October 2, 2003 - Arab/Israeli War
I've been obsessed with the Arab/Israeli War for a couple of years now, and I've made several attempts to write my thoughts about it here, but I always wind up going on and on and on. I'll try to summarize my thoughts as much as possible so this doesn't take an hour to read.
My basic belief about who is right or wrong is that both sides have the right to be there, and both sides are doing the wrong thing in response to that right.
Yes, Israel was here thousands of years ago, and yes they were forced out, and yes Jews needed a national homeland due to their persecution around the world, and yes making their ancient homeland and holy land this national homeland made the most sense for them, and yes they had great international support at the time.
However, what most Israeli supporters refuse to recognize is that the people who now live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and refugees in other countries who are collectively known as Palestinians ALSO have the right to that land. They have been living there for hundreds and hundreds of years. It was their home, where their families, their livelihoods, and their homes were located. They were forced out with violence and bloodshed, and now are treated with contempt and are kept in deplorable conditions as refugees.
I'll try to address the most common arguments I hear against Palestinians deserving to live in Israel:
1. Arabs have millions of acres of land, and Israelis only have about 8,500 acres.
This is a racist statement that presumes that all Arabs are a nation, and that Arabs in other countries sold off or gave away the land in Israel, and they speak and make deals for Palestinians. The reality is that America doesn't speak for Christians, or democracies, or caucasians around the world, and other Arab countries don't speak for Palestinians. The reality is that the people who lived there were forced out of their homes and into their current status, and other Arab countries defend their own people and land even while they support the Palestinian people.
2. There is no such thing as "Palestine", and no people called "Palestinians". ALSO, Why didn't Jordan create a Palestinian state when they had control of the WestBank?
I will agree to this as a statement of fact, but since when did semantics determine the fate of human beings? The people who lived in that land have been killed and terrorized for many decades now, and their concern is not what people call them. If a Palestinian state was their primary concern, they would have accepted the U.N.'s proposed state in 1948. They didn't accept it then because they wanted their homes and lives back, not a portion of the land under a certain name. Half a century later, it has become clear to most people that Israel is not going anywhere, so many people have recognized the need to compromise and settle for autonomy outside of the constant presence, threat, and disruption of the Israeli army.
3. Arabs did nothing with the land, and they just want it back because Jews made it prosperous.
This is a value judgement that many Western cultures have made against the Palestinians. We have determined that progress, money, and material things are values to be upheld, and because many Arabs don't share that belief, we view them as less deserving of citizenship on the planet. The reality is that Arabs lived there, used the land for their purposes, and some were prosperous in their own judgements. Other societies look at America with contempt, but I doubt we'd agree that we don't deserve the land on which we live.
4. National territories have always been won with strength and power. Since Israel has dominated the conflicts with it's Arab neighbors, we should give them whatever land they can win.
I have 2 problems with this argument. First is World War II. Hitler had strength and power over many countries, but the international community determined that this is no longer a world ruled purely by force. We determined that we should stand up for the rights of others because abuses against others may one day affect us. No one today would suggest that because Hitler (or hundreds of other tyrants) had beaten a country, we should have left them alone. Second is the fact that Israel did not win this war by themselves. Israel has had the political, military, and financial support of the most powerful countries in the world, while the Palestinians have never had such support. Yes, they get some scattered support from Arab countries and others, but they have never had the technologically advanced weapons of war that Israel has always gotten from America. If America took it's political, military, and financial support from Israel, or gave Palestinians the same support, I would be much more agreeable to this argument.
5. Arabs and Jews could have lived together in peace, but Arab leaders promoted violence and started the war.
This is the big argument. This is the argument that still goes on today. Palestinians claim that there was peace until Jews moving into the area started destroying Palestinian farms on their way in. Jews claim that there was never any violence until the most powerful Arab leader in the area felt threatened by their financial success and told lies to provoke Arab violence against Jews. It's very hard to find any documentation that doesn't support purely one side or the other, so it's hard to tell what the truth is from 100 years ago. I have no idea who started it, so I've determined it was probably a gradual resentment between the two that gradually grew into anger and finally into violence. I make none of my opinions based on either side having "started it". Even today, there is a constant one-sided debate over who started recent violence. Every Palestinian attack against Israelis is claimed as a response to Israeli violence against them. Every Israeli raid is claimed as a response to Palestinian violence.
