To Open The SkyThe Front Pages of Christopher P. Winter
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A Look at the Permanent Conflict Between Israel and Palestinians
The Sovereign State of Israel
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Created in response to the Holocaust perpetrated by Hitler's Third Reich upon the Jews of Germany and the other nations of Europe conquered by the Reich, the nation of Israel was founded in 1948. It was established within the regions of Palestine and Transjordan, both conceded by the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. The League of Nations gave Britain a Mandate to create a homeland for the Jewish people alongside the land of Palestinian Arabs, then the largest group occupying the region. Tranjordan, under a different Mandate, became the Emirate of Transjordan. Britain controlled Mandatory Palestine for three decades — a period marked by unrest between Jews and Palestinian Arabs. This culminated in the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine and the 1944-1948 Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine. The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, passed on 29 November 1947, envisaged the creation of separate Jewish and Arab states operating under economic union, and with Jerusalem transferred to UN trusteeship. A 1947-1949 Palestine war brought about the failure of the UN plan; it ended with Mandatory Palestine divided among Israel, the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank and the Egyptian All-Palestine Protectorate in the Gaza Strip. The proposed plan, giving 56% of the land to the Jewish state despite a Palestinian Arab population twice the Jewish population, was called pro-Zionist by its detractors and accepted with misgivings by the Jewish Agency for Palestine. Zionist leaders viewed the acceptance of the plan as a tactical step and a stepping stone to future territorial expansion over all of Palestine. The Arab Higher Committee, the Arab League and other Arab leaders and governments rejected it on the basis that in addition to the Arabs forming a two-thirds majority, they owned a majority of the lands. They also indicated an unwillingness to accept any form of territorial division, arguing that it violated the principles of national self-determination in the UN Charter which granted people the right to decide their own destiny. They announced their intention to take all necessary measures to prevent the implementation of the resolution. Subsequently, a civil war broke out in Palestine, the plan was not implemented, and the British Mandate was set to expire on 15 May 1948. David Ben-Gurion, head of the World Zionist Organization, led a meeting of the People's Council on 14 May 1948, the day the last of the British forces departed from the port of Haifa. This meeting drafted a Declaration of Independence for Israel, defined the form of its government, and would soon choose Ben-Gurion as its first Prime Minister. The new nation was immediately recognized by Harry S. Truman for America, and by Josef Stalin for Russia. However, Arab League members Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq proclaimed the right of self-determination for Arabs across all of Palestine and marched their forces into it, starting the Arab-Israeli War. Czechoslovakia violated the arms embargo the UN had placed on the region, giving Israel heavy weapons. On 11 June a month-long truce took effect, and by 1949 Israel had signed armistices (not peace agreements) with the five Arab nations and Israel's borders (the Green Line) were established (but not recognized by the Arab nations.) Between 1947 and 1949, according to UN figures, 726,000 Palestinians had been expelled by Israel or had fled to Arab nations. Records show 80% of the Arabs living within the territory of Israel fled or were expelled. The Knesset later passed laws forbidding them and their descendants the right to return.
That is Roughly Where We Are Today
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What has happened in the 75 years since Israel became a sovereign state can be summarized as oppression of the Palestinian population and obstruction — by both Arab and Israeli factions — of all attempts by the world community to resolve the conflict. A notable exception was begun by Egypt's President Anwar Sadat in November 1977. He recognized Israel's right to exist and was invited by Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin to address the Knesset. This led to the Camp David Peace Accords which established peace between Israel and Egypt and a procedure for giving the Palestinians full autonomy. Anwar Sadat was assassinated by Islamic fundamentalists in 1981 and the Arab League suspended Egypt's membership. Another exception occurred with the election of 1992, when the Labour Party attained a majority in the Knesset. Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat signed an interim agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1995. Rabin was assassinated by a radical Zionist in November 1995. Amid suicide bombings by Hamas and other terrorist groups, Benjamin Netanyahu became Prime Minister in 1996. Paragraph 13 of the Declaration provides that the State of Israel would be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex. However, the Knesset maintains that the Declaration is neither a law nor an ordinary legal document. The Supreme Court has ruled that the guarantees were merely guiding principles, and that the Declaration is not a constitutional law making a practical ruling on the upholding or nullification of various ordinances and statutes. Life in Israel, and in the West Bank— which Israel captured from Jordan in 1967—provides plenty of evidence that Israel's leaders appreciate this lack of binding legal restraints.
Hamas Invaded Israel on 7 October 2023
It sent some 1,000 fighters in. Some breached the fences and went in on foot or in ground vehicles; some hit the beaches in motorboats; and some flew down in motorized parasails. They attacked in the early hours of a Jewish holiday, brutally killing 1,200 people in the south of Israel and taking 250 hostages. These atrocities were quickly condemned by every nation. Troubling aspects of this are that Israel's leaders, inchuding Netanyahu, knew of Hamas's plans for this invasion and discounted them; that Egypt's intelligence professionals warned Israel three days in advance; and that Netanyahu had supported Hamas for years to stave off a two-state solution for Palestine.
