Israel v. Palestine - It's Not About War
It is time to stop looking at this as an occupier vs occupied and to start looking at it as a corrupt oppressive government that has failed its people and drawn them into an unnecessary conflict.
Author’s note: I want to start by saying that what follows is the opinion of this author and no one else. My views are formed by many years of observation honed by critical thinking and reasoned discernment.
So, let’s start in the recent past:
2006 with some reference to how we got here.
What has Hamas (“Islamic Resistance Movement”), founded in 1987, done of consequence to further the ability of the people of Gaza to better themselves? Has Hamas provided a safer environment or a stable economy? They have managed to find ways to enrich their leadership. Very little of the aid they receive goes toward assisting the people of Gaza. Yet they manage to find enough funding to rain down missiles on the civilian population of Israel with no regard for women, children, or the elderly.
Hamas could have avoided much conflict by amending its charter. They have had ample opportunity to do so. Their refusal has resulted in a Israeli blockade that has limited the use of the Port of Gaza City and has restricted the free movement of their people back and forth into Israel. How can there be meaningful negotiations given their refusal? Hamas - Wikipedia
Additionally, Hamas is born out of the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt, and Jordan have taken firm stances on the ability of the Muslim Brotherhood to cause trouble within their internal affairs. While Syria has their hands full with Hezbollah (Party of God), sponsored by Iran who has acted as their proxies in Lebanon which since 1982 has been engaged in their own special brand of mischief in the region. Hezbollah - Wikipedia
On Sunday January 29, 2006 Hamas was declared the winner of the Palestinian Legislative Election having won 74 of the 132 seats, with Fatah the party representing the Palestinian people on the West Bank receiving 45 seats. This was the first and last election in Gaza. Hamas has not held elections in the eighteen (18) years since. This look at Hamas and the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood Hamas: The Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood | SpringerLink paints a similar picture.
What has the Brotherhood done for Gaza lately?
They’ve not had a look at their ability to exploit Oil and Gas Reserves. The unrealized potential of Palestinian oil and gas reserves | UNCTAD
Then of course there is the Port of Gaza which has literally been a port since 1799 though because Hamas engaged in importing arms it has been under an Israeli Military Blockade since 2007. It is hard to say how much business could have been conducted had the port been successfully opened, or how many jobs could have been created. History of Gaza - Wikipedia Blockade of the Gaza Strip - Wikipedia
Of course there is also the approximately 140 miles of Mediterranean Coastline that has been ripe for exploitation for any number of projects both Commercial and Residential. Gaza Strip - Wikiwand
Keep in mind, disavowing the portion of the charter calling for the destruction of Israel could have made these things possible.
It is obvious to me that unless Hamas is removed from Gaza, Gaza will never find a way to survive as independent entity with or without their friends on the West Bank? People can argue all they want about tactics of either side of the current ongoing conflict. I personally do not believe that there are any innocent souls except perhaps the very young and the very ignorant.
It is time for the world to stop looking at this as an
occupier vs occupied and to start looking at it as a
corrupt oppressive government that has failed its people
and drawn them into an unnecessary conflict.
Lives don’t need to be lost.
Gazans need to relieve themselves of Hamas by
driving them into the sea, never to be seen again.
But let us not forget their leaders who have been living in the lap of luxury for nearly two decades, and not in or around Gaza, far from it. Their accumulated wealth needs to be “Clawed Back” and those leaders need to be dealt with by drafting an entire new team with a new constitution that guarantees inalienable rights to the people.
I have made a case that Hamas is bad, and that they are a terrorist organization.
I ignored the claims by Arab Palestinians that Israel is an occupying force and has been since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. There is a clear bias in taking that position. However, that does not relieve Israel for any acts they have committed resulting in the deaths of Arab Palestinians taken in Self-Defense.
What I have learned about the history and current events in the area is located between Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea and from Lebanon and Syria to Egypt is that there are no simple answers. There is not a clear version of the truth. Both sides have arguments that have validity, and both sides have made grave errors in judgement that have cost many lives.
No one deserves to die over a land dispute.
