I'd love to hear your thoughts on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. - Jason
Hoo boy. I should probably open by acknowledging my own limitations here: I'm a pastor, not a sociologist, not a political scientist, nor a general or a soldier. I've been asked for my opinion and so I'll give it, but I will happily acknowledge that there are better people to interpret this one than me. This is one guys take based on limited information and experience.
Is that a big enough caveat? Here's hoping. Ok, here we go.
A while back during a Question Tuesday, when asked what it would it would take in order to bring true and lasting peace to Israel and Palestine, John Green answered that each would need to learn to respect the validity of the other's narrative. That is, to understand that while their perception of events has merits, so do the people on the other side of the wall. I think that was a good way to understand it.
For both groups of people, those who are actually on one side or another of the conflict, the lines seem so clearly drawn that us Americans questioning it probably seems absurd. We certainly see plenty of graphics on the interwebs that make the case in a clear, concise way, so that, when seen in that light, the perspective of the other side seems absurd.
The problem is, both sides have graphics like that. Because both narratives have validity. We like our morality to be black and white, and so people tend to pick a side to demonize. I think that may be why people who even begin to criticize Israel are accused of antisemitism, or those who criticize Hamas are considered to be anti-islamic; there are plenty of people willing to do just that, after all.
The narrative of Israel is one of a modern nation that has been embattled for the entirety of its existence, an existence that began shortly after, and mostly because, of the near-annihilation of its people. Theirs is a story of a people on the brink who have fought tooth and nail simply for the right to exist. Their success in that endeavor is commendable and has strongly shaped their national identity. Take the effect of the September 11th attacks on the psyche of the American people and turn it up to something completely other, and you'll have a decent representation of the mentality that I would imagine is involved.
The problem, of course, is that mindset is, these days, somewhat outdated. It has been awhile since Israel was legitimately threatened, militarily, by its neighbors. But mindsets like that die hard. American readers whose grandparents lived through the Depression will have some idea of what I am talking about... a sense of scarcity that lived with those people LONG after the Depression ended, even into periods of prosperity, a fear that one day it would happen again, became the predominant mindset of an entire generation of Americans.
I do not know for certain, but I imagine something similar exists in the mindset of the older Israelis. When your neighbors have already made an all-out attempt to kill you, I would imagine that it would become difficult to worry too much about whether or not the police were being overly harsh in keeping the peace from then on. But until Israel learns to care about that, I don't see true peace occurring, because I think the move to peace, at this point, will have to be an Israeli one. They are the ones with the real power.
Hamas does not have, has never had, the power to match its rhetoric. It is not a true military threat to Israel. It is capable of killing and wounding, yes, but the power it has is comparable to, say, a decent sized gang in Chicago. They can be loud, they hurt and even kill civilians, but in a straight fight against military forces, they'd go down, and hard, pretty darned quickly.
Israel often makes demands of Hamas leadership to control its people if they want peace... but I am far from certain that kind of control is really possible on this kind of scale, and that is not at all meant as an indictment of the Palestinian people. Remember the Will Smith movie Independence Day? When the Aliens first arrive, there is a newscast that goes out begging citizens to not shoot their guns at the large Spaceships, lest they inadvertently start an interstellar war.
I remember watching that and thinking; "Wow, if that is true, then war is on." Because you can't control everybody. Some yahoo out of his mind on PBR will go out with his friends with his favorite pistol and take a few shots while waving the American Flag, right? Here's hoping the Aliens can recognize that for the criminal act it is, rather than an act of war.
The narrative of the Palestinians is one of a people who have been hounded and herded since Israel was placed, a direct result of the Western idea that people who didn't have formalized Nation States could just be placed under any old rule and probably be better off for it. They fought for their homes and lost. And ever since, every now and again, a new group will come around and make promises of retaking their homes from the increasingly hated Israelis... and then they get stomped down again.
The thing about being stomped down is, it really doesn't improve a persons attitude. Combined with the rhetoric from the Hamas leadership, of COURSE every now and again someone takes a potshot at Israel. You can warn them not to all you want, eventually people reach a snapping point.Understand that I am not condoning, or even excusing, those actions. But they are crimes, murders, as opposed to military attacks. We don't respond to every act of gangland violence by shelling Chicago.
I really, really wish the Palestinians had not elected Hamas leadership over the PLO. But all that said, I feel the onus for a true move towards peace has to come from Israel. I don't know what exactly that would look like, or how it would be received by anyone involved. But eventually someone will have to take a hit from the other side without retaliation if peace is ever to happen.
And yeah, it would be nice if the side that did that was the one with all the military grade weapons.
There we go. My best, an completely inexpert, opinion. I am really, really glad that I am NOT in charge of brokering a peace. I feel I would be completely inadequate to the task.
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