363 - 369 Perspectives

COMS 369-L02

On November 4, 2012, the world watched in horror at a scene that has become all too familiar. Following rocket attacks from hardened Palestinian fighters in Northern Gaza, Israeli bombers began air attacks on the starved Gaza Strip. The whole act was filled with images now familiar to us all: Israeli politicians posturing for television cameras, religious zealots spouting anti-Semitic slurs over Palestinian airwaves, the panicked scramble of Israeli citizens running for cover at the cue of air raid sirens, the lifeless bodies of small Arab children being dragged from the rubble of their burning homes. Listening to politicians, it would seem that every party involved is working to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. But with all the hatred that the violence has bred, how can peace be realized? What, if anything, can allow Israeli and Palestinian citizens to live side by side, free from the constant burdens of conflict and hatred. The answer is equality: equality of rights, equality in treatment of citizens, and equality in recognition of the others humanity. This equality is not possible as long as Palestinians remain to live in a stateless society, subordinate to an Israeli government who controls them through the brutal tool of military occupation. If there is ever to be an end to the conflict, Palestine must become an independent state recognized by the international community.

To see this, we must first look at the origins of the conflict, dating back to the establishment of Israel itself. Following the injustice of the holocaust during the Second World War, Europe’s Jewish population found itself wandering and uprooted.  An unimaginable number of Jews had been murdered in German death-camps during the Nazi’s reign, leaving the remaining Jewish survivors without property, community, or family. A new home was sought, some new redemption that might partially compensate for the crimes committed against them in the past. This population found its hope in Zionism, a Jewish based ideological movement that sought a return of the Jewish people to their ancient homelands east of the Mediterranean Sea.  The Zionist movement had been active (though largely ineffective) in their efforts to create a Jewish state since the early 19^th century. With the wandering refugees of the holocaust, they now had a large population who would actively support their efforts. During the 1940s the land they sought was controlled by the British, who had promised the land to the Zionist movement through the Balfour declaration signed in 1917. The British slowing left what was then British Palestine as Jewish settlers streamed in. A violent civil war was fought between the Jewish and indigenous Arab populations for the first time since the sixth century, and following Jewish victory on May 14, 1948, the state of Israel was born.

For the next twenty years, hostilities between the Arab and Jewish populations continued in a series of wars that, in sum, led to a robust, modern Israeli state. There was the First Israeli-Arab War of 1948, the Suez War of 1956, and the Six-Day War of 1967. Through this final conflict, a tentative peace was passed with Israel’s Arab neighbors, and the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 242, setting what was supposed to be permanent, internationally recognized borders for the state of Israel. For the first time, the borders of Israel, along with the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza, were set. The Palestinians remained stateless though, under the control of the Israeli military that they had continuously fought since the 1940s.

Since these borders were set, Palestinian territories have slowly shrunk from Israeli colonization, (in breach of Resolution 242¹) and have been subject to a military occupation that keeps Palestine under Israel’s thumb. In this state of affairs, the Palestinian population essentially has no rights except those allotted by Israel. Palestine does have a democratically elected government, but in the international arena, it is left powerless due to non-recognition in the United Nations. This status is maintained by constant American vetoes in the United Nations Security Council that kill any chance of Palestinian statehood². All Palestinian resources, such as water or electricity, are rationed by Israel at the level they see fit. In the case of recent sanctions against Gaza, food shipments were determined by the minimum calories needed to prevent malnutrion. All this makes any economic progress for the Palestinians virtually impossible. In Gaza, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, the unemployment rate has stood at over 45% for decades³. Day to day life in the occupied territories offers few hopes for prosperity and even fewer hopes for change.

Any attempt to fight Israel is quickly beaten back. There is only two weapons that Palestine holds to attack Israel: cheap rockets and suicide bombers. These weapons are ineffective, crude, indiscriminate, and horrifying to international onlookers. The Israeli military, on the other hand, has the latest in military technology, given to them free in the form of military aid from the United States. As seen in the recent Gaza conflict, any Palestinian attacks are quickly answered by overwhelming Israeli air strikes. 

In this atmosphere, routines of Palestinian life are dictated by the whims of a hostile military power. Living under scarce economic conditions with the hammer of Israel hanging over their heads, Palestinians are forced to live in an open-air prison, constantly subject to the petty humiliations that come with the status of being deemed inferior by a stronger party. The violence encourages myths of righteousness and racial superiority on both sides. For the Israeli settler, the Arab becomes the Araboushim, an inferior intruder who is occupying land that was promised by god. For the Palestinian, the Israeli becomes the Jew, some humanity free monster who steals his land and his livelihood. History shows us that the unequal relationship between two peoples creates hatred that penetrates the minds of both sides, and that the dominance of one over another will always make conflict inevitable while making peace impossible.

All this is made possible because Palestine does not have a state, as the nation has no voice as long as it remains subject to the rule of another. For peace to blossom, equality must first exist between the two sides. Until the Palestinians have a state of their own, they will continue to be subject to Israeli rule, and the conflicts fueled by poverty and hatred will continue. Until both peoples are empowered and given the opportunity to live a dignified life, neither will recognize the other’s humanity.

1.     Bailey, D. (1985). The making of Resolution 242. Nijhoff Publishing: New York.

2.     Quigley, J. (2010). Statehood of Palestine: International Law in the Middle East Conflict. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

3.     Barnett, S. (1998). The economy of the West Bank and Gaza Strip: recent experience, prospects, and challenges to private sector development. International Monetary Fund: New York.