- The reality is that only first generation nationalists who founded the Israeli state support the idea of Israel totally dominating Palestine.
- Today it is very likely that liberal and leftist Jewish people prefer to build peaceful country rather than embracing the aggressive, expansionist ideology of Zionism.
The 19th century history is composed of military interventions, civil wars and the conquest of the globe by colonial masters. In the 20th century, humanity experienced two devastating world wars. And after World War I, during which 40 million people died, the world order changed.
Though many ugly previous struggles have stopped, the Israeli-Palestinian warfare has proven to be one of the world’s most lasting conflicts. Towards the end of WW I, the sacred lands of Palestine was colonised by the UK. And after British left the Middle East in the late 1940s, colonial rule was replaced with an inevitable rivalry between two emerging states, Israel and Palestine.
The prevalent perspective has been that Israeli state targets to monopolise the Palestinian lands by destroying the Palestinian citizens wholly. However, if Israeli bureaucrats had such secret agenda, this goal is impracticable and unachievable. For centuries, European states persecuted the Jewish to the point that Nazi regime sought to wipe them entirely during the Holocaust, one of the most tragic episode in history.
Yet, the Jewish citizen succeeded in overcoming these disastrous moments, they later managed to establish their state in their sacred lands. Similarly, Palestinian-one day- must establish their state in Palestine in future.
The reality is that only first generation nationalists who founded the Israeli state support the idea of Israel totally dominating Palestine. Today it is very likely that liberal and leftist Jewish people prefer to build peaceful country rather than embracing the aggressive, expansionist ideology of Zionism.
But the international position is plausible that the US support Israel as an outpost for maintaining and championing American interests. In contrast, Arabs and Muslim countries support Palestine because of their regional interests. Even though it is essential to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through an international perceptive, regional and global dynamics are too complex and unstable to distill into rigid West versus East contention. The balance of power and dynamics of alliances constantly change in the Middle East.
However, it is logical to tackle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by focusing on Israel’s domestic politics. Israel’s constant and bloody previous offensive on Palestinian civilians, sacred spaces and material and spiritual values demonstrate that the Israeli state feels insecure in the face of its citizens. A mixed population, made up of Jewish from different regions of the globe, founded Israel. To ensure internal unity among these Jewish people, the Israeli state seems to require a constant war against an endless enemy.
Historically, Judaism serves as paste that bonds and unite the Jewish people, who came from different parts of the world. However, it seems that one of the greatest obstacles to the consolidation of Israeli statehood is also the same Judaism. As a religious state, Israel hosts hundreds of religious groups; some are radical while others are tolerant. These religious cleavages exacerbate the emergence of new social conflicts. On pride parades, for example, conflicts between demonstrators and religious groups have always ended with the deaths of tens of civilians.
The writer is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya