Where Do I Stand?

Israel. West Bank. Israel. Gaza. Israel. “Occupied Territories.” Israel. Palestine?

Coming to the end of my trip, I thought it was time to reflect on how my position toward the conflict has evolved. I wouldn’t say my position has “changed,” necessarily, though certainly I have become far more sensitive to spin, to national narratives (aka exclusivist or selective narratives), and to the tangled web of cause and effect that will never be satisfactorily sorted out.

As of now, still about a week away from the program’s official end, here are some of my thoughts:

Although not officially a state, the Palestinian territories do comprise an entity totally distinct from Israel proper (i.e. Israel before its 1967 victory and the subsequent occupation). Having now experienced several Arab cities in the West Bank, I feel well-informed enough to make the assertion that Palestine is (de facto) and should be (de jure) a state. Again, I do not consider myself pro- either side. But after hearing as many perspectives as possible, weighing “security” against “justice” while keeping peace foremost in my mind, a quiet realism is beginning to pervade my former idealism. This is not to say that I too have given up on peace. Instead, I have come to understand that it is unrealistic to expect true empathy to emerge while present conditions remain. And present conditions, I’m sorry to say, weigh heavily in Israel’s favor politically, and heavily in the Palestinians favor morally.

That said, I also believe in Israel’s right to exist. I believe in its potential as an emergent democracy in the Middle East. I’m not sure where I stand on the notion of Israel’s identity as a “Jewish state.” This is not to say that I don’t believe in it, I just don’t know how I feel about it yet. You see, I am fundamentally conflicted about the Western compartmentalization of the world into “nation-states” in general. Without a detailed discussion, suffice it to say that I feel the system has served its purpose but is, in modern and historical form, completely incompatible with present needs and future wants. Should there be a Jewish state? What about a Muslim state? A Kurdish state? What constitutes “peoplehood” and is it synonymous with “nationhood”? If not, what differentiates them? These are all philosophical questions, of course. The reality is that Israel exists as a Jewish state, and as such, given the current conception of nation-statehood, is just as legitimate at any other state. As the situation holds, there can be no “right of return” for Palestinian refugees, no “secular, binational, one-state solution.” I do, however, feel there must be a push within Israel to clarify its murky relations between synagogue and state.

I believe there should be a Palestinian state. Israel likes to speak of “facts on the ground” (i.e. settlements, creeping annexation, etc), but Palestinians have “facts on the ground,” too. They’re called identity, lineage, language, and tradition. I believe the settlements must be stopped, most of them completely evacuated (saving perhaps several of the largest and closest to Israel), and the existing infrastructure (houses, schools, municipal buildings) left standing for new Palestinian residents.

However, after speaking to a Palestinian citizen of Israel last week, I do believe she also has a point. The formidable though unspoken Israeli policy toward the Palestinians is “divide and conquer” – though I contend that the policy wouldn’t be effective if there weren’t significance cracks in the foundations of Palestinian society that Israel could exploit. This Palestinian woman told me, I think mirroring the sentiments of many, that the two-state solution is no longer viable. With the balkanization of the Occupied Territories (Gaza completely isolated from the West Bank, Palestinians in Israel completely isolated from both Gaza and the West Bank and vice versa) there are now effectively three Palestinian entities, not one. This social and political rift will have to be remedied before Palestinian nationhood can be achieved. No unified citizenry, no nation, simple as that. We speak of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, but there needs to be intra-community dialogue as well, especially where the Palestinians are concerned.

I believe the current Palestinian refugees residing in camps in Gaza and the West Bank need to be carefully but firmly rehabilitated. Their stories need to be told, their narratives recorded and broadcast to the world. I believe they need to feel deeply that they have been heard, recognized, and understood. And then I feel, heartless as this may seem, that they need to move on. Israel is not going anywhere and the exact land that was taken from them will never, except in rare cases, be returned. What can be returned are several priceless things, which the refugees have so far abandoned in preference for a false and limiting notion of “absolute justice.” Refugees will gain their freedom, their mobility, their full identity – not as victims, but as citizens. In gaining a future, the refugees will also, believe it or not, regain their past. For as much as they cling to it now, a past without a future is meaningless. The past bestows meaning upon the future, otherwise it is just memory.

And the most interesting thing about official Palestinian statehood and citizenship? Not only will the Palestinian people themselves gain a future and regain their past, but so too will the Israelis. Currently, Israel is not just a state of Jews, it’s a state of denial and self-exile. Ironic, isn’t it? Jews flocked from all over the world to Eretz Israel, to create this Jewish homeland and claim for once a secure place at the global table. But what happened? To claim their place, the Jews had to displace others. A graffiti scrawling on the Wall said it best: “The Oppressed Become the Oppressors.” How can the Jews, once among the most rejected and persecuted people, now perpetrate similar crimes against their brother race? Recognizing and officiating the Palestinians’ national rights will allow Israel not just peace, but peace of mind...(To be continued...)