The points that I want to cover are the usual expressions:
- The Jewish People/Nation/Land
- Ancient Palestinian People.
- The Green Line
- Settlements
Most of these get some sort of gut-reaction from either side of the argument, so let's just touch on these for now. (I may expand further in the future).
The Jewish People/Nation/Land
It should be noted that religious (practicing and believing) Jews are a minority within Israel. A poll taken seven years ago shows that the majority of the Jews are either non-observant, non-believing, or anti-religious. While it was about 60% back then, today it is likely higher, based on trends. This means that the majority of the Jews in Israel do not hold that they have a right to live there because God said so, any more than English immigrants had a divine right to build, expand, and settle in North America and found their state.
While it is often touted that "there has always been a Jewish presence in Israel", that statement needs to be expanded. In reality, while there may have been some Jews at some point in history living there when no Jews would move there, the fact is, they most likely integrated with the small Arab presence that was dwelling there. In the Arab section of Hebron, some buildings have mezzuzot (Jewish article that is put upon the doorpost) that would seem to indicate the assimilation process. If you read the writings of Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi ("The Kuzari"), you will see that this assimilation into Arab culture (not to be confused with Muslim culture) was a big fear among Jewish leaders.
The founder of the modern state of Israel was Theodor Herzl.He was a a Jew and an atheist. He saw that while Jews in France (notable the Dreyfus Affair) were assimilated and non-observant, they were still hated to the point of sending an innocent to his death with the crowds chanting "kill the Jew, kill the Jew". So he formed the First Jewish Congress with the intent of finding a place where Jews could live together in peace and without fear from non-Jews (which hasn't worked out well). He preferred Uganda, but after his death, that idea fell apart and Israel was the place to go to.
The novel "Exodus" by Leon Uris gives a good overview of the "1st Aliyah" (the period of immigration that ended at the beginning of the 20th century, to be continued by the next wave) up until the founding of the state.
As Jews arrived, there was a cooperation among the Arabs who lived there. Most of Israel was not cultivated, but was the place of nomads. It was a lot of desert and a harsh of a place for most people to live. Mark Twain had visited during the summer when most of the nomadic people had traveled to better climates, and to him it appeared deserted. While that famous quote of his is often taken out of context to show it was nearly empty, it does reflect the harshness and the lack of permanence in the land.
The Jews settled where nobody else wanted to. That which was owner-less was built upon, and the better areas were sometimes purchased. (In the town where I live, Efrat, the land was purchased from the Arab family that owned it. This was before it became a capital offence to sell land to Jews, which came into effect the latter part of the 20th century).
I want to emphasize "cooperation". The nomads did not care about some group of Jews who wanted to drain a malaria-infested swamp and build a town there. And there was an exchange of goods and services. It would have been impossible for those of the First Aliyah Jews to come and survive without the help from the neighbors.
Ancient Palestinian People
The Arabs who lived there did not call themselves "Palestinians". That was a term applied by a non-Arab source to them as a wink to the Biblical enemy of the Jews. But it is ironic that at the time that it was given, it was not the Arab residents who were the problem, but the Turks (Ottoman Empire).
The number of Jews coming grew and grew and there was no secret that they wanted a State of Israel, a State of the Jews, also called a "Jewish State". As to who was a Jew, that definition was pretty loose. And that definition would become more loose after WWII.
From the other states nearby (Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, and so forth), Arabs began immigrating into Israel as well. And so, like the Americans and the French, competition for who could settle the most land (as the USA and French did for Florida and Louisiana, for example). Think of it as a game of "Risk". If you could plop a shack on a spot of land, it was considered settled. Sometimes you had entire villages of empty buildings that were established specifically to lay claims. There were skirmishes, but nothing wide ranged or long lasting. So you had Arab immigrants (Yassar Arafat, of recent memory, for example, was from Egypt).
For a collection of Arabs to claim that they stem from an ancient line of a Palestinian people is inaccurate. But to claim that they have a common bond and a settlement claim, that is certainly accurate. Unfortunately, that has been discarded for propaganda. In fact, they Arabs who had been settling the land hated the term "Palestinian" and when, offered a title of a state nearly 80 years ago, they rejected it. They considered themselves Syrian, and so forth, saying:
"There is no such country as Palestine. 'Palestine' is a term the Zionists invented. There is no Palestine in the Bible. Our country was for centuries part of Syria. 'Palestine' is alien to us. It is the Zionists who introduced it". - Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, Syrian Arab leader to British Peel Commission, 1937
This is but an overview, and since I have introduced the British, let's talk about "the Green Line".
The Green Line
In the 1920's the League of Nations drafted a legal document called "The British Mandate". With this, Great Britain was to oversee the politics of the area and maintain peace after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire that had been the reigning government for a very long time. At that time you had Jews of Israel wanting to serve the British army to aid them with the intent of acquiring a future state, and you had "Lawrence of Arabia" encouraging the Arabs to revolt and take the land for themselves.
Once you had the fall of the Ottoman empire, Britain was the residing army and police. To quell the occasional uprising by the Arabs or Jews, they would paint a sign on a building of one or the other, depending upon whom they were threatening, and stated that if one British subject was harmed in any way, that building would be bombed. It did not take too many examples for the residents to believe and behave. And, of course, the world was silent about this "collective punishment".
The problem got worse when, in 1922, the League of Nations declared:
Communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone.
