everyone in the entire world knows the utterly essential and totally inevitable settlement between israel and (non-existent) palestine will be a two-state solution, which will demand compromise from both sides. the international community has also agreed (through the united nations on too many occasions to keep track of) that israel has done in the (formerly named) 'occupied territories' is illegal - not to say utterly immoral.
yet when president elect obama - the soon-to-be leader of the world’s only remaining superpower - is asked to speak to the present situation in the gaza strip, he refuses to comment. (it galls me to call the massacre, mayhem, countless atrocities and apparent war crimes which are being perpetrated by a highly organised, highly funded, nuclear power in one of the world’s most densely-populated areas a “situation”, but all that is by-the-by). of course, obama says he will have much to say, once he is inaugurated. but, if a week is a long time in politics it is a bleak eternity for a bombed people, blanket-labelled ‘terrorist’ (or ‘terrorist sympathisers’ at the very least) by a country which has the military might to blow them right out of existence.
obama is no doubt scared of alienating the huge number of americans who unflinchingly (and unquestioningly) support the israeli government in everything it does. during his contest with mccain, obama was frequently accused, by the republican smear machine, of being anti-israel; he was also accused of being a muslim, as if this, even were it true, were an intrinsically bad thing to be.
would it surprise you to learn that there are as many muslims as jews in the united states of america? yet their voices are drowned out by the barrage of pro-israel media coverage in the united states. indeed, any criticism of israel’s domestic or foreign policy is immediately denounced as “anti-semetic”. please note that this is ridiculous for at least two reasons: firstly, simply labeling criticisms does nothing whatsoever to refute their specific claims. secondly, does no-one realise that the palestinian people are semites as well? so, in discussing the sides in this conflict, it is impossible to be anti-semetic!
coming from northern ireland, as i do, i know first-hand that painting any long-term conflict in either/or, black/white, all/nothing terms is completely unhelpful. us versus them. good versus evil. we are the good guys; they are the bad guys. we are victims; they are aggressors. we are innocent; they are guilty. we are individuals; they are monolithic. we think for ourselves; they all think alike.
of course it’s all simplistic nonsense. conflict is complex.
why can't obama be called both pro-palestinian and pro-israel??
well, you see, it’s because the bible says that jesus is coming back and that israel plays some kind of vital part in that. interfering with israel is therefore tantamount to standing in the path of god himself. god is on our side and the side of israel.
it sounds ludicrous when put this starkly, but this is the kernel of the credo of a great many people in the west. not to sound facetious or anything, but there really are some people out there who use the old testament as a science text book, a horoscope and a foreign policy dictation list.
"what we do to you, we do because our god has mandated it." to be honest, i find this line of reasoning deeply disturbing. i've heard it for 30 years growing up in ireland, i've heard it from the bush regime to justify the doctrine of pre-emptive strike and from al qaeda and the taliban. "our god wants to kick your ass and obliterate the memory of you from the face of the earth."
it's most worrying because in being utterly devoid of reason, it is utterly irrefutable. as voltaire said: "those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.
these people talk about israel as if it were still 1948. the situation in which israel finds itself is very different than it was in the few years following the 2nd world war. israel then was a nascent state - beleaguered, orphaned, ravaged and financially almost bankrupted. there is no doubt that israel is indeed surrounded by nations by which it is hated, but part of the blame for this, at least, lies at israel's own door - the massacres in lebanon, the annexing of the gaza strip, the daily humiliation of palestinians (including palestinian israelis!) are part of the reason for the animosity.
now of course there is enough blame to go around. of course we don't need to get into the atrocities committed by the plo, hezbolah, hamas etc. over the years. but to portray israel as a simple victim is simply ridiculous, and to dumbly repeat the mantra that she has a right to defend herself does not give israel carte blanche to act with impunity. remember that a disproportionate retaliation is by definition a war crime under the geneva conventions. if you kill my father i cannot come and wipe out your entire village; if you fire crude rockets randomly into my territory, i cannot air bomb your schools and hospitals killing (to date) more than 1000 of your compatriots! and, under no circumstances, am i justified in using chemical weapons.
israel is vastly more wealthy than the palestinian people - due to the utterly unquestioning support it receives from america (fueled of course by this right wing, un-nuanced, messianic, self-fulfilling, armageddon type thinking to which i have already alluded). and, let us not forget, israel is a nuclear power!!!
once the victim gains power it must alter its language and its behaviour, otherwise it simply becomes the vengeful bully itself and the cycle continues. this is of course the great shame of post-constantinian christendom. the christians, having been victimised and persecuted for 3 centuries, gain power and perpetrate the most appauling atrocities on their historic oppressors for 2 thousand years (see luther's scandalous treatise "on the jews and their lies" and the crusades and the catholic church's reaction to the holocaust and and and...)
with economic and political power comes enormous responsibility and a need for courage and leadership.
the resolution of the middle east conflict will take many years and demand nuanced negotiation and compromise from both sides (as in ireland, south africa, the former yugoslavia, georgia etc.) it is simply wrong to portray one side (particularly the one which in the moment is dominant economically, militarily and politically) as being the oppressed victim. it was this kind of language which stopped protestants in northern ireland from supporting the civil rights movement there, demanding equal rights for their catholic brothers and sisters. this undoubtedly extended the "troubles" by many years.
can you imagine the difference had ian paisley stood side by side with john hume in those heady days in the late ‘60s and said of course gerrymandering was wrong, of course the housing situation was immoral, of course catholics had just as much right to free voting, of course, of course!! it would have been a show worthy of the name of christ himself.
such leadership, it seems to me, is needed in israel at the moment. it's such a shame that tzipi livni failed in her attempt to form a strong coalition government and it looks as if the hawks will triumph there once again. the world is worse for it i fear.
so, as israel crams in all the carnage she can before the neo-cons leave the white house, what can we do? it seems not much other than pray. so pray we must. pray for an immediate cessation of violence on both sides. pray for something approaching equity in the long-term coverage of this internecine conflict. obviously, if a solution is to be found, it will take a massive amount of international time and effort. to that effect, pray that the un and (especially) the incoming administration in the united states will throw their considerable might into finding a lasting solution to this seemingly intractable problem.
until then, pray for the families of the dead and injured in gaza and those in israel, that they will somehow know peace and comfort and not be driven to despair or violence themselves. pray that this incredible aggression will not fuel terrorist uprisings in other parts of the world; that no new bin ladens will be spawned from this evil; that concord and charity will trump terror and hatred once and for all; that the sons of abraham will finally be reconciled in a just and lasting peace.
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