“In reality, the Palestinians have become the last victims of the Holocaust, for which they bear no responsibility whatever.” – Coming to Palestine
Pro-Palestinian rallies worldwide show their support for Palestine following blowback from Hamas’s hideous attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023. Viewing Israel as colonizers following their land grab in 1948, few Palestinian sympathizers acknowledge international law’s recognition of the right of conquest, that is, the right to territories conquered during war, where the victors keep their spoils. Yet their outrage is notable with over 700,000 Palestinians, or 85 percent of the population, driven from their land following the war. While a recurring event throughout history, land displacement in the area known as Palestine has led to the never-ending conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people.
The default position among most Americans is to support Israel, largely due to the horrors of the Holocaust. Intolerant of religious and ethnic biases, Americans supported a Jewish state providing refuge to resettled Jews. As a largely Christian nation itself, Israel is viewed favorably for its existence as a biblical prophecy. And as one of the rare democracies in the Middle East, Americans also view Israel’s political structure as more in line with our own, compared to their Arab neighbors.
Today, there are approximately 10 million Israelis in Israel, residing on 78 percent of the land. In Gaza and the West Bank, 5 million Palestinians, who previously owned 94 percent of the land before the 1947 war, now live on just 22 percent, although Israel has occupied this land since the 1967 war. Following the end of WWII, and the acknowledgment of the Holocaust, an international institution, the UN, voted to undo Palestinian hegemony in support of a two-state solution. Not only was the resolution a unilateral decision made without their input, but it was also summarily rejected. The result was a civil war between Israel and Palestine, leading to the displacement of Palestinians. To the Palestinians and their Arab supporters, the state of Israel was born on stolen Palestinian land, resulting in their loss of property, autonomy, and freedom.
In Sheldon Richman’s 2019 book, “Coming to Palestine”, Richman tells the other side of the Israeli-Palestinian story in a series of essays written from 1989 to 2018, where he defends the Palestinian position. A left-libertarian Jew, Richman provides the history of Zionism, and how it shaped Israel as a permanent homeland for Jews worldwide. Arguing from a perspective of property rights, and liberty, Richman laments how Zionism usurped Judaism leading to the generational conflict between not only Palestine and Israel but also with Arab and Muslim countries.
The Zionist movement, which began in the late nineteenth century, envisioned a permanent homeland for Jews in Palestine, gathering together what the diaspora had scattered. Claiming Israel’s statehood in 1948, Zionism hoped to provide not only a sanctuary for Jews worldwide but also a means to realize scripture. In the process, Judaism morphed from an ethnic religion to a national identity, begging the question: Is being Jewish, a religion, or a nationality, or both? After passing a law of return, Israel began to allow any Jew Israeli status for any reason, resulting in a two-tiered status, citizenship for non-Jews, and nationalism for Jews.
A one-state solution with equal rights for all seems unworkable, as Jews continue to distrust Palestinian’s intent. A two-state solution, one for Israel, and one for Palestine seems the obvious solution, but neither side seems content to cede ground to the other. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is accused of talking out of both sides of his mouth, sometimes indicating his support for it, and then retreating. On the Palestinian side, slogans like “From the River to the Sea” suggest the entire land of Israel should be returned to Palestine. It is clear that both sides would prefer a nation without the other. It’s also clear that the ongoing melee benefits both.
As the lack of a solution wears on, America and other Western countries continue to give foreign aid to both sides, with Israel receiving more foreign aid from the United States than any other nation, while at the same time, the Palestinians are the largest aid recipients in the world per capita. Insane amounts of money continue to be dumped into this bottomless pit, feeding the conflict, while threatening a larger, expanded war, drawing in both Western and Muslim nations.
The unanswered question between Israel and Palestine seems to be: Is the continuing conflict over land or antisemitism? As the rhetoric flowing from Palestinian protests flirts with bigotry and Holocaust denialism, the Palestinian activists are losing the battle for hearts and minds. Despite the loss of thousands of innocent Palestinians, their calls for Israel’s extinction, and praise for Hitler, only play into Israel’s fears of another attempted genocide.
It is true that colonizers around the globe, redefining borders haphazardly have resulted in numerous conflicts to this very day. But how to fairly reinstate property rights and allow legitimate ownership of land, whether Israeli or Palestinian, remains unanswered. Must the Israeli/Palestinian nation be labeled our land, their land? Hopefully, someday, somehow, it can be one land for all.
Comments