The Truth About the Israeli-Palestine Conflict

The overwhelming support of Israel by the United States under the Bush administration was not guarded and often transcended the purported obligations of the leader of the “free world” to act as a neutral and unbiased diplomatic force in foreign matters of state. It was a certainty that America under President Barack Obama would respect all nations, tolerate all ideologies and importantly, for Israel, demand a peaceful outcome to the Israeli-Palestine standoff. The forewarning of the policies of an Obama administration was made known on the Barack Obama web site during the 2008 United States election.  Understandably Israel chose to reduce the military prowess of Hammas at the end of 2008 prior to Barack Obama being sworn in as President of the United States.

 The 2008 Israeli attacks on the Palestinians targeted Hammas radicals. Unlike the propaganda disseminated by the media, the Israeli attacks on Hammas emanated from a legitimate concern that Israel had over the daily Fattah attacks on Israel at the hands of Hammas and Hezbollah militants who conveniently staged these attacks from within the confines of Palestinian civilian abodes. There was no time to waste nor any point in addressing the concerns of Israel by diplomatic means. The deterrence of Fattah attacks in the long term would have yielded Israel a clear military and strategic advantage and in order to do this Israel would have had to strike first. Although Israel has a lethal military force in the region including nuclear weapons, these weapons exist for self-defence.

The imminence of the threat of Hammas or Hezbollah waging Fattah attacks against Israel and the threat of loss of lives of Israelis was clear. The daily attacks via rockets from Hammas militants evidenced an instant threat. In the eyes of the Israeli leadership, the future threats of Fattah attacks was not only high but a real likelihood demonstrated from Israel’s experiences in this regard. The overwhelming probability of the threat of Fattah attacks was certain, based on history and the territorial dispute over the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. There was no viable alternative and the delay in launching the attack arguably would have no difference but at the same time when would the opportune time then have arisen for a first strike to pre-empt the escalation of territorial disputes and Fattah attacks. Further the adversaries of Israel were unmoved by diplomatic efforts and the mutually exclusive nature of the opposing ideologies meant conciliation was unattainable. After all the Israeli clash with its 22 neighboring Islamic countries go back decades. The 1967 response by Israel to escalating Fattah attacks from Egypt and Syria was mooted to be justifiable self-defence.

On his election web site barackobama.com President Obama stated that he “stood up strongly for Israel’s right to defend itself from Hezbollah raids and rocket attacks …. and insisting that Israel should not be pressured into a ceasefire that did not deal with the threat of Hezbollah missiles …. believe strongly in Israel’s right to protect its citizens.”  This mission statement by Obama, although reassuring for pro-Israeli supporters, does not redress the daily realities faced by the Israelis. Both the Bush administration and President Obama support the implementation of two independent and democratic states, a Jewish state in Israel and a Palestinian State, “living side by side in peace and security.” To the uninformed this ideal appears to be noble and forged in topical diplomacy as one expects from the United States. However, it ignores what politicians do not want to write or speak about. It assumes a utopian social design where ideology and religion do not clash. More so, it fails to acknowledge the historical fact that an Arab-Palestine State already existed east of the Jordan river since after World War I. It also ignores the mutually exclusive nature of Islam and other religions. Obama claims that Christianity and Islam are not mutually exclusive and share many issues of faith. This statement is proved false by a simple study of the main tenets of these religions. Both these religions claim to be the only true way to God, ergo mutually exclusive. Islam believes that in both Judaism and Christianity, their followers tailored the scriptures and whereas both Christianity and Judaism endorse atonement for sin, in Islam there is no forgiveness for sin by way of mere prayer.

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The creation of a Palestinian State is a reasonable demand and even Israel will benefit from the establishment of a democratic Palestine. Both the Bush administration and President Obama recommended that Israel forces need to withdraw fully to positions they held prior to September 28, 2000 and Israeli settlement activity in the occupied territories must stop. But the one fact that is overlooked is that the present-day State of Israel only occupies some 25% of the original Jewish Palestinian State established in 1947 under United Nations Resolution 181. In this United Nations sanctioned State Arabs and Jews were to share the land. But for the reasons mentioned, the Jews and Arabs could not co-exist in harmony. Propaganda in the media also overlooks the fact that Israel extended a life-line to the nearly 1 million Arabs occupying the Gaza Strip after Israel captured this territory in the 1967 six day war by allowing them to stay when the laws of war would have dictated that they vacate the Gaza Strip.

The truth about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that it is a standoff between Israel and the entire Arab world and the reference to Palestinians in conflict with Israel is a misnomer and biased political rhetoric to foster the notion that the Palestinians have an entitlement to the Gaza Strip to the exclusion of Israel whereas Israel had in fact established a homeland for the Jews in the expanded Palestine territory 2000 years ago. The particular conviction over this issue will differ widely and the Arab world will not accept their 1967 defeat in war against Israel as binding. However the laws of war clearly provide that what one conquers in war becomes your property to the exclusion of the enemy and all nations are required to respect this title. As such Israel has the right to control and occupy the Gaza Strip as its own. For the sake of peace and social harmony in the Middle-East the only solution would be to acknowledge the Gaza Strip as Israeli territory acquired in 1967 by virtue of international law.