Another factor that is seminal to the conflict is the Land… the actual ground and the average of the mind. The mental landscape is about ideas of ownership, history, spiritual connection and nationalism. The actual ground is covered in citrus, bougainvillea, almonds, desserts, lakes and rivers. The big question is who owns what.
To determine ownership by time on the ground seems a logical starting point until one realizes that both the Arab and Jewish peoples can both be traced to the Stone Age of 5,000 BC. From the Chalcolithic to the Canaanite period to the present day, both peoples existed in this contested space. Their mutual occupation is an historical fact but two things arise in modern times that change everything : Zionism and the Holocaust.
Established in 1897 as a political organization by Theodor Herzl, the group’s mission was-and is- the establishment of a Jewish homeland in the traditional Jewish homeland. A factor in the agenda is what Hertzl called, “the ingathering of the exiles”…the creation for the victims of pogroms, the many Jewish diasporas and the world’s virulent antisemitism. For Jew, Zionism is a philosophy of liberation and an act of historical JUSTICE. The Palestinians view Zionism as colonialist at best and at worst exclusionist and racist.
The Holocaust and the “never again” mentality adds bellicosity and steel to the Zionist vision.
In the early days of the Jewish return to Israel, land ownership is at the core of things. Many Jews immigrating to the homeland follow strict legal procedure in buying land. They show up with signed deeds and receipts that verify their legal ownership. Often these lands are purchased from rich Arabs or Ottoman nabobs that are themselves absentee owners. Imagine a Palestinian sitting on the doorstep of the tennant farm his family has occupied for five generations when a Jew from Poland walks up and says the famous words, “you are on my land.” When the Jew shows the paperwork the Arab is not impressed and certainly not inclined to vacate the place where children and grandchildren have been born. Chaos, ensues and resentment takes root. Both groups think they are in the right.
Today the acquisition of land has been militarized. The Israeli bulldozer is a dark image for the Palestinians and many contend the Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas represents a simple strategy of bloodless conquest.
Another factor in this drama is money. W.E.B. Du Bois, the American sociologist and activist made an observation about Blacks in America that applies here; ” To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.” Israel is the big boy on the block rich in shekels, military equipment and international support while the Palestinians are none of these things. They are clearly the underdogs…a fact that is violently resented.
A real danger occurs when these conflicts and resentments become the norm…the everyday business of the two aggrieved parties. This seems to be the case. Sari Nusseibeh and the pacifist on both sides that speak of integration and peace are fighting the immense weight of the combative status quo. It is doubly tragic when those when those who seek peace on any level are removed from the discussions, Rabin and Sadat began to consider the ideas of peace and integration and were immediately killed. The conflict has a life of its own.
Somehow Sadat’s words must be considered, “Peace is much more precious than a piece of land…let there be no more wars.”
Maybe someday…
.E>B DU Bois.
Olio Folio 