To me, this is the equivalent of one man promising another man my car. Get out of my car, I would say. And the man would say that he would not, that this car was promised to him by someone, and not only that, but it was also promised to him by someone else 3000 years ago. It wasn't anyone's to promise, I would say, this is my car, it has been my car for many years and its the only one I've ever owned, so would you please get out. And the man would say that he wasn't going anywhere and that I would have to make him leave.
Of course, this argument is preposterous because the land didn't belong to the British and wasn't theirs to “promise” anyone. But this intelligent woman with a top notch education presented it nonetheless (as many people do), and she did it without a hint of logic or irony. If this is as far as our most educated citizens have come on the subject, forgive me if I am pessimistic about the outcome of this “Arab-Israeli issue.”
History
In the tail-end swill of the 1800's, an idea started taking hold in Europe that the Jews of the world should have their own country. Establishing a place for one particular religion to live and worship safely and freely is called Zionism. The Jews aren't the only Zionists, for example the Mormons. Its only natural for a persecuted group to want to band together in one place for strength and security. For European Zionist Jews at the end of the 19th century, that place was Israel, which was called Palestine at the time.
During WWI, independence was promised to the Arabs in the Middle East in exchange for fighting against the Ottomans. It sucks when someone has to promise you your own car, but this was the exactly the case: the land was being promised to people who already lived there. It was controlled by the British. (You may remember the movie Lawrence of Arabia, which was about this very topic.)
However, shortly after the land was “promised” to the Arabs, it was “promised” to the Jews. In a document called the Balfour Declaration, Lord Balfour announced the need for the construction of a “Jewish national home.” As a professor of mine once said, if you have to pick a start of the conflict, it is this: the same land promised to two people. The British controlled Arabia, and they promised the entire region to the Arabs, then they went ahead and promised some it to the Jews.
So you have the beginning of what we see today. In the 1920's, Jews began arriving in “Israel” in ever growing numbers. There was a concerted effort among influential Jews to settle the area with Jews from around the world. People wanted to steer the Jewish refugees that were being mistreated at the time to “Israel” instead of America, because you need people to make a country.
When they got there, they began buying land. It must be remembered that much of the original land acquired by those early Jews was actually purchased and not stolen. But the land belonged to rich and influential families from places like Mecca and Damascus who didn't live in this area, so many of the tenant farmers there- the Palestinians- were displaced when the land was sold out from under them. There were growing tensions among the indigenous Arabs and the newly arriving Jews (not yet Israelis, as the Israeli state had not yet been established) and at one point, the British had to reduce the flow with quotas. This worked for a while, but when the quota expired, the troubles began anew.
Things started to deteriorate after WWII. In 1947, a vicious and bloody civil war broke out between the Jews, the Arabs, and the British. Many British soldiers were killed in the clashes and eventually the war became unpopular at home in England. One day in May, 1948, all hell broke loose: the British packed up and shipped out, the new “Israelis” declared independence, and the surrounding Arabs declared war. When the dust settled, the Israelis had defended their position and they got their own country. But it was Faustian bargain, and the Israelis have not had a day's peace since.
The Arabs attacked again and failed. For Israel the victories were real, but not absolute as they were not a deterrent to future Arab attacks. That all changed in 1967. Israel's neighbors were fighting mad and ready to team up and do away with the Israeli annoyance once and for all. But due to some fierce preparation and some good fortune, Israel got wind of the attack and struck preemptively, destroying first the Egyptian Air Force, and then the Syrian, and Jordanian. The victory was total and out of it the Israelis took Gaza from Egypt, the Golan Heights (including the Sea of Galilee, which is really a lake) from Syria, and the West Bank (including Jerusalem) from Jordan.
1967 changed everything. Israel dealt a humiliating defeat to its Arab neighbors. And as embarrassed as the Arabs were in defeat, the Israelis were ten times as elated in victory. Throughout history, the Jews had been pushed around and run out of everywhere they had lived, but here they were the tough guys . They took on three countries at once and beat them, all in under as week. Its hard to understate the effect of this. 1967 gave the Arabs an inferiority complex (at least militarily) and gave the Israelis their fierce warrior reputation- a complete turn around from their image of a “nation of shopkeepers”. And, just like the nerd who surprises the schoolyard by kicking three people's asses in a fight, Israel soon found itself under the affections of the prettiest girl in school: the United States of America.
