Israeli-Palestinian Peace Rant

I am sickened by stories like the recent one of evictions of Palestinians from homes they have had since the 1940s. I am Jewish and want to see Israel living in peace with its neighbors, yet I see Israeli governments which seemed determined to make that impossible. I see Israeli and Jewish right-wingers who seem determined to dehumanize and demonize Palestinians and who attempt to de-legitimize any Palestinian claims to any part of the "Palestinian Mandate". The Jewish extremists attempt to justify their extremism by pointing to Palestinian extremism, and pretending that represents all Palestinian belief. I also see Palestinian, Muslim, and left-wing people who use every right-wing Jewish statement and action as evidence to support anti-Israel dogma.

For those who ask 'why Jews can't build on Israeli land', I would say that the West Bank and Gaza are not sovereign Israeli land. Those lands have not ever been recognized as part of Israel, either by international bodies or even by prior Israeli governments (except for a claim on East Jerusalem made by Israel). For those biblical determinalists, who say that 'G-d gave the land of Israel to the Jews', I would say that a verse from the Bible or Torah does not constitute legal title. It did not constitute legal title over 3000 years ago when Abraham, after being told the land was for him and his descendants, paid for the cave at Machpelah, or for Jacob, who was told the land was his, and who paid for the land he settled on.

For those who say 'there is no Palestinian people and they have no right to be there', I'd say many of them are the descendants of people who have lived in that area since biblical times. Some are the descendants of the original Christians, some of whom were Jewish and some not. Others are probably the descendants of non-religious Jews who found it easier to convert to Islam after the Arab conquest. Still others are likely the descendants of the other non-Jewish people who lived in that area. There were a number of other peoples who the Bible / Tanakh says lived among the children of Israel, and some of their descendants are likely among the Palestinians as well. Have there been other migrations as well? Certainly, but that is true throughout the world, and we cannot roll things back to where they were 2000 or 3000 years ago.

For those Palestinians & sympathizers who claim that the Jews have no claim on the holy land, I'd say that Jews have lived in that land continuously for literally thousands of years. Many other Jews lived in Arab lands and were forced to leave after the establishment of Israel and settled in Israel. Those Jews are not ‘European colonists’. Some Ashkenazi Jews intermarried with Europeans, but that does not invalidate their claim to a share of the holy land. DNA testing shows predominantly Semitic ancestry for the vast majority of European Jews.

Most of the Jews who arrived before 1948 settled on land which was purchased from its legal owners. There was no ‘theft’ involved in that, contrary to what some claim. During the war which established Israel as an independent country, some Palestinians were coerced to leave their homes in what is now Israel, while other left voluntarily, expecting to return at the end of hostilities. The Jews who lived behind the green line were also forced to abandon their homes.

I am distressed by those Jews who claim that pre-1948 Jewish title to lands beyond the green line should be recognized, while pre-1948 Palestinian title to lands in Israel should not. The same standard should apply to both. If 'abandoned' Palestinian property in Israel is not subject to recovery by descendants of its owners, then 'abandoned' Jewish property beyond the green line is not subject to recovery either. If Jews are allowed to reclaim land beyond the green line, then Palestinians must be allowed to reclaim property in Israel. One set of rules for all, regardless of religion or ancestry.

Only if the majority of people on both sides can reject the 'it's all mine' mentality can we ever begin to find peace in that land. While I often despair, I still pray for a sense of reason to develop and begin to guide enough people to allow them to achieve some level of peace for both Israel and Palestine.