Israel-Palestine
This is a difficult topic to write on because it is so complicated and divisive. People don't seem to think that you can, at the same time, see what Hamas has done as absolutely horrifying, and also see the resulting death toll of Palestinian civilians as also horrifying. War is horrifying. It is also a war that was completely predictable given the actions of Hamas.
I want to say 3 things.
First, I don't care how oppressed you are, killing, raping and torturing defenseless civilians (including children) and desecrating their bodies, parading their dead bodies, and celebrating any of this is horrifying and evil. Hamas is no different from ISIS, Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, or any number of other Islamic-supremacist groups that desire to suppress all the world's people under a caliphate; to impose their understanding of sharia law on all the world; to place Jews and Christians under the jizya tax so that they feel themselves to be subdued and second class citizens; and kill or convert the rest of humanity to Islam. Anyone who supports Hamas should be looked at the way Neo-Nazis are looked at.
I'm not saying this is representative of all Muslims, but we are fools to ignore that this way of thinking is a powerful force within the Muslim world.
Second, we should separate the people of Palestine from Hamas who they voted in as their government in 2006 (elections haven't happened since then, and it was supposed to be for a 4 year term). Hamas is bad for the Palestinian people. (Fatah and Palestine Islamic Jihad are also similar political groups active amongst Palestinians). Hamas has received much aid, but instead of developing their own infrastructure (like water and power) they have been planning for violence, building underground bunkers, tunnels, and weapons. They use their own people as human shields, placing rockets, military equipment, and bases in populated areas, like schools, hospitals, etc. When Israel tells them to evacuate due to an impending attack, Hamas tells their people to stay, knowing many will be killed (and their deaths will work to turn the world against Israel). Hamas has a long record of lying as a means of doing warfare. They have been known to use fake pictures to turn public opinion in their favor. (The recent supposed bombing of the hospital in Gaza is such an example. The Hamas health authority accused Israel of bombing a hospital, killing 500 people. It turns out to have been a rocket that hit the parking lot, which was a misfired rocket that originated in Gaza, with deaths being estimated at around 10. This is 'situation normal' in the way Hamas deals with media.) Hamas has no interest in a 2 state solution. They view a Jewish state on land that was once controlled by Muslims as shameful. Anyone who thinks that a peaceful solution can be created with Hamas is foolish.
Anyone who stands up in support of Palestine without denouncing Hamas is sinning and/or foolish, and is equal to standing for Germany in WW2 without denouncing the Nazis.
If Hamas cared for their own people, they would try to negotiate with Israel by:
1) Returning all hostages
2) Stopping the daily rocket launches into Israel
3) Turning over those who were responsible for the initial attacks on civilians. (That's who they are really after, not Palestinian civilians).
Hamas is not interested in peace, though.
Sometimes it is said that Israel has created the harsh conditions that caused Palestine to turn to groups like Hamas. Or, Hamas is so vicious because they are responding to the harsh policies of Israel. So X is like that because of Y. What then has created the harsh policies of Israel? If Israel is X, then what is Y? If groups like Hamas are inevitable and expected responses to states like Israel, then why can't the harshness of Israel also have a cause? Perhaps their harsh policies have been shaped in response to the Arab world's hostility. If Hamas' viciousness get blamed on Israel, then surely Israel's harsh policies can also be blamed on some other cause- like Israel enduring the historical violence of the countries surrounding them. Often though, Hamas' violence is blamed on Israel (because it is a response to Israeli oppression), but Israel's harshness is caused by their own cruelty and originates with them. Isn't this a double standard?
Third, whatever you think of how the modern state of Israel came to be a country, there is a country right now called Israel with real people, who have homes and jobs and lives and families. Many of them have only known that country to be their home. They live under a kind of existential threat that most in the West can't imagine living with. They have been constantly dealing with rocket attacks, suicide bombings, and other acts of violence coming from Hamas and those who support such violence. Israel has a duty to protect their citizens. They have chosen to do things like build walls and create checkpoints to reduce the risk of these kinds of attacks. This means that many who are not responsible for this violence have to deal with walls and checkpoints and the economic consequences that come with that.
This is a breeding ground for hate between citizens of Israel and Palestine. But, what is to be done? Should Israel abandon the walls and checkpoints and leave their people open to predictable attack?
If Hamas took over the state of Israel, all Jewish people would be killed or become refugees seeking another country to welcome them (And I'm pretty sure, no Arab country would be welcoming them). And I'm pretty sure that things would not go well for LGBTQ+ people, either. Israel is the safest country in the Middle East for those who identify as LGBTQ+.