The love affair between Israel and America began in earnest in 1967. Until then, it was just an interesting story to follow in the newspapers. Some Jews are starting their own country in the Holy Land, how nice. However will they do it surrounded by all those Arabs? I don't know, but the story shall be interesting to follow! Now all that was off. America had found their man in the Middle East, and an already formidable fighting force became the regions toughest. From then on, Israel has been very important to US foreign policy; something to be protected and showered with aid and lethal weapons in every Congressional budget. This was the height of the Cold War don't forget, and a staunch ally in this region was invaluable.
Since then, Egypt and Jordan have both signed peace with Israel. The decision to make peace was controversial and highly unpopular. Jordan's King Hussein was nearly assassinated because of it, and Egypt's President Anwar Sadat was assassinated because of it. The only holdout is Syria, because they want the Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee back. They especially want the Sea back because it is their greatest source of fresh water.
Today
Israel's 1967 victory was impressive, but it was soon clear that more problems had been created as a result. From 1948 on, Israel had been acquiring Arab land by force. In many cases, the people fled figuring that they would eventually be allowed to return. Others stayed, but were now living in areas occupied by the Israeli's. Collectively, these people are known as the Palestinians. And since 1948, they have been the Arab ball and chain attached to Israel's ankle, the Arab ants at the Jew picnic, and the Arab rain on the Jew parade.
Because aside from “the Palestinian problem”, Israel has a good thing going. They live on the Mediterranean Sea, they have a booming tech industry, they have a very strong military, and they maintain a relatively high standard of living. If only they didn't pitch their tent under a bees nest and on top of an ant hill.
The Palestinian Problem
Part of the blame for the plight of the Palestinians can be given to the Arabs themselves, say about 6%. For during the years between 1948 and 1967, they had been offered many “fair” settlement packages (relative to today) that they could have taken. (As that same professor once said, the Arabs never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.) Another 13% lies with the PLO. As the supposed representative of the Palestinian cause, the PLO started trouble and wreaked havoc wherever they went. It is because of the PLO that the Palestinians are second class citizens in almost every country the live in. But the rest of the blame lies with Israel. One day they showed up there and started taking land by both hook & crook, using both carrot & stick. When you take land and displace people who had been prospering there for hundreds of years, you're going to create conflict.
Now, many Arab leaders cry on and on about the plight of the Palestinians, but let us be crystal clear about one thing: the Palestinians have no friends. The are only pawns in the geopolitical game, used as a rallying cry by Arab leaders when it suits their needs. But when it comes time to act, the Palestinians are invariably sold out by those leader to achieve their own agendas. Simply put, the Palestinians are on their own.
Take Lebanon for example, the vast majority of Palestinians here live in “the camps”. There are over 400, 000 of them. In a country of 4 million people, that's 10% of the population. The Palestinians here live in the poorest areas and are relegated to the all the worst jobs. There is an list of professions here that the Palestinians are allowed to work in, nearly all in manual labor. If the Lebanese and other governments allowed these people to integrate into society instead of giving them shitty jobs, shitty homes, and zero hope, they might not have the problems they have today. However, that's not possible here. The Palestinians are mostly Sunni and that would upset the delicate sectarian voter balance. Also, the PLO made one hell of a mess here in the 1980's, which people have not forgot.
The PLO
This is a recurring them for the “Palestinian Liberation Organization”. First the PLO (under one of history's worst rascals, Yasar Arafat) was expelled from Israel/Palestine to Jordan in the 1970's. They established a based there and soon tried to overthrow the government and assassinate the King. The King then committed a brutal crackdown against the PLO in what became known as “Black September” (which the Islamic extremists who killed the Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics called themselves).
Then came Lebanon, which was in the middle of its own civil war. The civil war was bad enough, but with the PLO now using Lebanon as a base with which to attack Israel, they now had the Israeli Air Force bombs to contend with. Eventually the PLO was kicked out of Lebanon and banished to far away Tunisia. There, they were removed from the Israel-Palestinian equation (for a while).
