By Brian Lait
I have studied both Islam and Judaism closely for many decades. Indeed, as a young man I attended prayers in a mosque when I worked in the Middle East, with all explained to me by a Muslim, and a service in a synagogue, with all explained to me by a Jew. Despite such attendances and close studies, both religions do not impress me, and I remain a fervent Christian. Anyway, I am far too advanced in life to now give up pork sausages and bacon sarnies.
However, this article is not about any particular faith, but rather the conflict between two states, namely Palestine and Israel. It is totally incorrect to say that Muslims are automatically anti-Semitic, and that Jews are automatically anti-Islamists.
Nevertheless, for those who consider that Israel is right to do what it is doing, I would pose the following questions:
Israel declared its establishment on May14, 1948, following what was called the 1948 Palestine war.
There are a number of myths about Israel, of which to me the key one is: Palestine (prior to the formation of Israel) was a desert. It was not. While the Israelis have undoubtedly instituted cultivation of the highest quality, the land was cultivated by Palestinians for centuries before the arrival of what we today call Israel.
It was in the 1948 war that most of the predominately Palestinian Arabs were displaced or dispossessed by the Jews in what the Palestinians now call the Nakba (‘Catastrophe’). It was thanks to the Egyptian and Jordanian armies that greater displacement and dispossession did not take place, thus allowing Gaza and the West Bank to be formed. Many Palestinian Arabs fled to the south of Lebanon. Israel occupied the Left Bank during the 1967 Six-Day War and have treated all non-Jewish residents therein as second-class citizens ever since.
So Hamas and Hezbollah were born in the 1980s.
Does the average Israeli have any idea of how Israel was truly assembled? Do they have any idea as to why Hamas and Hezbollah exist? I doubt all that very much, and it is here, I think, that one of the country’s greatest problems lies. The politics within Israel have been dominated for some years by hard right-wingers such as Benjamin Netanyahu and the obnoxious Itamar Ben-Gvir who have brainwashed Israelis into thinking that their borders were invincible, that the gardens and parks they picnic in came about by Israeli’s hard labour and that everyone around the country is an enemy.
The politics are Zionism, or very close to it, as Zionism became Israel’s national or state ideology after the establishment of Israel in 1948. The basic idea was to create a Jewish state within Palestine with as much land, as many Jews, and as few Palestinian Arabs as possible. So far, so good! (Incidentally, Cyprus was at one time considered as a place to found a Jewish state by the Zionists).
However, while this may be very satisfactory for Israel, the bitterness built up by the Palestinians was immense, and the events that took place on October 7, 2023 by Hamas were, I suggest, the result of many months, if not years, of careful planning.
Repugnant though the actions were by the Palestinians on October 7 (some 1,200 Israelis killed, of whom some 300 were soldiers, and 250 taken as hostages), the act was an enormous surprise for the average Israeli as they woke to the fact that their borders are porous. However, rather than accept the blame and, perhaps, reflect on history and apply logical (although painful) thinking as to why this raid occurred, Netanyahu and his merry men declared that they would wipe out Hamas and proceeded to flatten most of Gaza with genocidal attacks. October 7 will remain a day of mourning in Israel, but the deaths of over 42,000 dead in Gaza, with another 10,000 unaccounted for under the rubble, will be swept under the carpet, not just by Israel, but also their many allies, such as the USA.
Has Hamas been wiped out? No. Will it be wiped out? No.
The very big unanswered question is now: what will Israel now do with Gaza? I personally think they will “occupy” it and, if possible, encourage the Palestinians to go elsewhere.
As if flattening Gaza is insufficient, Netanyahu and his merry men then turned to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. In truly unremarkable fashion we are treated to the vision of a senior Israeli commander announcing on TV that Israel is not at war with Lebanon, but only with Hezbollah. Israel then proceeded to demolish large areas of Lebanon, even within Beirut, killing thousands of Lebanese along the way.
Has Hezbollah been wiped out? No. Will Hezbollah be wiped out? No.
So, are there any answers to what is going on in the Middle East and which, with Iran involved, may spread much further?
Well, yes, I think there are, but I am not sure of the order in which they should be carried out. Perhaps a number of matters could be implemented together.
They are:
The very last part will be the most difficult to swallow. I am a firm believer in there being two states (Israel and Palestine). The problem at the moment is that Palestine is in two parts (The West Bank and Gaza). I think Palestine can only be a state on its own if it is “one”. I would therefore expand Gaza both up its present coast, and inland, for the equivalent space currently occupied by The West Bank. Those presently in The West Bank would be relocated (if they wished) and The West Bank would then become part of Israel. The “new” Palestine would have good port facilities built, maritime borders and, maybe, an airport. Israel took the land away, so they can return some of it.
Brian Lait is a retired chartered accountant living in Cyprus
