We Americans like our news fast and easy to digest. Whether it
is from CNN or FOX News, we like to hear little clips of
what’s going on in the world, and then we get on with our
lives. A perfect example of this is seen in how the average
American views the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Catchy headlines
and hot-headed commentators have conditioned us to believe
it’s a religious conflict pitting the Jewish people against
fundamentalist Muslims. This perception is not only false, but
extremely dangerous in that it desensitizes us to the suffering
that’s going on.
Palestinians aren’t a bunch of crazed Muslims ready to
slaughter the Jews and drive them into the Mediterranean, as the
Israeli right-wing propaganda machine would have us believe. The
majority of groups currently involved in the uprising against the
Israeli occupation are secular, such as Fatah. In fact, two of the
three largest factions within the Palestine Liberation Organization
have been led by Palestinian Christians George Habash and Nayef
Hawatmeh. My point here isn’t to defend any of the actions of
those involved in the current intifada. Rather, it is to show the
Palestinians are fighting for their land and human rights, not
simply for their religious beliefs.
A thorough understanding of the history is imperative to
understanding the Palestinian cause. Around the late 19th century,
the Zionist movement set its eyes upon Palestine with the goal of
establishing a Jewish state there. But there was one little problem
““ the land was already inhabited by Palestinians. The early
Zionist settlers, almost all of European decent, successfully used
their influence and power to persuade the British government to
support their cause.
The British Empire was in its declining days and the British
realized a European Jewish country in the heart of the Middle East
could be a de facto colony that could advance their economic and
military interests in the region long after they pulled their
troops out.
Colonialism was even a selling point of some Zionist leaders
such as Vladimir Jabotinsky who wrote, “If you wish to
colonize a land in which people are already living, you must
provide a garrison for the land. … It is important to speak
Hebrew, but, unfortunately, it is even more important to be able to
shoot.”
Why then are we so often told that the Palestinians are fighting
due to an inherent hatred of the Jews? The historical facts show
that for centuries, Palestine had been a place of religious
tolerance. According to the Turkish census of 1878, 3.2 percent of
Palestine’s population was Jewish. Christian Palestinians
were 10 percent of the population, while Muslims made up the rest.
If the Muslims in Palestine truly had a desire to kill all the
Jews, they could have easily wiped out the small Palestinian Jewish
population hundreds of years ago. Palestinians have never had a
problem with people of the Jewish faith; rather, their fight was,
and still is against the Zionist movement. It was the Zionist
troops that forced the Palestinians from their homes, causing what
is today one of the largest refugee problem in the world ““
with over 4.5 million refugees.
Moshe Dayan, one of Israel’s most celebrated generals, put
it best when he said, “Jewish villages were built in the
place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these
Arab villages, and I do not blame you because the geography books
no longer exist. … There is not one single place built in this
country that did not have a former Arab population,” as
quoted in a 1969 article in the Israeli newspaper
Ha’Aretz.
If there’s ever to be a just and lasting peace in the
Middle East, all the lies that have been propagated for too long
must be exposed. Coexistence among people of all faiths ““
Jewish, Muslim and Christian ““ can and must be the model for
any future settlement. However, this coexistence must be based on
equality. Israel must become a state of all its citizens, where the
religion of students doesn’t determine what schools they go
to or where they live. Then, and only then, will the bloodshed
stop.
Mogannam is a member of Al-Awda and United Arab
Society.