These were the men who were supposed to be representing the Palestinian people, who were supposed to be their voice and protector in the world. All they did was cause trouble and make the Palestinians persona non grata wherever they went.
Picture a “Palestinian” in your head right now. Do you picture someone who works hard everyday supporting a family, who enjoys spending time with that family, and who enjoys smiling and laughing and joking with friends? Or do you picture and angry young man throwing stones and firebombs? Be honest. Everybody looks at the Palestinians as either a threat to their country or a drag on it, and the PLO is to blame for this. Palestinians are not allowed to have good jobs and they are not welcomed into society. If they had been welcomed from the beginning, the problem would be much less today. And if this is true in Jordan and Lebanon, its double true in the Palestinian Territories.
The people of occupied Gaza and the West Bank live hard lives. There is high unemployment there and many people have to find work in Israel. Everyday, they have to wake up before dawn if they want to make it through the Israeli checkpoints in time for work. This could mean leaving at 3am to get to work by 8. At the check points, they are subject to constant ridicule and humiliation by the Israeli military. They have to work all day in unskilled labor jobs. They have to return before the checkpoints close in the evening, in many cases returning home very late at night. Then they have to get up and do it all over again the next day, and the day after that, forever, with no hope.
The Palestinians were expelled from their lands, used and betrayed by their fellow Arabs, fucked over royally by their representatives in the PLO, and forced into a hopeless existence everywhere they live. These are human beings, how do you expect them to behave and react? How would you react?
Israel Does Not Want Peace
Israel is not a homogeneous society. It's thought of as a Jewish state, but there are a substantial amount of Arabs, about a quarter of the population, that live there. Even among the Jews, there are substantial divisions. Some Israelis are not religious, some are very religious. Some Israelis do not wish to see the state's territory increased, some fight ferociously for expansion. And some Israelis want to make peace with the Palestinians and some do not. Unfortunately, the voice of those that want peace is often drowned out by those who do not, and that is a problem that is getting worse every year.
Due to a demographic trend in Israel, the people least likely to pursue a peaceful and reasonable solution with the Palestinians are growing in number, while their moderate counterparts are declining. Moderate Israelis are either leaving the country for more peaceful places or staying and simply having less children than the Orthodox Jews and ultra-conservative settlers that believe in expansion. Israel is a democracy, whose policies are dictated by the will of the voters, and since the amount of “expansionist” Israelis is increasing, the policy of the government is following suit.
Settlements and solutions that were on the table even a few years ago, like Camp David and the so-called Road Map for Peace, are all but out of the question at this point. The window has closed for those plans and any solution involving them is obsolete. A tremendous amount of energy, bargaining and political will was put into those plans, but with this demographic shift, new plans must be started from scratch. And if there was a plan constructed today, that plan would also be obsolete in a few years. Due to this change going on in Israel, the window for any peace plan is closing, and closes faster on each successive plan. So when I say that Israel does not want peace, I am referring to the policies of the government as dictated by the voters.
Reservations
Many Israelis would recoil at the comparison of the treatment of the Palestinians to the treatment of the Native Americans by the "colonists" and "settlers" of the United States, but the similarities are clear. People from far away just started showing up one day. The people that lived there originally were displaced (or worse) and marginalized. The newcomers kept on expanding their territory over the years, and the indigenous population was forced onto “reservations” where they could live peacefully in squalor as long as they didn't make trouble for the new people.
In America, the term “settler” is a romantic one, that conjures up images of Davey Crockett, the frontier, and wagon trains moving across the new country. The American settlers were a people without a land moving to a land without people. But there were people there: the Native Americans. Three Hundred years later, those natives are all but gone. Some died, some integrated into American society, and some live quietly in out of the way and out of sight areas operated by the U.S. government. Today, Native American only prospers in the history books.