If Hamas gave up violence, I believe that there could be peace, but that isn't going to happen. It's not just Hamas. Israel deals with aggression from more than just Hamas, so even if Hamas was completely exterminated, they would still have to deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iran's constant calls for their destruction. And there are others.
Israel has offered multiple olive branches to try to make peace, including withdrawing from Gaza in 2005. Hamas will be satisfied with nothing less than the destruction of the state of Israel. People in the West are under the impression that Israel just has to try harder to negotiate for peace. It doesn't work with Hamas.
You might disagree with how Israel came to be a modern state, but the fact is that a modern state called Israel exists, and what do you want them to do? And what is the cost to doing what you want them to do?
Should all Jewish people leave Israel? And go where? (over 20% of Israeli citizens are Arab, by the way. There is no Jewish population in Gaza, by comparison, nor in any surrounding Arab countries).
Should Israel abandon the use of the walls and checkpoints? Before these were in place, hundreds of Palestinian suicide bombings killed over 1000 Israeli civilians and wounded thousands more (between 2000-2005). Since putting the wall and security fence in place, no suicide bombing has happened in Israel. Beyond suicide bombings, these measures have greatly decreased terrorist attacks originating from the West Bank. Imagine your family living in Israel, what would you have your government do?
Also, why are Egypt and Jordan refusing to let Palestinian refugees in? Where is the outrage at these countries for not letting them in?
Also, where was the outrage, protests, and calls for ceasefire over the hundreds of thousands recently killed by Saudi Arabia in Yemen? The standard Israel is judged by seems to be different from the standards used to judge the surrounding countries. Why is that?
It is awful that Palestinians are dealing with what they are dealing with. Truly. But perhaps they should turn their attention to Hamas and those who support Hamas, who have caused Israel to respond with such predictable measures, which then makes life so hard for Palestinians.
This is where is gets messy- The history. This will be very much simplified and choppy. There are plenty of histories out there on this topic, but beware, it is extremely difficult to find any sort of objective/disinterested history.
If we look back to the area we now know as Israel in 1800AD, it was quite sparsely populated. The word "Palestine" was a geographic term, not a word used to describe an ethnicity (It became more of an ethnic marker to refer to Arab peoples living in the region in the mid to late 1960's). So a Jewish person might say they are Palestinian in the same way they might say they are American. During this time there was a Jewish population still present in the land, though they were a minority. There were also those who were Arabic (but they might describe themselves as Syrian, for example), some came into that area from just after the 700's when Islamic armies were spreading out and conquering new lands.
So the land was quite sparsely populated. 20% of the Arab peoples in the land at this time would describe themselves as Christian (It is 2% now. Many have fled).
Many don't know that before Mecca was conquered by Muhammed, he directed them to pray towards Jerusalem. For Muslims the significance of the Temple Mount (the location of the Mosque known as the Dome of the Rock or Al-Aqsa Mosque) is that it is the location where Muhammed is believed to have travelled to heaven on the back of a winged-horse (see here).
Muslims have had control of the Temple Mount since 1967. Jews are not allowed to pray openly here at the site where Solomon's temple stood, which housed the Ark of the Covenant.
Growing antisemitism in Europe in the early to mid-1800's resulted in a movement called Zionism, where Jews began to move to the Holy Land. Russian Jews arrived in the Holy Land in the late 1800's fleeing pogroms. Jews have been made to not feel welcome in many parts if the world, not just Europe. They once had a significant presence throughout the Middle East.
Archeology shows that that area (Israel, Palestine, Levant) has had a Jewish presence for a very long time (~1300 BC). Jewish people had been mostly ejected from the area by the Roman Empire shortly after the temple was destroyed in 70AD and then the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-136 AD). Romans controlled the area. Then Muslim Arab invaders take over the area in the 7th century. Then the Crusaders take over the area from 1099-1291 AD. The Muslim Mamluks take over in 1291. 1n 1517 the Muslim Ottoman Empire takes control of the area until the end of WW1.
But the Bible is full of references to the geography of this land, so the name Jerusalem was constantly on the lips of Jewish people as they read their scriptures.
