The Just Cause of the Palestinian People
Almost every day the media report new violence in the Middle East. Whether it be another suicide bombing by a Palestinian militant, or Israeli tanks and bulldozers rumbling into another town to round up suspected terrorists and level Palestinian homes and businesses, the violence continues with a high cost in life and property to Israelis and Palestinians alike, and without any prospect of a solution. But while no end to the violence in the Middle East is in sight, a peaceful solution to the conflict is not impossible. Some of the long-standing obstacles to peace, the recognition by Arab neighbors of Israel's right to exist, the limiting of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory, and the establishment of a Palestinian state are now at least topics of negotiation. But one serious obstacle to peace remains. And until it is overcome, the Middle East will never be at peace. It is the redressing of injustices committed against the Palestinian people over the last hundred years by Israel and the Western powers without whom the modern state of Israel would not exist. Peace will not come to the Middle East until Israel and the West - and in particular the United States - acknowledge the just cause of the Palestinian people. A brief history lesson is in order. The modern state of Israel was created in the twentieth century by the immigration of large numbers of Jews from Europe, the former Soviet Union, and elsewhere under the impetus of the Zionist movement. (Read an in-depth article on the impact of Zionism on modern Israel.) In 1900 Jews made up about five percent of the population of Palestine. In the early years of the twentieth century, with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Palestine was made a de facto British colony by the League of Nations. Under British protection the Jewish population grew to about thirty percent by 1945. Jews were allowed by the British to acquire large tracts of land. Jewish settlements became permanent, and the infrastructure of the modern state of Israel was begun. After the state of Israel was self-proclaimed in 1948, the United States became its principal ally. And for half a century the U.S. has provided Israel with massive military aid, giving it clear military superiority over its neighbors. It is not hard to understand that from the very beginning the Palestinian people resisted the Zionist encroachment on their land. In the eyes of the Palestinians, and by any reasonable international standard, the Zionists had no legitimate claim to a land that had been for a millennium the homeland of an indigenous Palestinian people. Thus it was until recently the stance of Israel's Arab neighbors that Israel did not have a right to exist in the Palestinians' land. Realities have a way of prevailing over principles. The present state of the Middle East dictates that Israel's neighbors are willing to accept the existence of Israel as part of a comprehensive plan for peace that also addresses the rights of the Palestinians. This shift in position opens the door to the possibility of lasting peace. But one major obstacle remains: neither Israel not its all-powerful friend the United States is willing to negotiate a peace that takes into account the just cause of the Palestinian people. Because of its military superiority, Israel has no need or desire to negotiate peace. And with the United States squarely on its side, its superiority will continue to dictate the politics of the region. And the downward spiral of violence will continue. Israel remains the largest single recipient of U.S. foreign aid - about $3 billion annually, virtually all military-related - in spite of the fact that Israelis, but not their Palestinian neighbors, enjoy one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. When tanks rumble into Palestinian villages and destroy neighborhoods, they come as a gift of U.S. taxpayers. (Read a detailed article about U.S. foreign aid to Israel.) Israel and its friend the United States must have a change of heart. Without a change in the status quo the Palestinian people will live on without hope of a decent future. And that hopelessness will continue to give rise to terrorist attacks - never justified and not to be condoned, but at least understandable.
Peace is the child of justice and love. Only when justice prevails in that troubled region and love moves its peoples to reach out to their neighbors will peace be born again in the holy land.
More reading on the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. |