The Arabs claimed that the land was theirs from this. The Jews staked their claim from this. And so, from this, a line was drawn on a map, defining which was to to be the land of the Arabs and which was to be the land of the Jews. (At this point, the Arabs still did not refer to themselves as Palestinians). Check out this map, and you will see that the Arab State was to get the lion's share of the land.
The green area, the original West Bank (75% of the land), was for the Arab State, and the red area (the remaining 25%), was for the Jewish State.
And then, things went south, as politics often do. The French took over Syria, they declared the green area as no-man's land, and the League of Nations declared that the green area was to be separate from what is called Palestine, and so, the red area, the smaller portion was to be split, And so, a green marker was used to delineate this. And Jews who live to the west of the green line are said to be living "over the green line".
It should be noted that the Palestinians, under the leadership of Yassar Arafat tried to take back the green area that had since been taken over by Jordan ("Trans-Jordan"). Jordan had attempted to have the Egyptian Arafat and his people be absorbed into that area under the rule of Jordan, but his plans were for self-rule. In attempting to take it over, approximately 5,000 Palestinians were killed and the PLO returned to Israel while many Arabs chose to live in Jordan, where they reside in refugee camps to this day. It is interesting that the world was silent while thousands of Palestinians were killed by Jordanians and living in refugee camps, and still is.
Settlements
Of course, there is a lot of history there, but I just want to touch on a couple of other points. The first is "settlements".
You often hear that the Jews have settlements. And you hear that the settlements are an obstacle to peace.
That is a red herring.
Here is the thing. If a line would be drawn on the map as to where the separating line would be, then if there is an Arab settlement in Israel, then those Arabs could keep their homes, and pay taxes to Israel and be an Israeli citizen if the choose. On the other hand, if there are Jews living where the Arabs would define their state, then they would have to leave. But in no case does the existence of a "settlement" by Arabs or Jews determine of the Jewish side or the Arab side will get it or not.
It is often said that the settlers stole the land. In many cases Jews purchased land from the Arabs. The fact that their leadership no longer recognizes such transactions as valid is irrelevant. In other cases, non-settled areas, such as the top of a rocky hill, had "hilltop youth" settle there. It was ownerless. Now, because of Israel's sensitivity to this, permits are now required and "illegal settlements" (those created without the legal paperwork, not settlements existing in areas where those opposed to Israel dismiss their existence as valid). Illegal settlements are destroyed. Both sides say that the Israeli government is playing favorites.
In 2007, after being pressured by the Bush White House, Ariel Sharon expelled the Jews from Gush Katif. In that area, which was taken from Egypt as part of an agreement at the end of the Sinai war, was where a large percentage of the country's produce was grown. That infrastructure was left, money was earmarked to train Palestinians to produce vegetables and learn hydroponics, and one group of investors were ready to fork over money to build a casino by the beach, since there are no casinos in Israel..
The Jews were evicted and lost their businesses and homes and how their exile occurred was a tragedy imposed by the Israeli government. To this day, many have not recovered. And what happened to the horticultural centers?
Fatah, the ruling body of the time, torched everything. Destroyed synagogues, homes, and businesses. They burnt it all, making it Jew-free. Military training camps were set up, and the casino idea fell apart from that. And then, Hamas ousted Fatah, and the leader of Fatah, Abbas, became a persona non grata, staying in Ramallah for his own safety.
And so, the terrorist group, Hamas, took the land given to Fatah by Israel, land that was never considered to be part of Palestine - an illegal settlement.
Summary
The current situation is not an ancient one. It has not existed for 2,000 years as some would say, nor even 200 years. It is not an ancient war, but one that is younger than the United States.
The Jews did not steal the land. Most Jews do not believe that it is their divine right to live there, but is their human right to live safely and among those who wish to live among them. Muslims and Christians also make up part of the country, and Arabs have a seat in the Kenesset (Congress). The Israeli Army is made up of not only Jews (believers and non-believers), but of Muslims and Christians as well.
This is not a religious war from the point of view of Israel, but a war about survival. The Jews have a right to live. The Arabs have a right to live. Unfortunately, there is a radical element (not just Hamas, but Fatah, the Muslim Brotherhood and others) that use the citizenry who are not aligned with any of them as pawns.
And, unfortunately, when Israel shoots a building full of weapons, and someone's son, daughter, mother, father, or whatever gets killed, you end up with people who were not part of the war becoming active participants. And so, if Jews get killed, Hamas wins. And if Arabs get killed, Hamas wins.
A couple of additional point that are often misused.
You will read that most of the people killed in Gaza are civilians.
Most of |Hamas are civilians. When a teenager takes a weapon and points it at an IDF soldier, he is a civilian. And this is not just the case of children. I prefer "non-combatant", which is not a term that you will ever see reported.
You will hear that Israel is shooting indiscriminately.
If you take the total number of shells, missiles, and drone shootings that have occurred from Israel, you must realize that they are incredibly bad at hitting their targets, taking more than one missile to kill one person, or that they are incredibly good at their job, and non-combatants are not their targets. And what you do not hear so much outside of Israel is the terror of the young who have to scramble out of their beds and get to a bomb shelter in less than a minute, or the funerals that follow. We have had too many in recent days.
You will also read that Israel is using disproportional force. And yet, while 100 and more missiles were flying into Israel every day since March, the world was silent. And when the population was in real danger and Israel could not take any more and shot back, the world went into an uproar. The number of people killed on one side versus the other is meaningless. If they had meaning, then the winner of any war should be considered evil, and the loser, good.
So when you read a report, think on these things and remember that they lies often repeated do not make themselves truth.
I may post another about this if questions arise. And I might not.