Moving back to the historic land of Israel was a dream for many Jews. Sometimes this move required bribing officials in the Ottoman Empire. Once the Ottoman Empire fell, this area fell into the hands of the British Empire. Sometimes the British were in favor of Zionism and sometimes they weren't. It really depended on who one was talking to, and which official was in power at the time. Sometimes British officials even seemed to be sparking violent Arab uprisings against Zionist Jews. An Arab pogrom against the Jews happened in 1920, for example. There was another massacre of Jews at the hands of Arabs in 1929 (Hebron Riots). The British try to limit how many Jews are able to enter the area per year, to try to keep the conflict between the Jews and Arabs controlled.
The Zionist movement picked up after WW2 and the horrors of the Holocaust. It was difficult to stand against the desire to have a Jewish homeland after such an atrocious thing. The population of Jewish people increased in the Holy Land. They brought with them business practices, farming techniques, an understanding of fair treatment of employees, industrialization, etc. And this led to the land flourishing. The country was becoming prosperous. People from surrounding areas began moving into the area for greater opportunities.
Many present-day Palestinians actually have family names that show them to have originally come from Egypt, or Syria, for example. So, as the Jewish population grew from immigration, so too did the Arab population. In 1800, there was a sparse local population of Jews and Arabs (mostly Arab), who were then joined by many more Jews and Arabs who immigrated into the area.
The British handed the responsibility of handling this situation to the new League of Nations (the pre-cursor to the UN). It was decided to create the country of Israel to be a homeland for the Jewish people.
This situation became very complicated as some Jews believed the borders of Israel should encompass the whole area occupied by the Biblical Israelites under King David and Solomon. The original plan was to include not just Israel, but also Jordan (Trans-Jordan). It was eventually decided to give Jordan to the Arabs, and to give Israel as a homeland for the Jews.
Some Muslims did not like the idea of areas that had been controlled by Muslims now being controlled by Jews. Local Christians were not often in favor of Zionist expansion. Conflicts ensued and proposals were made regarding one-state and two-state solutions.
Tensions erupted into violence. As soon as Israel was declared to be a country, it found itself at war with surrounding Muslim majority countries.
In 1948 Israel declares independence. This is a fairly secular state. Many Jews left Europe to seek safety, rather than for religious reasons. In the original founding of the country they ask the Arab population to stay and be citizens of the new state of Israel.
The surrounding Arab states declare war. Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, even Morocco gets involved to fight against this new state in order to destroy it. Israel ends up winning this war.
In 1964 the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is founded, which works for the destruction of Israel. The word "Palestine" at this point means the whole of the Holy Land. Essentially, the mission of the PLO is to destroy the state of Israel.
The 6 Days War takes place in 1967 as the surrounding Arab states are preparing for war against Israel. As a result, Israel takes over a lot of new territory. Israel gives away much of the land they gained in this war.
The 1967 Arab League Summit agrees on 3 no's-
No recognition [of the state of Israel];
No negotiations [with the state of Israel];
No peace [with the state of Israel]
In 1973 on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar the Yom Kippur War happens after a surprise attack.
1979 witnesses the Camp David Accords. As part of a peace deal, Israel gives up the Sinai Desert to Egypt.
1982 there is war with Lebanon after they fire rockets into Israel.
1987 is the First Intifada. Israel begins negotiating with the PLO.
1993 is the Oslo Accords (Yasser Arafat represents the PLO), which are a failure.
1995- Yitzhak Rabin, prime minister of Israel, was assassinated by a right-wing Israeli minutes after attending a peace rally. (The internal dynamics of Israel are complicated as well).1998 is the Wye River Agreements (Yasser Arafat represents the PLO).
2000 Camp David Summit negotiations (Yasser Arafat represents the PLO). Israel offers much, which is rejected.
2000-2005 is the 2nd Intifada, which comes with much violence. There were many Suicide bombings at this time.
2004 Arafat dies and Abbas takes over the PLO. (Abbas is a Holocaust denier.)
2005 Jewish settlements withdraw from the Gaza Strip, where they lived for decades, and turned the land over to the Palestinians. Hamas burns much of what was left.
2006 Hamas wins the Palestinian elections.
2008 is the 1st Gaza War initiated by Palestine.
2014 is the 2nd Gaza War initiated by Palestine.
2021 is the 3rd Gaza War initiated by Palestine.
Israel develops the Iron Dome, which is an anti-missile system to shoot down missiles aimed at their population at about a 90% success rate.
Israel will destroy buildings with their weapons technologies, but will warn people in the area, even calling building managers, to let them know they are going to destroy the building. Sometimes they will scatter leaflets from overhead onto the street below warning of their attack on the area.
2023- Hamas kills around 1400 Israelis, as well as kidnapping many, mostly civilians. Israel responds, predictably.
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