Is this the same fate that awaits the Palestinians? I am not sure, but that is the direction its going. America went to great lengths and committed unbelievable atrocities to get the Native Americans to the sorry state we find them in today. For example, to eradicate the Native American tribes on the Great Plains, nearly every single buffalo that lived there was slaughtered to deprive the tribes of their largest source of sustenance. In other places, blankets with small pox were given as gifts with the knowledge of the devastation it would cause.
This is comparable to the Gaza offensive last December, where the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) used phosphorus bombs to incinerate Palestinian civilians. In some cases, it was reported (by a couple of Norwegian doctors on the scene) that the IDF would shoot a regular shell from a tank to make a hole in a building and then would shoot in a phosphorus bomb. Apparently, this was more effective.
Its difficult to imagine something like that happening today, but nevertheless, we see history repeating itself. Every day, Israeli settlers keep expanding deeper and deeper into Palestinian areas. All of the peace plans thus far have included Israel returning to some past borders and staying there, but clearly the government has no intention of ever honoring such plans when it is constantly authorizing settlements to be built. One of the bedrock principles of the peace plans is having East Jerusalem as the new capital of Palestine once it becomes a state of its own. However, settlements have been going up continuously since 1967 when Israel took control of the Holy City.
Just recently, the plan was announced for a new settlement to be built in East Jerusalem, under the guise that the plan was approved many years ago, before the Road Map for Peace they say, which called for an end to such settlements. Occasionally, settlements go up illegally and the Israel government does nothing about it. And the settlers can be ferocious when the government does try to remove them. Israeli soldiers have been wounded trying to get settlers to vacate in some cases, but the settlers don't care. They will fight anyone who tries to remove them from their Promised Land.
Settlers currently have both East and West Jerusalem nearly surrounded. How is it possible for a settlement to be reached where East Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine and it's completely surrounded by Israeli settlers? Will it be politically possible to remove them when the people calling the shots in the government have to answer to a majority of voters who believe that the land belongs to them and it was promised to them by God Himself? As long as the Israeli government continues to allow settlements to be built, and does not use all of the substantial military force at its disposal to stop it, it is clear that they have not intention of sticking to any “peace plan”.
Prison
Another unflattering and obvious comparison for Israel is the one of Palestine as a prison. Gaza, for example, is 10% the size of Rhode Island with 50% more people. As previously mentioned, unemployment is very high, the standard of living very low, and the opportunity for people to improve their lives is almost non-existent. The Gaza border is lined with high walls, guard towers, and barbed wire. This is a prison.
Last year, some Palestinians broke down a part of the wall and spilled into Egypt. When asked for a comment by a journalist on the scene, a man who had come through the opening said that he just wanted to have a look around because he had never left Gaza in his whole life. He was 26 years old. This was a grown man, and he'd never left this tiny slice of hopeless hell smaller than Rhode Island. Let me tell you this, if you locked me in Rhode Island for 26 years, I would be firebombing everything that moved (sorry Rhode Island).
Two State Solution
Its amazing how this is the most prominent “solution” offered to this day. Gaza and the West Bank do not touch. When this inconvenient truth is brought up, people dismiss it saying oh, they'll just have to build a bridge or a tunnel or something. That is not a viable solution because Israel would never agree to having a bridge or tunnel coming through their territory, and as a result, a Palestinian state would never have true sovereignty if the people couldn't move freely within it's borders. Its like letting a man an woman marry and move in together, but not letting them ever be in the same room of the house at the same time.
A three state solution must be considered as an alternative. The Palestinians have sworn that they would never agree to this. Fatah, a remnant of the secular PLO is in control in the West Bank and Hamas, the Islamic political party, is in control in Gaza. It's certain that all hell would break loose if one cut a deal and left the other hanging. Hamas is very suspicious of Fatah over this, as Fatah is favored by America and the West and is clearly the party they would like to see leading the Palestinians. They don't like each other at all. But if the nature of the discussions shifted to seriously include a three state solution and everyone had enough time (not too much time) to get comfortable with it, and if a deal would only be made involving both Gaza and the West Bank, then this is probably the most viable solution to the problem right now.
