Fact Number One: The land was not taken from the Palestinians (Arabs) and given to the Israelis (Jews). The British obtained control of the land via mandate from the League of Nations to administer a part of the defunct Ottoman Empire, who had ruled there since the 16th century. Palestinians never had a sovereign state of their own. The Jews did, by the way, though that was vanquished by the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago. This from an opinion piece by David Harris on lasvegassun.com.
Fast forward, this conflict, at its heart, is about two competing national movements, and the only logical way to resolve it is by a negotiated settlement — two states for two peoples.
Fact Number Two: The United Nations recommended precisely such a two-state settlement as early as 1947. It was accepted by the Jews, rejected by the Arabs.
Fact Number Three: From 1948 to 1967, the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem and Gaza were all in Arab, not Jewish, hands. A Palestinian state could have been created at any time. It wasn’t.
Fact Number Four: During 2000-01, Israel, joined by President Bill Clinton, offered a viable two-state accord to the Palestinians (incidentally, one of several offers in the past 20 years). They refused. This was Clinton’s conclusion as described in his autobiography, “My Life.”
Fact Number Five: In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew its forces and settlers from Gaza, giving local residents their first chance in history to govern themselves, something Ottoman Turkey and Egypt had never done. In 2007, the Palestinian Authority was violently ousted and Hamas took control. It has wielded power ruthlessly ever since.
What exactly is Hamas?
It is a terrorist organization. This is not a personal view. It is the formal designation of the United States and the 27-member European Union.
What is the goal of Hamas?
Israel’s annihilation and replacement by an Islamist regime. Those are frequently expressed and well-documented sentiments of Hamas leaders.
There is a violent nature to Hamas–its doctrinal aims or, its split with the Palestinian Authority, and this current round of conflict.
What is the truth about this conflict?
The media note an imbalance of force, asserting it’s not a “fair fight” because Israel is the stronger party by comparing casualties, simplistically suggesting the side with the higher number is somehow automatically granted victim status.
The media even try to offer a rationale for Hamas’ actions by referring to threatened evictions of four Palestinian families in Jerusalem, failing to note that this is a longstanding legal issue in the Israeli court system.
A common theme is that Israel triggered Hamas’ ire by harassing Muslims during Ramadan, which is a misrepresentation of the facts, not to mention that Israel has repeatedly gone to great lengths to protect the right of worship for all faiths — something quite rare in that part of the world.
To be clear: Hamas’ ire for Israel is permanent, as is its goal of one day dominating Palestinian allegiances not only in Gaza, but in eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank, as part of its larger strategy.
Some even try to compare the situation to childhood, stating that a mother told her child not to hit his younger siblings, even when provoked, because he were bigger and stronger.
This certainly doesn’t apply to younger siblings who are plotting murder and wreaking societal havoc. Again, this is ignoring the true nature of Hamas, the fact that it’s been firing thousands of missiles over the years, building cross-border terror tunnels, kidnapping Israelis, and foregoing development in Gaza to focus on damaging Israel.
There are those who speak about concern for the children, but are neglecting the instrumentalization of Palestinian kids at the hands of a cynical Hamas regime that knows images of young victims will change the entire story for those who only see the photos, not the context.
It is cruel to downplay and disavow Hamas responsibility in the trauma of millions of Israelis rushing to bomb shelters, caring for the elderly and disabled, and comforting traumatized children, as rockets fly overhead today and could strike anywhere, even with the Iron Dome anti-missile system in place.
And a key question purposely overlooked:
What is Israel supposed to do under such circumstances, when Hamas advice to the Palestinian young seems totally detached from the sober reality it faces? What would any country do when the traditional tools of diplomacy — from conflict management to conflict resolution — don’t stand a chance with an ideologically- and theologically-driven Hamas?
A final point:
This conflict is not an endless debate to prove one side right and the other side wrong. Rather, a decades-long dream by many has been for enduring peace.
This is the quest of the vast majority of Israelis who have not experienced a single day of true peace since 1948. Many came to Israel were survivors of the Holocaust, refugees from communism, or victims of evictions from Arab countries.
Israel was not reborn to be in permanent conflict. The fact that six Arab countries now have normalized ties with Israel is a powerful reminder that peace is attainable, and that Israel is keenly on the lookout for partners.
Israelis pray that one day peace with Palestine will be realized. But it won’t happen as long as Hamas rules Gaza, clings to its genocidal goals, and snookers well-meaning people abroad into believing it’s the victim in a conflict, alas, of its own making.
