Israel: What went Wrong?

It must be said this situation is under change, but this post is intended to reflect the current circumstances and how they came to be.   "Israel  What Went Wrong" is the most comprehensive book I have come across dealing with this particular global crisis.

Jews were expelled from Palestine by Romans and scattered in many directions.  They were seen by many Christians as Christ killers.  Many were poor, but others served the elites in Europe causing resentment among the lower class workers.  The Bible forbade lending money for profit and thus some Jews were allowed to be money lenders causing further resentment.  Jews gravitated to positions requiring academic training.

There has been a serious lack of awareness about the beginning of Israel.  Most of the world is deeply aware of the Holocaust.  Jews trying to escape the Nazis had found many countries very restrictive and afterwards it induced guilt feelings.  In much of the world the Jews were very conscious of serious discrimination and a few developed the idea of Zionism long before the Holocaust.

The Holocaust was a genocide, but far from the first.  Colonizers were exploiting the resources of poor countries and sometimes found the natives could be very troublesome.  One of the early genocides was in 1904 in an area now known as Namibia under German control  One tribe the Herero fell victim to a genocide and later in 1915 Armenians also fell victim.  These and other examples of genocide did not concern Westerners, but the Holocaust was much closer to home and created repercussions unknown before.

After WW II Britain and the United Nations negotiated the setting up of Israel and Palestine.  Starting in 1947 until 1949 the Jewish military forced over 400,000 Arabs to flee Israel territory in order to assure a Jewish majority.  It is still illegal for them to return with most of their property confiscated for Jewish settlers. 

A constitution was promised back as far as 1947, but prominent politicians wanted to avoid it and religious elements felt it would lessen their control.   Secular Jews feel restricted.  There is still no constitution although some politicians such as Menachem Begin felt it was a necessity to protect human rights.  

Over the years there were several attempts to overturn Israel, but they all failed as United States and others provided massive military assistance.  

Settlers are a major problem as I write this.  Increasingly despite western protests settlers have moved into the West Bank and have more rights than the native Palestinians.  They have been aggressive to the point of killing significant numbers.

Then October 7th, 2023 with the focus at first on the murders, rapes and hostage taking.  It truly was a grisly event that horrified the whole world.  It was probably a small fringe of Hamas that wanted to brutalize the Israelis, but also true that many others approved the fighting back, realizing diplomacy wasn't practical. 

The author feels Biden could have stopped the escalation by refusing to provide arms, but probably felt the public would not support.  Others felt Netanyahu helped flame the resistance, feeling it would solidify his power.  Personally I feel the western protesters have opened a few eyes, but it is still an up hill battle.

Israel set out to curb Hamas and over time flattened hundreds of buildings and killing tens of thousands.  Both sides publicized the brutality towards children.  Palestine, per capita has the most child amputees in the world.  Children as young as 12 were classified as terrorists and imprisoned.

Journalists were killed in their coverage.  Israeli media minimized the brutality towards the Palestinians, much like Germans kept the horrors of the Holocaust from their citizens.

Protests around the world began against the Israeli genocide.  Initially most western politicians cried out antisemitism was the cause and took steps to punish protesters.  Undoubtedly antisemitism increased, but others were able to separate Jews, Zionism and Palestine.  Trump is now horrified by the killings, but once suggested Gaza should be emptied of Palestinians and turned into a tourist centre.  

Israeli soldiers have suffered PTSD with an increase in suicides.  Academics and professionals have started leaving.

The author brought up many suggested solutions, even conceding that Trump's 21 points have some merit.  Without discarding his suggestions I offer the following below.  All solutions will be considered radical by somebody.

Those nations that would like to see a solution can band together to offer reconstruction money, materials and efforts instead of weapons or money to buy weapons.  The contingent requirement would be that Israel must contribute to the reconstruction.  In return the banded nations could also agree to defend against outsiders, including Iran and its allies excluding with restrictions, Palestinians.  Palestinians would have to agree to curb violence in order to speed up reconstruction.  Discussions between the governments of Palestine and Israel would decide the many details under guidance from the banded nations.  If the Israeli public cannot be brought on board they would lose support of the banded nations and be subject to sanctions.  All this requires good will on all sides as well as the willingness of nations to change their contributions from weapons to reconstruction.  Best bets might be the U.S. (under a new regime), and NATO nations.  Germany has been caught in an awkward situation while they feel a need for atonement they have picked up any criticism of Israel as anti semitic, but perhaps a truer atonement could involved reconciling the Jews and the Arabs.  There are sane people on all sides and as others see what a mess has been created would appreciate peace as a goal.  

Trump allowed himself to be persuaded to attack Iran alongside Israel.  The high price of energy causing food and many consumables is a price Americans and most others are paying.  Reason might gain some ground if enough suffer.  Hopefully renewable resources are seen more practical.

Hope that attitudes will change.  Westerners have accepted one side of the conflict for decades, but now some realize that has not been fair.  Encouragingly Abdul El-Sayed, an American Senator prospect has gained significant support for the Palestinians.

In the end some courageous man or woman will have to make a big move.  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/09/we-need-another-nelson-mandela-and-fw.html

The crisis has caused personal hardships, splitting Jewish friends.  One example is  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/02/peter-beinarts-being-jewish-after.html

"Israel  What Went Wrong?" is pretty comprehensive and I think reasonably balanced.

The jacket cover is by Violet Dine.