At this point, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank are like three brother separated by their parents because of their constant fighting. Hamas and Fatah don't like each other, and they both hate Israel. What would a parent do in this situation? Make them shake hands and tell them to smarten up, that's what. And there's only one “parent” strong enough to make this work: America. The vocal extremist element aside, many Palestinians just want peace, but they will never accept losing their dignity in the process. The Palestinians have lost enough and suffered enough at the expense of Israel. So Israel must make the sacrifices in this case. As we have seen, this is all but impossible and the state of Israel has no intention of giving up what it has fought so hard for on its own. Israel will need to be coaxed. Or forced.
America is the only party with enough power to force a settlement. Even though Israel is a regional power with a strong military, they benefit greatly with America as their great protector. Israel knows this and its a large reason that they haven't seen a large scale attack by the other Arab states in a very long time. America is the most powerful country on Earth economically, technologically, culturally, and militarily. Any possible enemy of Israel must consider this before planning a possible attack. So with their first class military and their burly protector, they can afford project the image of a tough guy.
But like any school yard bully, their aggression only masks their insecurity. To many, Israel exists as certainly as the sun and the moon. But remember, its only existed for 61 years. To put that in perspective, Egypt, Syria and Iraq have been around (combined) for like 10,000 years. So to the Arabs, Israel is by no means a permanent certainty.
And Israel is not invincible to assault. With the right planning and coordination (never an Arab strong suit) the country could topple. First of all, the Israeli economy depends a large part on Palestinian labor, so a prolonged work stoppage could be very disruptive if it was air tight. And a work stoppage combined with a violent uprising, even more so.
Second, the IDF may be formidable in short battles, but Israel is the land of the citizen soldier that is “on leave eleven months of the year”. When Israel was at war in the past, the country's economy was put on hold as everyone had to contribute to the effort. It is still unclear how Israel would fare in a prolonged campaign. The Palestinian work stoppage alone would not be disruptive enough on its own, but if combined with a large-scale prolonged war requiring Israel's economy to shut down for a while, the effects could be devastating.
After Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, this is Israel's worst nightmare. But it will never see a large scale attack by its neighbors as long as its backed up by the USA. If that is taken away, the entire geopolitical calculus of the region would shift dramatically, and Israel knows this. When push comes to shove, they do what the United States says because they know how important their relationship is. Israel would have never gotten this far without American support. So they can be coerced.
With enough pressure from the States, I believe Israel would accept a solution, and an unfavorable one at that. It would just take enough a strong willed U.S. president that can't be influenced by the powerful Israeli lobby in the U.S.. Barack Obama's presidential campaign was largely funded by small individual donations so the distribution of power on the donor level has been watered down and he's not as beholden to large Jewish donations. (though Congress still is) If you throw in the effects of the Madoff scandal, it is debatable how much clout (money) the Israeli lobby possesses these days. So the window is open for a U.S. president to force Israel's hand to accept a deal, if he were so inclined.
Conclusion
The so-called Palestinian problem is one that is caused by the Israelis, exacerbated by the behavior of the PLO during its existence, and institutionalized be Israel's Arab neighbors' refusal to fully integrate the displaced Palestinians into their societies. As a result, we have a large group of people who are not welcome where they are, who have no hope and no way to a better life. The problem isn't going to go away on its own and the solutions that are being presented are outdated and completely inadequate due to the demographic shift towards conservative expansionism. Settlements need to be stopped by the Israeli government, using all the force necessary. The two state solution needs to be thrown out. And Israel needs to be forced by the United States to accept a generous (to the Palestinians) solution.
The Palestinians cannot be made to accept a solution that is perceived to be unfair- they will fight to the death against it- but the Israeli's can (for now). If it looks like America is making Israel suffer in the deal, I believe the Palestinian leadership will accept it. However, even the window for this solution is closing, so any action must be taken as soon as possible, most likely immediately after Obama is reelected, when he would be least vulnerable to the opinion's of others.
This demographic shift means everything to the peace process, because eventually the large majority of Israelis will be true believers ready to die for the “Promised Land”. And if we ever get to the point where both sides are willing to fight to the death in favor of opposing ideals, we will have then lost all hope for a solution that doesn't include the eradication of one side or another.
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