Irreconcilable differences

The truth that nobody wants to admit.

Nothing says Western privilege like projecting our own vision of peace and prosperity onto a group of ‘oppressed brown people’ thousands of miles away on the other side of the world. But this is exactly what is happening on the campus lawns in the west, in the streets of major western capitols and in the cabinets and ministries of left wing governments. And I get it. We desperately want to think of the Palestinians as the underdog, the downtrodden that just need a chance, if only we could free them from the evil occupation of the IDF, if only we could give them their own piece of land, without fear of settlements, self-determination, for them to prosper and live a peaceful and fruitful life. Its a fairytale as old as man, and its a story that is easy to buy into. Just look at how it has spread across the globe like wildfire since October 7. The power and the might of Israel – a land of milk and honey – backed by the mighty USA, against the Bronx of the Middle East. Gaza, dusty, undeveloped, over-populated by around 2.3 million refugees desperate for a better life for their families. But fairytales are a fantasy, and if we are to ever resolve the conflict of this region, we need to grow up.

To have any possibility of peace or at least acceptance in the region, we need to look at the facts. In 1948, the Arabs rejected the Partition Plan, which led to the War of Independence. In 2000 with Yasser Arafat, and with Abu Mazen in 2008 Palestinians were offered the opportunity of Statehood in the territory of Gaza and the West Bank, with the capital in East Jerusalem – full independence, with an end to all military occupation and and end to Israeli settlements. And each time they walked away.

Not only did they walk away from getting everything that we have believed they wanted – independence, Statehood, an end to military occupation and settlements – the Palestinians on the instructions of Arafat and the rising prominence of Hamas, began a violent uprising known as the ‘second intifada’. The violence continued and escalated, even though Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in late 2003 announced a “disengagement plan” that called for Israel to withdraw its soldiers and remove Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. Israel completed its pullout of Gaza in September 2005. So the central question regarding this conflict should be – what is it that the Palestinians want?

Actually, they have been telling us all along what they want. Its that WE haven’t been listening. To their credit, they have never diverted from their primary cause, and have told us time and time again. The Palestinians want a one state solution – they want all the land. They do not want to live in peace with Israel as their neighbours, they want Israel gone. Now we can talk and talk about who was there first and who has caused the other the most suffering over the past how every many decades – but the result is moot. One thing we must agree upon if there is to ever be a sliver of hope that their can be any type of resolution, which is that both the Jews and the Palestinians believe they have a deep connection with the land.

So how do we reconcile the primary goals of each side? Israel wants to be able to live in peace without threat from their neighbours. And Palestinians want the whole of the region back under their control. Seems like we are at an impasse. And of course I don’t have a magical answer to a conflict that has been waging for decades if not centuries. But what I do know is this. We need to focus on the truth. We need to see and acknowledge the truth on both sides, good and bad. We need to accept that Israel is not only fighting for their existence, but they are fighting a war on multiple fronts against an extremist ideology of terror and hate. We need to acknowledge that the Palestinians have been poisoned and indoctrinated to hate the Jews, and without a pathway out of this, there will never be coexistence in the region. We need to fight against the lies and misinformation and organisations like UNRWA who have been infiltrated by terrorism and have been corrupted beyond repair. We must resist the temptation to descend into the laziness of name calling, racial slurs and ‘other’ blaming.

But more than anything. We need to amplify the voices of the peacemakers. The moderate Israelis and Palestinians who are willing to coexist. Palestinian and Israeli voices that talk of peace and reconciliation. The answers can not come from the white privileged college students – that I do know – it needs to be from the people in the fight.