So what do we do about it?
I've come to a few conclusions about what I would do if I had any sort of influence over America's involvement in the peace process in Israel. The first step towards my plan is an emotional one. We need to accept that the end goal is two peaceful nations side by side, and we need to accept that during this process, there will likely be continuing violence from both sides. With all reverence for the victims of ongoing violence, it doesn't make sense to stop peace talks because of the violence. We've done that for 50 years, and all it's lead to is more deaths. This is not rewarding terrorism, but on the contrary it is using common sense in the face of terrorism, and thereby giving terrorism LESS recognition.
My second step would be to evaluate the physical situation of the populations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israeli settlers in those areas are there for several reasons. One is financial, because the Israeli government gives people money to live in those areas. For those people, it shouldn't be too hard to transfer that financial assistance to other areas of Israel. A large portion of the settlers are there because they believe the Palestinians don't deserve the land. Those people should be encouraged to return to Israel proper, or should be absorbed into the Palestinian territories like the Arabs who live in Israel at this time. At the same time, I would be meeting with Palestinian leaders to determine their greatest needs, and informing them of their responsibility to govern the country or to find leaders who can govern the country.
Now for the action. I believe America could count on international troops to help secure the borders between the two countries, and I would utilize this at least in the initial phases. I would temporarily suspend all transit back and forth between the two countries, except for the removal of Israeli settlers from the Palestinian territories. I would put every able-bodied and willing Palestinian to work building their infrastructure, including power plants, water plants, hospitals, schools, road maintenance, home repairs and upgrades, other manufacturing plants, replanting or upgrading of farms, etc., and in destroying checkpoints and the dividing wall where it is disruptive to the contiguity of either nation, and I would be willing to pay for it all with American money, although any support we could get from Palestinian or outside sources would of course be welcome. If Palestinians want to move into abandoned settler homes, I would allow them to do that, but I would anticipate destroying most of those homes and creating Palestinian homes to replace them.
The next step would be the hardest, and it would be the gradual relaxation of travel restrictions, so the two nations can become partners as envisioned decades ago. At the same time, I would make sure Palestinian leaders were tracking down and destroying weapons that could be used to attack Israelis, with public progress reports and public access to the process. I would want to be sure it was very clear whether the Palestinian government was taking the steps required to actually lead their people into stability and peace. I would also slowly transition from American support for specific tasks to standard foreign aid from America, and with the support of the United Nations, would encourage the international area in Jerusalem that was prescribed in 1948.
Potential problems:
Obviously the biggest issue is that of the violence that will likely continue well into this process, but I've already stated my opinions about that.
I would not make any efforts to connect the West Bank and the Gaza Strip at this time. Depending on the progress of the transition, I can see setting up negotiations later to try to accomplish some compromise, but I think at this point security and stability are much more important. Another difficult area would be the actual borders to set, especially in the borders between Israel and Syria and Lebanon. Israel claims the 1948 borders are indefensible, so I would need to investigate the reality of the area before I could make any decisions on those areas.
After the transition is complete, I would make it clear that both countries are considered allies of the United States at this time, and any attack on either nation will get a response from the United States military. I would make every effort to include the United Nations in this support, and believe they would agree to help defend either country. Simply dividing the countries, no matter how well it goes, will not ease Israel's fears of being surrounded by millions of people who do not want them there, and Palestinians will never feel secure if they believe Israel can attack them without reprisals.
The most difficult part for America will be to gain the acceptance of everyone involved for this process. Israelis will be upset at giving support to Palestinians and pushing Israelis out of their homes. Palestinians will be upset about America's interference in their government and about so much of their progress being based on American money. Both sides will be upset at compromising their vision of their country. Our presence in the area will be seen by many as an occupation of another Arab country. There will likely be attacks against Americans while the country builds it's infrastructure. Some people from both sides will refuse to cooperate with the progress being made. The only answer I have to all of these problems is to have patience. Nobody expects it to be an easy process, but in the long run I think everybody would agree that it created a better world.