With raging hormones I simply can’t watch the news or read the papers online right now; what’s happening in Gaza is too horrible. I break down crying every time I open Aftonbladet. Today there’s a story about children who were found sleeping by their dead mother’s bodies. It’s a terrible, wretched thing, this war, and we can argue all we want about who’s to blame and who’s right, but I know one thing: it’s not those children’s fault, and yet they are the ones suffering!
In our house we get both sides: I grew up in a country where Palestinian support always was strong, and I was told from an early age that Palestinians are a suppressed people that should be sympathized with. Courtney grew up in a country that taught him Palestinians are terrorists. When I try to explain the conflict to the boys, I tell them the following:
“Remember last year when we talked about the Ancient times? We studied the place where the people of Canaan lived, around the city of Tyre, and how they were invaded by the Sea peoples who settled in the south. Do you remember there was one tribe called Peleset (known in the Bible as the Philistines) who had really sharp weapons?” (They always remember that last part). Well, the Philistines invaded the Hebrews who had come from Egypt where they had been slaves under the Egyptian Pharaoh – remember Moses brought them back to Canaan? – but the Hebrew boy David defeated the giant Philistine soldier Goliath, and the Hebrews turned all of the land into one country: Israel. David became king; after David’s son Solomon, who became kind after David, died, the people started fighting again, and eventually split the country into two: Israel and Judah. Then the Assyrians invaded Israel, and the Babylonians invaded Judah. Then the Persians came, then Alexander the Great, and eventually the Romans. After the Roman Empire was divided, Israel and Judah was part of the Byzantine Empire which lasted for almost 1000 years, and then the Ottoman Empire. During this time, Zionism AND Islam prospered in the area but without sharing, and so for a long time they fought over who had the right to the land, and… well; you know what? That’s still it; they’re still fighting; only now it’s worse than ever, because the weapons are terribly awful, and a lot of more people get killed, including mamas and kids.”
The conflict is a product of a very complicated history and it’s therefore difficult to solve? I studied war, conflict and peace theories for years, I know it’s extremely complicated and I know a lot of famous peace makers have been trying for years to get the conflict to settle; still, I see the crying malnourished children next to their dead young mothers, and I find myself wondering exactly what my boys asked me; oh but why, WHY are they fighting?
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I didn't grow up thinking of Palestinians as terrorists (a phrase that's really only been in vogue in the US since 2001), but more thinking of Israel as completely entitled because of the Holocaust. Not that that's how I feel now, but that's how it was presented: with the Jews as the victims. Americans, especially those a bit older than we are, really do think of themselves as the heroes of World War II. Though of course there's also lots of anti-Semitism in the US. It's weird that way. Of course, Courtney may have grown up being taught differently, but that's my perspective.
In any case, in slight defense of Americans: a recent poll shows that a full 71% of Americans actually think the US government should *not* take sides in the conflict:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/12/30/democracy/
That's more than in Spain (59%) and only a bit less than France or the UK (79% each).
What was really interesting in this study was that it found that Egyptians are actually *more* negative about Israel than Palestinians!
Here's the link right to the report on the countries: http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/pdf/jul08/WPO_IsPal_Jul08_countries.pdf
There's some hope, I think, that Obama might take a slightly different approach towards the Middle East than the current or previous administrations (or else he'd be making more statements of agreement right now). Let's hope anyway.
On another note: did you see this very interesting editorial in the Egyptian press?
http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=18767
The author argues that Arab countries use Israel so they can play the victim. It's more complicated, and very interesting.
Finally, here's a great editorial from today's New York Times by the excellent writer Nicholas Kristoff about how Israel's action led to Hamas's power:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/opinion/08kristof.html
Of course, this is all a very dry response to a very terrible thing. And I agree: it is terrible.
everyone shows these terrible pictures with children victims, everyone writes about children victims, everyone discusses it but nobody does nothing to improve the life of these children. to give them a chance to believe that there is another way to live their life than only fight.
I do nothing. this is also my fault. I'm ashamed....
Thank you for the links, J. – I had seen the article in the New York times, and have read a lot of articles in the Egyptian press, AND I agree with you – the American public opinion is a little more complex and nuanced than I make it sound (as is the Swedish or the European public opinion and politics as well) – I probably should have used ‘home’ rather than ‘country’. I was simply trying to illustrate that Courtney and I grew up in very different contexts when it comes to world politics in general, and the Israel-Palestine conflict in particular. During the 1980’s, the US gave a lot of money to Israel, and Sweden gave a lot of money to Palestine.
In my home, the Jewish people were considered victims of the Holocaust as well, but it didn’t give them the right to suppress the Palestinian people. Add the fact that Israel had the financial and public support of the US, and I can tell you my parents dragged me to more anti-Israel demonstrations than I care to remember. As unbelievable as it may sound, especially considering my family history and my children’s passports, I grew up in one of those European ‘anti-imperialist/capitalist (=evil) America’ homes. I guess things change; let’s hope it goes for Gaza as well.
Having read all the comments I will say I agree, my question at the end of the day is also WHY? I ask the question every time I hear about Indo-Pakistan problems as well, about which I have an admittedly, if understandably biased (though I hope not-completely-skewed) view.
Of course there is no answer. In my wackier moments I blame it on the Brits (not those of today but those of yore) for both problems actually. Because lets not forget that horrible as the Holocaust was, it was neither the reason nor impetus for the creation of Israel. The Balfour treaty (or whatever) was signed quite some time before that. But the Brits are not to blame either because well they're no longer in the picture.
Ultimately when I look at these conflicts I'm forced to think that there are no good guys, and actually not too many out and out bad guys either. Both Israel/Palestine or India/Pakistan are unholy messes. And therein lies the crux of the matter. The holy-unholy part. Maybe we ought to do as the ancients did for science. Take God/religion out of the equation? Then maybe people could come to decisions with their rational rather than emotional brains.
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