Month: August 2021

Your correspondent has been communicating about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a family friend’s son since he made aliyah to Israel about 7 years ago. He is now making his opinions and beliefs known on national media so I think it is timely to share historical context about his beliefs.  August 6, 2024

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“Here are my thoughts… two IMPORTANT concepts to keep in mind when thinking about and discussing this issue.

First, there is A LOT of propaganda from both the Israelis and the Palestinians. Let me define propaganda. Each side has their real reasons for what they do and believe, but what they tell the world is not necessarily their real reasons, but instead what will make sense to you. They need to convince you, an American who cannot possibly relate to their situation, to take their side. So the Jews use the holocaust, saying Jews  have faced antisemitism all over the world for all of history, and thus need a safe country of their own to live. This is partially true, but that’s not Zionism and that wasn’t the main reason either. The Palestinians list as their grievences: Boarders, settlements, Jerusalem as the capital, refugees. These are all legitimate grievances, but none of these are the main grievance. That means that even if Israel fixed every single one of these issues, there would not be peace because the main issue, which no American would relate with, has not been solved in their eyes.

Second, and I alluded to this in number 1, don’t ever assume that what makes sense to you, what is logical and obvious to you, is the same for the Palestinians. They come from a hugely different culture. Here is an example of what I mean, but using a different group that also was extreme. The Japanese during WWII. A mother would give her son a dagger before he went off to war in China and tell him that if he is captured, use this knife to kill himself. Death is infinitely better than the shame of being captured. And surrender or retreat is unthinkable. No American mother would ever do this. Now back to the Palestinians. They also have extreme views on martydom. But that’s not the only thing they view differently from you, there are thousands of other little examples. Just the other day someone said to me, “true, Iran is a threat, but they’d be crazy to attack Israel. They’d get obliterated by Israel or the Americans.”  What he didn’t understand is that the ultra- religious  Iran doesn’t calculate the pros and cons of a situation like you and me. They quite possibly will reject a deal that is too good to be true, and engage in a conflict that is ridiculously stupid and risky. Why? Because their values, life and death, motivation are different. I can think of more concrete examples if you would like, but I hope my point is clear. Real quick, a lighter example. I was with a guy, 23 years old, when he touched a dog for the first time in his life! Can you imagine that? Probably not. But most Muslims never touch dogs.

I’m all for peace. But you have to be realistic as well. Ghandi and MLK were great. Go pacifism! But that only worked because of the tolerance and morality of the US and British leadership. In Nazi Germany or Hamas’ Gaza, those guys would be dead in a minute.Gone without any influence whatsoever.  Every situation is different and requires a unique approach that takes into consideration many variables of history, culture, time, place, and so much more. What worked and seems logical in one conflict is not necessarily applicable or usefull in another. And the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is intense and complicated.” [STETs not marked]

September 23, 2018

INTERVIEW with Aya Batrawy, on NPR July 9, 2024