Arab Israeli Palestinian Tragedy Blog

When I was in the Middle East during the Six Day War (1967) I expected Israel to do the morally right thing and return the parts of Palestine that it had just occupied, e.g., West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, and the Sinai Peninsula. At the time, I justified this to myself by considering that Israel was in a position of demonstrated strength. I continue to be disillusioned that this has not yet been done (with the exception of the Sinai that was returned to Egypt in 1979). Israel has now gone on to an even greater level of force with continued major support from the United States. Israel has at least 200 atomic weapons with the capability to deliver them, plus the IDF is rated the fourth most powerful military in the world. It would be suicidal for any nation (especially a Middle East neighbor) to now attempt an attack.

Recently the thought has occurred to me that Israel has behaved toward the Palestinians, starting in 1947, similarly to the Nazis toward the Jews, beginning in the 1930s–however, without the gas chambers! I’ve recently learned that the IDF has used nerve gas against Gaza civilians in 2001 (see my summary of the DVD entitled GAZA STRIP in one of my previous blog entries.

This unknown type of Israeli gas seems to exhibit far more distressful symptoms than the gas (Zyklon B) used in the Nazi gas chambers. And it most certainly caused agonizing, slow deaths to the Palestinian victims.

Previously, I also hesitated to draw a comparison between the horrendous Holocaust and Israel’s cruel and humiliating treatment—occupation, colonization (1), and ethnic cleansing (2)—of the Palestinians; however, again that comparison has now been made. See Professor Richard Falk’s (a Jewish-American’s) essay entitled Slouching Toward a Palestinian Holocaust.

Are we witnessing a sociological comparison to the known psychological phenomena of abused children becoming abuser adults when they mature?

It is very encouraging that Jews (in the US, in Europe, and in Israel) are now speaking out more forcefully concerning Israel’s historical and on-going inhuman treatment of the Palestinians. When Gentiles take this perspective their beliefs are discounted and invariably deemed to be anti-Semitic (never mind that the Semitic race also includes the Arabs).

The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict is first of all a dual tragedy. As the rest of the world becomes more aware of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, Israel will increasingly be seen as a pariah nation. The Conflict also has the potential to become a multi-tragedy.

Finally, the growing danger is that this Conflict can initiate World War III! The mix of the three major religions with racism—plus the prize for control of the world’s largest energy (crude oil) supply—is now politically extremely explosive.

Reference Sources

1. See Israel: A Colonial-Settler State? 1973, by Maxime Rodinson

2. See The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, 2006, by Ilan Pappe

(Both of these books are must reads.)

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