Post by bazooka on Oct 21, 2019 5:00:55 GMT
Have you changed your mind about the Israel-Palestine conflict at any point? Why?
Yes, I did. Formerly, my opinion was quite balanced: both sides were equally guilty of the conflict. I also thought that economics were quite likely to be the main driver of it, the Palestinians being the ones exploited by Israel. I must also say that I had not given it too much thought, because there are so many things going on in the world and one is usually inclined to concentrate on domestic issues first.
But that changed and now Israel is my home and therefore, the conflict suddenly became a 'domestic issue.'The first thing that shocked me was someone asking me: 'Why should the Arabs have more right to the land than the Jews?' This question basically neutralises the issue of 'who was here first?' This is the question that Palestinians usually ask. But does it really matter? No one asks present immigrants to the US or the EU whether they had ancestors there. No one is being rejected asylum for not being 'indigenous.' Yet, this is exactly why the Arabs question the legitimacy of Jews wanting to live in this place, disregarding whether they state that it is or is not their indigenous homeland. Yet, this questioning of legitimacy forces some Israelis to -as opposition- question the legitimacy of Arab's rights to the land, which indeed is a shaky issue. But for most Jews, this is not important. They don't care for Arabs living in their neighbourhood; they only care for their own safety. Opposed to this indifference, Palestinians have a strong sense that Jews are ideologically 'wrong' and are therefore inferior. Equality between Jews and Arabs, is impossible, in their eyes.
This uncovers the imbalance of the conflict: What Jews/Israel is willing to accept is of a totally different order than what the Palestinians demand and what is reasonable. What Palestinians demand is unrealistic and what their demands are based on, is unreasonable. While Israel is willing to offer a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, most Palestinians insist that they want all of Israel, preferably without the Jews that live there.
I came to realise that the narratives are completely incompatible. The Israeli narrative makes sense, but the Palestinian is full of improbabilities and most of all: unfair judgements. Jews explain why they want to live in Israel while Palestinians only explain why they think that Jews cannot live here; not why they themselves care for the land. On top of that, the question why they can't live together with Jews, is only answered with blatant antisemitism, an ideology that is rejected all over the world, except for the Middle East. Also Westerners accept Middle East antisemitism, without excuses.
However, I still think that Palestinians are not treated well and fairly by Israel, but I also -partly- understand this, since the hatred and terrorism coming from them is so enormous. People in other parts of the world are being disliked for lesser reasons. It would be better to untangle all connections and continue as totally independent nations, both politically and economically. This is actually a point that I have not changed my opinion about. But I have come to the understanding that reality stands in the way of this.
