“Just look at how fast liberals are trading their Palestine flags in for Iran’s! They’ll support anyone who the news says to”.
There were a lot of memes and arguments on social media regarding this when the war in Iran began. To be honest, I was pretty ignorant on the whole Isreal and Palestine issue until shortly before the war began. I didn’t even know how Palestine related to Israel, and yes, I feel bad about that. Hindsight is 20/20 though.
Today, I want to attempt to fix this. I want to understand the (recent) history of the two, and discuss who gets my support and why.
First, an apology for my sparse posting!
Life gets BUSY
With the spring blooms appearing, so too does a rash of things we need to get done. Schedules start filling up, making the most of the relatively short amount of “nice” time we get in this tundra state of Minnesota.
End-of-school events, preparing a whole farm for sale, starting the garden, house shopping, jam-packed work days and preparing for a long work trip have been keeping me and my family overly busy.
I apologize for the relative absence. I wish this is what I could do full time, but unfortunately the bills gotta get paid. I’ll keep doing my best to post on schedule, but please excuse and forgive me if I miss a few posts!
Another piece of news, my reader John suggested something I think is great: sticking to one topic per week, to really dive deep into each topic.
With that, let’s start looking at Israel, Palestine, and the surrounding histories. This whole week will focus on diving deeper into these topics. Today is a primer for the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Isreal: Land of Zion
I’ll be honest.
I thought the argument that Israel can do no wrong and must be supported because it was the homeland of Jesus was a joke.
My husband set me straight on this. He told me the story of how his dad would have fought to the death about why Israel must be protected because of it’s biblical history. Others feel the same. From an article by the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, 10 reasons are given to support Israel. They are:
- God loves Israel
- God is a Covenant-Keeping God
- God hallows His name!
- Israel is key for revival and blessing for the Church!
- We owe it to the Jews!
- Our roots are in Israel!
- Now is the right time to do it!
- God has changed His way of dealing with Israel!
- The Jews are the family of Jesus!
- The Bible commands us to comfort Israel!
There are more practical reasons why the US may want to support Israel, which may be why the message of “Must protecc Jesus’ homeland” has been spread so pervasively. From the American Legion, “Israel is America’s only democratic ally in a dangerous neighborhood and strategically important part of the world. Israel is home to a key U.S. missile-defense base, stands as America’s closest partner in missile-defense development, and serves as an important ally in containing Iran and stunting Iran’s outlaw nuclear-weapons program. As President Ronald Reagan observed, Israel is ‘an integral part of the free world … Both a secure state of Israel and a stable Mideast peace are essential to our national interests.’”
Israel is officially a Jewish state. In 2018, the “Basic Law” was passed, reaffirming the same. Their laws are passed by the Knesset, which is a word derived from the ancient Hebrew “Great Assembly”. According to Jewish tradition, this was an assembly of 120 scribes, sages, and prophets, in the period from the end of the Biblical prophets to the time of the development of Rabbinic Judaism – about two centuries ending c. 200 BCE.
You know the Sharia Law we so fear in the US? Israel is essentially ruled by the Jewish equivalent. I, for one, think religion is NEVER a good doctrine of law, as religion can too easily be used to disenfranchise, punish, or even genocide non-believers.
Speaking of a Genocide, let’s talk about Palestine.
Palestine and Hamas
The conflict between Palestine and Israel has gone back decades. The pivotal point that kicked off the issues between the two countries starts in 1967, with the Six Day War. During this time, Israel gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Golan Heights. The West Bank and Gaza Strip are important landmarks in the conflict of today.
In 1979, both the Gaza Strip and West Bank were part of a peace treaty designed to create autonomy for what was now to be Palestine.
Autonomy is not quite what they got. Continued meddling by Israel is the sovereign territory of Palestine led to an uprising against Israel in 1987. This led to the Oslo Agreements, I and II, wherein Palestinians were allowed to govern themselves and Israel had to completely remove themselves from six cities and four hundred fifty towns in the West Bank.
Again, intent did not translate to reality. Israel maintained significant control in the West Bank. This coupled with other grievances led to the Second Intifada, wherein Hamas and other Palestinian Militant groups targeted Israeli citizens.
Speaking of Hamas, let’s talk about that history. Hamas is primarily a militant (read: terrorist) and political group of Islamists. According to the Council of Foreign Relations, “Hamas is an Islamist militant group that spun off from the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the late 1980s. It took over the Gaza Strip after defeating its rival political party, Fatah, in elections in 2006“.
Hamas has held power for two decades now in the Gaza Strip. Their strongest political ally? Iran.
Let’s be crystal clear: Hamas is a TERRORIST group of the worst kind. Their doctrine calls for murdering jews. They don’t even HIDE their goals. They use suicide bombings, attacks on civilians, and other atrocities to maintain control and wield fear where they reign. The 2023 surprise attack in Israel is just the latest of these atrocities.
