Dissecting the Middle East Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is Intricate, Emotional

Author: Jon Shapira

For the last two years I have watched events unfold in the Middle East and witnessed radical, ignorant forces gain control over everything from national political agendas to opinion pages in college newspapers. There have been many times when I wanted to speak out, but, when I sat down to write, I always found myself frustrated and overwhelmed by the disputed history of the region and the complexities of Israeli-Arab relations, settlements, occupation and terrorism. At Middlebury there has recently been a surge of counterproductive debate on this issue, however, and I feel compelled to attempt a more rational analysis of one of the more irrational, senseless and tragic situations in the world today.

There are, in fact, at least four different wars being waged by Israelis and Palestinians. Some Palestinians are engaged in a war of resistance and national liberation against Israeli occupation. While I would argue that non-violent resistance and diplomatic negotiation would have secured a Palestinian state much sooner, it is not so easy to condemn attacks on soldiers and settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, land which the Palestinians can reasonably argue is rightfully theirs.

Palestinians, their military ally Iran and their financial allies Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Muslim-American charities such as The Holy Land Foundation, however, are also waging a genocidal war to destroy the State of Israel and ethnically cleanse Jews from the Middle East. This is a war that we, as members of the liberal, modern world must condemn as unjust and unethical. Young Palestinian men, and more recently young Palestinian women, have unleashed waves of terror and violence by targeting Jewish civilians in suicide bombings. The families of these alleged "martyrs" receive $25,000 each from Saddam Hussein, and still more from others that support this cause.

Several hundred people, including, ironically, numerous Israeli Arabs, have been maimed or killed in this terrorist war. The list of victims includes children out for a slice of pizza, teenagers who only wanted to enjoy themselves at a nightclub, almost 30 people our grandparents' age who were peacefully celebrating a holiday meal and countless others who did nothing more than get on the bus or go to the mall. Despite attempts to blur the difference, this is terrorism, not freedom fighting and resistance. The goal of suicide bombing is not a free Palestine alongside a free Israel, but the death of as many Jews as possible. And these bombings are no longer just the work of extremists from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, beyond the reach of Yasser Arafat, for now it is Arafat's own Fatah faction that is responsible for sending teenagers to kill other teenagers.

Beyond the terrible cost of the hundreds dead and thousands wounded, Israeli society has been traumatized by the experience of Palestinian terrorism. As Americans we have some idea of what it feels like to be the victims of terrorists, but for most of us life has basically returned to normal following the events of Sept. 11. Israelis are not so lucky. Simple acts like walking out the door, using public transportation or eating in a restaurant now take more courage than we, living in Vermont, can possibly understand.

A people desperate for security and normalcy will take desperate measures, and it is difficult to find another explanation for the election of Ariel Sharon. After the war in Lebanon in the 1980s, Sharon was so discredited in Israel that a good analogy to his political resurrection might be if Richard Nixon had been re-elected President of the United States 20 years after Watergate. Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians have now accomplished something that the most radical Israeli settlers and right wing politicians only dreamed of: the collapse of the Israeli Left and the peace movement.

This brings us to the two wars that Israel is waging. One of these wars is being waged to destroy the Palestinian dream of one day having a nation state of their own. A minority of Israelis have never accepted the formula of land for peace, and these people and their political leaders hope to take advantage of the current situation to reoccupy all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and to consolidate Israeli control over settlements in these territories. Legal or not, these settlements are an obstacle to peace and must be abandoned as part of a negotiated agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip is against the spirit of international law, violates the human rights of Palestinians, poisons Israeli society and endangers Israel's future as the only liberal, democratic country in the region.

While occupation is unacceptable, Israel's war against terrorism is understandable and justified. Just as successive Israeli governments implemented the Oslo Accords in bad faith by continuing to build Jewish settlements, Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians never abandoned the strategy of violence to achieve their national goals. During the past decade, the Palestinian territories, administered by Arafat and his 40,000 strong "police force" (really more of an army), were transformed into terrorist bases from which to attack Israelis. While Palestinian society remained underdeveloped and impoverished, Arafat squirreled away international aid money in Swiss bank accounts and purchased illegal armaments from Iran. When Arafat proved unable or unwilling to control Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and then when his forces joined them in violently attacking Israeli civilians, Israel had every justification to attack the terrorists, seize their weapons and destroy their bomb factories. Just like any other sovereign state, Israel has the right to defend itself from armed attack.

Those who genuinely desire peace, and not merely advancing the interests of one side at the expense of the other, must accept the complexities of the current conflict. The truth is that both societies have their share of victims and victimizers, and there are more than just two sides to this war. The struggle for an independent Palestine and a secure Israel are both just causes. The Israeli occupation and Palestinian terrorism are both unacceptable. We are Jews, Muslims and Christians, Israelis, Arabs and Americans — but most of all we are humans. Rather than choosing between Israelis and Palestinians, let us together support the forces of moderation and marginalize those who reject compromise and coexistence.