslaughter and atrocities? Why would God really hand over the land of Canaan to the Jews at the expense of other people? Is God that partial? Was God used to justify the forceful occupation? Was God caricatured to be a blood thirsty being who took pleasure in slaying of Canaanites his ‘Chosen Race’?
The early Jews might have used God for their survival. But what is baffling is the continuation of this narrative even today. The present conflict is seen even by ‘good’ Jews (and Christians) as part of the process towards the divine will to establish Israel as a Jewish state at the expense of others. The ‘home coming’ of the Jews from Europe starting from the British rule, the declaration of Israeli Independence in 1948, the Palestinian exodus (catastrophe) of over 700,000 Palestinian Arabs from Israel to become refugees in neighbouring countries like Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, the victory of Israel against the combined Arab countries in 1949, the occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights, the six-day war of 1967 which led Israel to capture East Jerusalem, the settlement of Jews in the West Bank are seen as miles stones towards the coming of age of the ‘Promised Land’. Rabbis and preachers publicize this propaganda via social media platforms and other media. But should the Jews be sole claimants of Israel? Or should they be the majority in that country? Throughout history they were not the only settlers in the land. The Bible itself acknowledges that there were other groups as well. Biblical accounts state the Jews were conquerors. They were not indigenous to the place. Then why should the rest be banished now?
During the Ottoman rule (1517 to 1917) the Jews were a minority in the then Palestine province. In 1850 for example roughly 85% of the population were Muslims, 11% Christians and only 4% Jews. Of course, this sorry picture was due to a series of Jewish diaspora right from the Roman reign in Palestine, persecutions under Christianity, etc. But the fact remains that Palestine or Israel was home to many ‘nations.’Jews were not the sole occupants. They were probably never the majority in any point in history. In 1948, when Israel became independent 68% of the population were Arabs (irrespective of religion) and 32% Jews. Today statistics reads 74.24% Jews, 20.95% Arabs (any religion) and 4.81% are defined as “others”. The complete change in demography looks criminal to me.
The Jews claim to be descendants of Jacob who was later called Israel. Jacob was the son of Isaac whose father was Abraham by his wife Sara. The Arabs believe that they are progenies of Ishmael, the eldest son of Abraham by Hagar, an Egyptian woman. The ‘Father of the Jews’ and the ‘Father of the Arabs’ were brothers. According to faith, the Jews and the Arabs who have mainly converted to Islam have a common ancestry. The two groups lived together in the same land for ages.
Jews from around the world returned to their ‘ancestral home’ when the British ruled Israel in 1923. Though it caused resentment among Arabs it was justified considering they were diaspora and because of the Nazi persecution. But when the British left the territory to the UN in 1947 followed by the declaration of Independence of Israel in the following year the violence against Arabs, their forceful eviction from their homes and villages, their mass exodus to neighbouring countries as refugees, the occupation of East Jerusalem, the settlement of Jews in the West Bank were totally unjustified. Till date thousands of Arab Muslims are refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Gaza. They are not allowed to return to their displaced homes and villages on Israel’s plea that the Jews will be overwhelmed thus threatening the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. But how can original inhabitants of any country be displaced so that the Jews can remain a majority in Israel? Sounds weird. No wonder many actions of Israel are against international laws.
Now the other narrative – the anti-Semitism! A celebrity Arab model wrote in her Instagram, “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free.” The ‘river’ referred to here is the Jordan River that forms the Eastern Israel/Palestine boundary and the ‘sea’ is the Mediterranean Sea along the west course. This rhetoric is an echo of the extreme hatred that desires the annihilation of Israel. Today militant outfits like Hamas, right wing Arab Muslim groups and individuals claim that Israel should be called Palestine and all inhabitants, Palestinians. They demand for liberation of Palestine. Anti-Semitism is now mainstreamed. Tweets in thousands used ‘Hitler was right’ phrases adding to the ferocious anti-Semitism on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok by the so-called “influencers” ‘poisoning’ thousands of young followers. This position too is unreasonable. The Jews have the right to exist. They cannot be disregarded in any way.
To accommodate the history of both Jews and Arabs in 1947 the UN General Assembly adopted the Partition Plan for Palestine but Arab leaders rejected it. In 1974, a UN resolution on the “Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine” called for “two States, Israel and Palestine”. Since then several efforts have been made but both sides continue to claim the city of Jerusalem as their own. Arabs insists the refugees should return home while Israel rejects the mention of it outright. Fanatical Jews insist that Palestinians (read Arabs) should leave Israel for any Arab country (‘go to Pakistan’ version). Hence the hostilities see no end in sight.
One thorny issue is that of the Aqsa mosque in Old (East) Jerusalem. Built atop the Jewish Temple Mount by Muslim rulers the ‘Farthest Mosque’ is the third holiest place for Muslims. Located in proximity to Jewish and Christian historical sites, religious bigots often call for its demolition resulting in many a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In fact, the most recent combat came after the storming of the mosque by Israel police to ‘clear unruly and violent devotees’ who had assembled there during the holy month of Ramadan.
The “Abrahamic religions”- Islam and Judaism have a common root – monotheism which is their uncompromising tenet. It is clear that fundamentalist elements from the ‘sister religions’ take advantage of religious sentiments to foment violence. While the Jews should be more accommodative, Palestinians can’t wish for the extermination of Israelis. For lasting peace, the ‘two nation’ plan has to be worked out. Resolution of all sensitive issues with the spirit of give and take is necessary for ‘shalom’ in the region and the world. Meanwhile it is high time we are freed of religious bigotry. Being more human and ‘less religious’ could see the Middle East and the rest of the world a better place.
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