Discussion over Israel and Palestine is largely about blame. There’s plenty to go around – for cruelty, murder, mayhem and stupidity, for refusal to come to the table and refusal to accept the rights and the very existence of others. There’s blame for this seventy-five years war, reminiscent of more than a century of wars that Europe fought over religious difference except this could be a millenium’s war since the Crusades – and this over a small piece of desert, existential for Israelis but fought over as if everything depends on exclusion of the other. Jews have been kicked hither and yon since the birth of Christ who’s probably horrified over what some, who claim to be his followers, did to the people of his birth. And both Israel and surrounding Muslim states have been unwilling to accommodate Palestinians. So perhaps this is an existential battle for everyone. Israel exists because the Jews faced an existential battle against Hitler’s Fascists, and refugees had difficulty getting into [quotes] “civilized” but anti-Semitic nations. All that blame curdles my heart but brings us nowhere closer to a solution.
I’m not sure who wants peace. Israel said it does but Hamas hasn’t. Israel might have outfoxed Hamas by playing more nicely with Palestinians, especially those on the West Bank and the P.L.O., as I’ve talked about on these airwaves. But I’m not sure if that’s still possible. And in light of repeated wars on Israel by the Arab nations and the P.L.O., I’m not sure if it was ever possible.
All the nations involved have been enablers of this conflict. Presidents Carter and Clinton came close to deals between Israel and the P.L.O. but neither put teeth into it by making it the price of our support. For years, we told Israel to stop uprooting Palestinians for Israeli “settlers” or squatters to take their land but it never went beyond talk. Instead we’ve tried to convince Israel that American support was unconditional. From examining the diplomatic records, some scholars concluded that American defeat of Iraq upended the power balance in the Middle East, deepening the rift between the U.S. and Iran and making the Middle east harder to handle. Obama’s nuclear deal was miraculous but Trump’s cancellation of the deal made Iran an intractable foe.
I think America is the one country that could have laid down the terms of a decent deal and made American aid and support conditional on it. Sure, that’s big power politics but the parties don’t seem able to resolve their problems themselves. I’m not sure domestic American politics would have supported it, but if we don’t get it done, American politics could flip with disastrous consequences for both Israel and the Palestinians.
Finally, I want to turn to the attacks against Jews stemming from reactions to the Israel-Hamas war, half a world away, by asking whether support for Palestinians make demonstrators and attackers complicit in Hamas’ murder of noncombatant men, women, children, even infants? If not, Jews are no more complicit in Israel’s actions either. By all means share my objections to Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians, but that doesn’t make Jews guilty of misbehavior. And if you support the rights of other minorities, then you must discredit stereotyping and prejudice because of people’s heritage or faith. Plus, Jews in this country have been major and consistent supporters of the rights of others, so driving them away is poor politics. Swinging at folk because of their heritage is unworthy of Americans, and the principles we’ve fought for.
Steve Gottlieb’s latest book is Unfit for Democracy: The Roberts Court and The Breakdown of American Politics. He is the Jay and Ruth Caplan Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Albany Law School, served on the New York Civil Liberties Union board, on the New York Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran.
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