Let’s talk about Israel and Palestine

Starting with my somewhat biased view of the conflict as a Christian and American, which will provide an excuse for others to completely disregard what I have to say. I’ve developed a view that I don’t feel is biased, even as either side will view it as totally biased against them. You really have to read the whole post to get it, or maybe, just skip to the end.

Each side should consider the fact that not all wrongs can be righted. It is a fact of life, that sometimes we must let bygones be bygones. There is a lot of disputed history involving the land of Israel and Palestine which intertwines religion and politics. It is safe to say, that the Jewish people were there first, at least the first well defined civilization, of course, they were ruled by other empires throughout ancient history. The Roman rule at the time of Christ seems to be the best documented, and resulted in the mass expulsion of Jews from the area about one hundred years after the death of Christ, although Jews remained, throughout recorded history.

In the seventh century, Islam was spreading, and the Muslim conquests captured the land known as Israel and many Muslims came to the area as a result, often with no connection to the pre-Jewish inhabitants. At this time, there is no doubt that the land was Palestine and belonged to the Muslims, rightful or not, they were there from the seventh century until the early twentieth century.

The Jews returned in mass numbers in the early twentieth century, especially during and after World War II. This obviously crated conflict as Arab Muslims had the land as their own for centuries. In 1947 the United Nations stepped in to set some borders, which were accepted by the Israeli Jews, but not the Arab Muslims. Although neither side really liked the borders that were defined, this was the point in history where both sides could have lived in peace as independent states. After Israel declared its independence as a state within the UN defined borders, Arab countries invaded, indenting to destroy the state of Israel and create a single state of Palestine. As we now know, this move backfired, destroying the state of Palestine and creating a larger state of Israel. It is important to note that Israel was not the aggressor in this conflict, and many Palestinians fled the area fully expecting Israel to be destroyed and the spoils of war would be theirs for the taking. There is a clear wrong done by Israel here, they took over the land and denied the right for its inhabitants to return. When the war began, the Palestinians were all too eager to have the other Arab countries on their side, but such a deal involved risks, and the armistice borders known as the green line was accepted by those same Arab countries at wars end.

Despite the wrongs of the past the green line was another chance for peace, even if it didn’t include a state of Palestine. But Israel’s Arab neighbors felt differently. In 1967, another invasion of Israel was on the horizon. And while Israel was the first to strike, it was clearly a defensive move, with Israel again involved in a war with its neighbors where it is not the aggressor. The outcome of this war again cost the Palestinians a great deal, land once ruled by their Arab neighbors had fallen into Israeli hands. While I believe that Israel was right to occupy these lands for a time following the war, it was clearly wrong to establish settlements and remain for so long. I’m not sure what I’d do with Jerusalem, clearly there are a lot of issues there and I’m not so sure that the 1947 solution wouldn’t be valid today. The problem here is that the Palestinians were very supportive of the effort to attack Israel, but when the war was lost, simply could not accept defeat.

Israel desperately wants peace with its neighbors and supports the creation of a Palestinian state roughly within the borders of the 1949 green line. Israel wants security for its people, and to right some of its wrongs. The 2005 Israeli withdraw from Gaza is a good example of Israel’s intentions. Israel felt that leaving Gaza was the first step at establishing a lasting peace in the region, but instead, it has created greater security problems for Israel, which will surely delay the righting of another wrong, the occupation of the West Bank. Palestinians are still as close as they have ever been to having a state of their own since 1947, but such a state will likely require a Jerusalem compromise, claims to land on the Israeli side of the green line, and a desire to live in peace with their neighbor.

I’ll part with what Palestinians claim as the right of return, one of the most difficult issues in the region. My argument being, if the Arabs would have won in 1948, would the same right have been given to fleeing Israeli Jews? I have my doubts. The many wrongs done in the region, it was wrong for the Arab countries to invade in 1948, it was wrong for Israel to capture the land, it was wrong for the Arab countries to attempt to invade in 1967, and it was wrong for Israel to capture more land. Israel is willing to right some of these wrongs, but it can not right them all, but most importantly, Israel wishes to right the wrong of denying the Palestinians a state of their own, even if the borders are not what Palestinians wish for.