The thing is – most Muslims favor the Palestinian Authority (the opposing political party) over Hamas. Let’s think about this from an outside perspective. If you were from outside the US, you see two political parties: The Democrats and Republicans. You see the Republicans bombing girls’ schools and hospitals, threatening to attack civilian targets. You see the US attacking Venezuela, kidnapping their President. You see Democrats decrying these actions, calling for an end to the war.
Are you going to favor the Democrats over the Republicans?
Even from inside, if you’re a Republican, you see the same atrocities taking place. Do you find ways to justify these horrors if the end goal / the majority of policy supports your views?
Consider those who support Hamas are feeling the same. Yes, they are committing war crimes. Those war crimes are seeking to see Palestine gain real autonomy, something you want as well. Do you justify their actions like you justify ours?
So, knowing how awful Hamas is, let’s talk about the other war crimes: Israel’s.
The Genocide in Gaza
Here’s a collection of war crimes that Israel has carried out in Palestine in recent years.
- 90% of Gaza’s schools and universities have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli attacks
- 53% of religious and culture sites in Gaza have been destroyed by Israel
- Israel cut power to the last desalination site in Gaza, taking away access to fresh water for the Gaza people
- Israel enacted a siege on basic supplies, like cooking oil and fuel.
- Israel consistently target other civilian spaces, such as common gathering places, cafes, markets, and hospitals.
Further restrictions on basic necessities have led to more than 13,000 children being admitted to the hospital for malnutrition. The culmination of all of these actions by Israel have drawn international attention, resulting in a warrant from the ICC for Netanyahu, the head of Israel. His crime?
Genocide.
Deliberation
So, on one side, we have Palestine, controlled by Hamas. On the other side, we have Israel, controlled by the Jewish state. Both are carrying out EXTREME attacks on the other. How do we decide who is right?
For me, I see the desire of Palestine to have autonomy as a legitimate one. Israel doesn’t just want to control Palestine: They clearly want to eradicate the Islam population there. Hamas is fighting for their own autonomy, not for the eradication of Israel. Israel is fighting to eradicate Muslims.
Because most Muslims don’t support Hamas and their terrorist acts, I side with Palestine. The desire for their own land governed by their own laws and desires seems fair. Far fairer than their complete destruction at the hands of Israel.
I don’t really care if Israel is the ancestral homeland of my religion. That was 2000 years ago. I’m far more concerned with “Would Jesus support Israel’s actions?” than I am with “I need to blindly support Israel because Jesus happened to be born there (well, in Judea, but still: modern day Israel).
Hamas is a group responding in a violent way to a real problem. The fact that a violent group has arisen from a violent attack on their way of life isn’t surprising. I don’t support their actions in any way, but I understand the desire of Muslims in Palestine to have their own land as they were promised.
I’d love to hear everyone else’s opinion!
Thanks for reading.
I understand busy, and I appreciate whatever time you can spare to do this. Holding this to one topic a week is a good idea, assuming we can actually untangle one topic from everything else. And it gives us time to think between comments, also not a bad idea.
On this one though, I appreciate your earnest desire to see “good people on both sides” or maybe not. First, we need to get straight about the word “genocide.” It is a badly overworked and intentionally incendiary term, and CERTAINLY misplaced as it applies to Israel vs. Hamas.
The state of Israel was created out of genocide, mainly Hitler’s systematic elimination of all Jews. They were “Palestinians” (as a people) long before the “partition of Palestine” was created by the UN to give them a place. Some resentment still exists in the West Bank by those “displaced” by Jewish “returnees,” but much of that has mellowed over the 80 years since. It is largely kept alive by the oldest “refugee” designation and community in the world, kept alive in what I assume are squalid camps, by the UN. Strangely enough, just across the river in Jordan, you find another “Palestinian refugee” camp, but it looks and acts just like an ordinary prosperous suburb. A striking difference for which I would love to have a nice-sounding explanation.
The other thing about genocide is to notice that the Gazans HAD autonomy, and their own “state.” What did they do with it? Millions of dollars’ worth of aid flowed in to help the Gazan people. So what did they do with it? (that’s a rhetorical question) They built hundreds of miles of tunnels, built and launched rockets, bought small and larger arms. They created a military infrastructure using hospitals, schools and apartments as cover. All of this was clearly mandated by the Hamas charter’s goal of “obliteration or dissolution of Israel.” Indeed, our local [I really want to put an adjective here but won’t] protesters shout “from the river to the sea” meaning nothing less than genocide of the Jewish state and the people in it.
So this uproar was all a result of the “war on Gaza.” Let’s remember why. On Oct. 7, 2023, an assault led by Hamas killed more than 1200 people, kidnapped 240, and committed the worst terrorist attack in Israeli history. Per capita, it was FAR worse than 9/11 in the US. Israel launched the “war in Gaza” in response. But notice something. While Hamas hid behind its “human shields,” Israel would drop pamphlets urging locals to evacuate before a Hamas military target was hit. That is the worst plan for genocide EVER.
Now I suppose we could argue that these little insignificant differences could be resolved by diplomacy and negotiation, and they were, since all Hamas had to do was accept the Oslo Accords I and II. They did not. But how do you negotiate with parties whose principle and non-negotiable demand is that you die?