At the same time, outside parties' participation has done little to further peace. This includes the funneling of weapons by Iran and others to the PLO/PA and HAMAS and the funding of Hezbollah by Iran and Syria. It does not matter which side you agree with, violence has solved nothing in three quarters of a century. The Jews have always had to negotiate as people who have had to defend themselves. This is not to say that the Arab Palestinians do not have the right to defend themselves. However, after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which they lost, they have adopted a offensive posture taking the position that Israel is an occupying force.
One thing is abundantly clear, and that is the controversy is mired in both political and religious fervor. All of the Abrahamic religions (Christians, Jews, and Muslims) have deep ties to the area. Before 1948 there was never a country called Israel, additionally there has never been a county named Palestine. There have been regions on a map referencing Palestine and some maps that reference Israel as a region but not as a State. The entire area was most often referenced as the Holy Land prior to 1948. The Balfour Declaration in 1917 which was the catalyst for what eventually became the partitioning of the area and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War that displaced approximately 700,000 Arab Palestinians all of whom became refugees.
What was supposed to be a two-state solution with Arab Palestinians and Jews living separately on the same land has never worked out regardless of who the leaders or the negotiators have been. As of today 145 of the 193 of the world’s nations have officially recognized Palestine as a sovereign state. Holdouts include Australia, some of the African Union, Some of the European Union, some of the Organization of American States, The United Kingdom, The United States, and of course Israel. President of the United States Biden supports the establishment of a Palestinian State through direct negotiations of the parties involved, rather than through unilateral recognition by other countries.
Let’s look at Peace in the Middle East...
and the Muslim Brotherhood.
As someone who was alive when United States President Jimmy Carter, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin shared the coveted Nobel Peace Prize for the Camp David Peace Accords that brought peace between Egypt and Israel.
Then came the vicious news reel of the assassination of President Sadat for his trouble, understanding that there are people in the Middle East who are not interested in Peace sadly did not take a Nobel Laureate to comprehend. Egypt’s new President Hosni Mubarak was ushered in quickly, and just as quickly declared the Muslim Brotherhood Illegal in Egypt for having carried out the assassination of President Anwar Sadat.
However, President Sadat was not the only Egyptian leader who the Muslim Brotherhood had a hand in attempting to take out. Sadat’s predecessor, President Gamal Nasser was the victim of an attempted assassination in October of 1954 some 27 years earlier. He later died of a heart attack at the age of 52 in September of 1970.
The Muslim Brotherhood Founded by
Hassan al-Banna and others in March of 1928
It does not take long to find information concerning the Muslim Brotherhood if one simply bothers to look. This article by NPR’s Krishnadev Calamur from August of 2013 gives some background. Muslim Brotherhood: A Force Throughout The Muslim World : Parallels : NPR and of course this entry on Wikipedia Muslim Brotherhood - Wikipedia.
King Hussein and King Abdullah II of Jordan have a long and storied past with the Muslim Brotherhood. While the Muslim Brotherhood was not declared illegal in Jordan like it was in Egypt, the policies in Jordan were designed to severely suppress their influence. This article from Sage Journals discusses the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan which shares another border with Israel. Muslim brotherhood and the Jordanian state: Containment or fragmentation bets (1999–2018)? - Mohammed Torki Bani Salameh, 2021 (sagepub.com)
In 2011 President Mubarak as a result of the Arab Spring
. . . held what became Egypt’s first democratic elections, the first of which was its Parliament, followed shortly thereafter by a Presidential Election. He had long warned against allowing the Muslim Brothers as a political party since they had been banned for many decades. However, international pressure prevailed, and the Brotherhood swept the Parliamentary elections.
Mohamed Morsi won election in election results announced June 24, 2012, as Egypt’s fifth President. Morsi’s Tenure as President as well as the Muslim Brotherhood’s hold on the Egyptian Parliament were short lived as he was ousted in a Military Coup on July 3, 2013, and General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi came to power suspending the country’s constitution.
Suffice to say regardless of the events of October 7, 2023,
. . . and the continuing response to those events by the Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza, a lot of innocent people have been killed for no reason other than failed leadership. All of it could end if the parties would simply cooperate. That has not happened very often since 2006.
Who has the right to a State?
Who has a right to land?
Who has a right to return?
Will a Jewish State survive?
If so, will it be within the same borders that exist today?
Will there be another Arab-Israeli War?
And, finally,
Will there be Peace?