Israel quickly mounted a counteroffensive, ordering Palestinians to evacuate the northern part of Gaza where it assumed Hamas forces were concentrated. It began bombing there (also in the south) and in a matter of weeks had destroyed or damaged 56% to 60% of the buildings in Gaza. The Palestinian death toll continues to mount; as of this date it has exceeded 35,000. Women and children make up two-thirds of that number. Much of Gaza looks like that devastated building in Rafah shown above. In addition, Israel has disabled most of the 36 hospitals in Gaza, leaving the remainder overwhelmed with casualties. Israel inspects every truck bringing aid into Gaza, and if it objects to any items in a truck, the whole shipment is refused entry. Supplies of most medical supplies ran out long since, and food and water are in short supply. Disease and starvation are of mounting concern. Did I mention that Hamas did horrible things?
Here are some other troubling aspects of Israel's campaign in Gaza: White Phosphorus
2,000-pound bombs
"Power Targets"
Supplies Blockade
Impediments to Food Distribution
Dismantling Gaza's Health Care System
Erasing Gaza's Cultural Heritage
Information Restrictions
Charges of Genocide
Murders Done by IDF Troops
Lies by Israeli Officials about the War
Attempts To Expand the Conflict
IDF Progress Toward Defeating Hamas in Gaza
The Rest of the StoryThe world's attention is on the current conflict in Gaza, and on Israel's attempt to spark a wider war in the Middle East. This will hold true for some time. But Israel's long domination of what started as a majority-Palestinian territory, as well as its abuses of democracy at home, deserve attention too. I will devote some attention to these matters here. Hamas, Netanyahu, and PalestiniansSince he first won the Prime Minister position, Benjamin Netanyahu has opposed the two-state solution. He supported Hamas covertly and played it off against the Palestinian National Authority which now governs the West Bank. He has boasted about being able to block progress toward a two-state solution. Meanwhile, life for Palestinians in Gaza has not been pleasant under Hamas; after they won an election in 2006, there have been no elections. A recent survey showed support of Hamas at only 42% in Gaza. Sources:
Netanyahu's push for judicial immunityBefore all this started, Netanyahu was facing charges of corruption. He began to push for changes in Israel's Supreme Court — changes that would reduce his chances of conviction. Israel has no constitution, and there is less separation between its executive (the Prime Minister) and its legislature (the Knesset) than in the United States. Thus, the judiciary has a more important role in reining in excesses — and the right-wing Netanyahu is trying to weaken it, both by limiting its powers (the new law) and by packing it with like-minded jurists. Israelis noticed, and thousands of them protested in marches that tied up Tel Aviv and other cities. Some members of the IDF refused to serve. With the homeland under threat, all that is out the windows, and it is not unreasonable to think Netanyahu will prolong that threat as long as he can. Sources:
Israel's dual system of justiceSources:
Israel's Suppression of Speech and DissentFor families of Palestinian prisoners released by Israel, celebrating in public earns them new charges of terrorism. At one point, even using the colors of the Palestinian flag was prohibited. When Defense for Children International reported the rape of a Palestinian prisoner in Israel's custody in 2021 to the US Department of State, the IDF raided its offices, seized its computers, and declared it a terrorist organization. Foreign journalists in Gaza have Israeli "minders" who let them see only what Israel wants them to see (though they do not always succeed). Palestinian journalists have been killed under suspicious circumstances. And in May 2021, the building housing offices of AP and Al Jazeera was bombed with only one hour's warning. Just this month (April 2024), Israel passed a law declaring the Al Jazeera news service a terrorist organization. Netanyahu promptly expelled its offices from the country. Sources:
Second-class citizenship for non-Jews in IsraelSources:
Religion in Israeli politicsSources:
Legal status of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territoriesSources:
Treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli JailsRecent reports have shown Palestinian men captured by the IDF in the recent conflict. But Israel has held Palestinian prisoners for a long time, and reports of abuses are common. Elsewhere I note the reaction to a prisoner's rape being reported to the US. Sources:
West Bank SettlementsThere is a long history of abuse by Jewish settlers in the West Bank of Palestinian communities there. Those incidents have intensified since the Hamas attacks. In a recent case, a Palestinian-American teen who had moved there with his family early in 2023 was shot in the head in an incident that Israeli sources say involved "rock-throwing activities." What's known about the incident makes it unlikely the teen was throwing rocks. Many of the West Bank settlers are Americans, and private American dollars flow to these illegal settlements. More recently, a second American teenager was shot and killed. This month (April 2024), after a fourteen-year-old Israeli shepherd disappeared, West Bank settlers rampaged through local Palestinian villages. Numerous houses and 100 vehicles were torched. Several Palestinians were shot. The shepherd's body was discovered later by a drone. It is unknown how he died and who might have been responsible. Sources:
Here is the pattern of behavior I've seen Israel demonstrate:
This leads me to conclude that Israel's actions are achieving three things, none of which will redound to its benefit:
And all of this will, in my opinion, be well deserved. But what does the future hold? After tensions die down, the world will have to move the Arab nations toward a new modus operandi with Israel. This thoughtful conversation with Thomas Friedman leads us toward an understanding of what that might entail:
“Netanyahu Has a Lot to Answer For:” Thomas Friedman on Israeli Leadership
(Thomas Friedman, Amanpour&Co, 25 January 2024) |