ISRAEL VS HAMAS, Part 1

I have been reading and hearing a lot about the situation between Hamas and Israel from both sides and quite frankly, the whole debate is just maddening.

Normally, in any conflict one asks either side why are you fighting or what are you fighting for. The answer is not that easy to get especially from the Hamas side.

I have heard some people saying that Israel should not exist and that Israel has stolen the land from the Palestinians and needs to give it back…really?

Well let us tackle that issue first.

We all know the Bible stories about Israel and the fact that the Romans kicked their asses out of the region in 132 CE because they revolted constantly and Rome just did not want to put up with that anymore.

The Roman expulsion does not mean that all the Jews left; some stayed behind but not that many.

Arabs conquered the area in 635 CE and it remained in their hands for 1300 years. Eventually the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) conquered the area and it stayed in their hands until after WW1 when Turkey lost the war (they were aligned with Germany) and therefore all its possessions.

As we all know, the Jews were persecuted all around the world throughout history (another blog subject later) and as early as the 1800 were thinking of establishing a safe home (Zionism) in the area of Palestine and actually Jews started slowly trickling into the area and buying up land.

The Arabs did not mind a few Jews but when that number started growing, they got concerned.

The British were governing the area as part of their mandate after WW l and they tried to keep the peace as best they could until they couldn’t and said fuck this and left; this was after WWll.

Note: During WWll the Jews were definitely with the Allies and actually helped the Allied war effort. The Arabs on the other hand, saw a Nazi win as better for them since they would get the British out of Palestine and obviously exterminate all Jews.

The United Nations offered a partition plan to keep the two sides separated but the Arabs were not having any of that and when Israel declared itself a nation, the Arabs attacked (Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan). We all know that did not go well for the Arabs and Israel took control of the area which resulted in some 700,000 Arabs fleeing their homes and here is where we have the main issue; they want their land back.

Some call the Jews as illegal invaders and occupiers (the land was conquered and occupied by many people throughout history) because the Arabs have been in the area for a very long time and this is a very valid point.

The Jews claim the land as given to them by God (Biblical source) which is dubious claim based on a religious belief…sorry, I don’t buy it. But I do buy their rationale for trying to create a Jewish nation as a way to escape all the persecutions they have suffered throughout history.

So where does all this history leave us?

The Arabs have a legitimate claim to the land (as do American Indians have legitimate claims to most of the United States) but they lost the war and therefore have to accept the consequences as have millions of people throughout history who suffered under a myriad of invaders and occupiers.

The bottom line is that the Arabs are not getting their land back and so need to drop their quest of getting that land back by destroying Israel…that will not happen and so get over it and make the best of what you can get.

To be continued…