Eye For An Eye

Emily Ren

Source: http://www.halabol.com

H.G. Wells once said, “If we don’t end war, war will end us.” The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an ongoing struggle between Israelis and Palestinians. The Israelis believe that they are entitled to the land now known as Israel, while the Palestinians believe that they are entitled to the land they call Palestine. Both sides are claiming the same land, but calling the land by different names, resulting in violence and other security and human rights concerns. It is believed by the Jews and the Muslims that God gave them the land, and that to give it away or to give it up is an insult to God, which is consider to be a sin. Due to religious beliefs and national identities, Israeli and Palestinian are in war with one another from 1948 to the present day. Each war, each death, each act of terrorism, deepens the hatred and the reluctance to give in to the other side.  

The Holy Land is a sacred area of the Middle East that includes the city of Jerusalem. Three monotheistic religions in the world have chosen Jerusalem as their holy land, and these religions include Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, Abraham had sensed God’s presence in Jerusalem, therefore they associate the site as the place where God’s presence can be felt more intensely than any other place on earth. This connection leads to Jewish practice of praying; they pray three times a day facing towards Jerusalem. On the other hand, Jerusalem is significant to the Muslims because it was where Mohammed was taken to heaven. During one time in history, the Muslims made Jerusalem their focal point of prayer similar to the Jews. But later on, they decided to pray towards the direction of the Mecca in Saudi Arabia, following the example of Prophet Muhammad, who is the founder of Islam. According to Muammar Qaddafi, “an armed Arab state, presumably in the West Bank, would give Israel less than 10 miles of strategic depth at its narrowest point. Further, a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip would do little to resolve the problem of refugees” (Qaddafi, Muammar). The need for land causes Israelis to expand into Palestinians’ territories, and that forces Palestinian refugees to leave behind their land which had been dominated by their ancestors for many years. This contributes to the conflict and sparks the riot between the two religious groups. However, each side tries to demonizes the other and omits their contribution the conflict. 

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The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a complicated and an emotional topic. The Palestinian story focuses on their suffering and dispossession of their homeland being taken taken away by the Jews, which cause them to feel a deep sense of injustice. They neglect the trouble of wars, usage of  violence, and their faulty leadership in order to take opportunities for accommodation. On the other hand, the Israeli story emphasizes their historic attachment to the land, the promise granted by the UN partition plan, and the constant threat of wars. As Muammar Quaddafi has noted “The Jews have been held captive, massacred, disadvantaged in every possible fashion by the Egyptians, the Romans, the English, the Russians, the Babylonians, the Canaanites and, most recently, the Germans under Hitler. The Jewish people want and deserve their homeland.” This gives the Israeli the reason to aggravate the situation and disregard the local Palestinian population. However, violences and threats bring risks into Palestinians lives. Thomas M Ricks observed that, “There was a man named Shadi Abu-Duka. He brought the flag of Israel down. And then put up the flag of Palestine. While he was doing so they shot his two legs. There was an old man who went out to buy some food for his family. The Israelis shot and killed him. There was a man called Mustafa. When he returned from his work the Israelis shot and killed him with the excuse that he had bombs and wanted to explode them. A child went with her father somewhere. The Israelis shot her in the head and killed her. There was another child who lived in Beit Sahour [easterly suburb of Bethlehem]. While he sat at the window the Israel soldiers started shooting civilians in Beit Sahour. A live bullet hit him and he died. I feel so angry and afraid. There are many stories about Palestinians suffering. I can't write them all” (Ricks, Thomas M). The conflict began in the early 20th century. Many people are born in war, live in war, and fear that they will die in war in the end. The constant fear of instability and destruction brings complication which leads to a bloody riot. 

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An action must be called for in order to bring Israeli-Palestinian conflict to an end. Based on Dani Dayan’s research, it is shown that, “Despite the severe constraints imposed by international pressure, more than 350,000 Israelis live in Judea and Samaria. With an annual growth rate of 5 percent, we can expect to reach 400,000 by 2014 — and that excludes the almost 200,000 Israelis living in Jerusalem’s newer neighborhoods” (Dayan, Dani). As Israelis occupy Palestinians’ homes, Palestinians are losing more and more of their land. In the book The Hour of Sunlight written by Sami al Jundi and Jen Marlowe, Sami grew up with the ambition to overthrow the Israeli occupation. He built a bomb to use against police, but ended up killing one of his friends. He was sentenced into jail for ten years, and suffered under the control of the Israelis. Al Jundi writes, “They shot the gas guns repeatedly into the closed cell, spraying white powder all over us. My skin instantly burned so badly I wanted to tear it off with my hands. They threw two gas bombs inside. My eyes stung severely from one, and I was gasping and choking from the other. Thick batons came down bluntly on our backs, arms, legs, and shoulders. One glanced off my head. The pain barely registered as I frantically gulped for air. I was suffocating” (Al Jundi, 144). Sami was physically being tortured by the soldiers, but remained emotionally strong in order to fight for his people’s rights. He left prison with the same determination, but a different notion of how to undertake the struggle. He co-founded a program called Seed of Peace Center for Coexistence, which brings Palestinian and Israeli together in peace. According to Saree Makdisi, “A just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians is possible, but it lies in the history of the people of this conflicted land, and not in the tired rhetoric of partition and two-state solutions” (Makdisi, Saree). Understanding both narratives is essential for peace, and as well as for ethical action. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the region is becoming unstable and too dangerous. The weapons involved are becoming more complex, with the potential to ignite a regional war and create chaos between the two religious groups. Given the long history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and failure of many attempts to maintain peace, it has come to a reluctant conclusion that both sides cannot come to an agreement by themselves. Neither side can impose its will on the other side. As a result, the major powers in the Security Council should act decisively and effectively to bring peacekeepers into the area. In addition, we can also help by joining peace organizations that help to work towards harmony in both their society and our nation as a whole.