As the Hamas Israel war enters its fourth week, another conflict rages on social media across the globe between supporters of Israel and the supporters of the Palestinian cause. What is it about the conflict that has the ability to stir passions across the world, even amongst those far removed both spatially and culturally from the conflict.
A big role in this may be played by the Biblical dimensions of the conflict and its holy geography. After all, both Christianity and Islam, the world’s two largest religions, have their roots in Judaism. And the sacred geography of the land between the river Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea makes them automatically invested, at least emotionally, in the conflict.
Meanwhile non-Abrahamic religions like Hinduism also often find parallels with Judaism. What else would explain the frenzied and polarised exchanges amongst Indians, for instance, in that conflict? Good relations with Israel alone does not explain this passion, nor do the linkages between Palestinian Muslims and the ummah (the whole community of Muslims).
No Middle Ground
Unfortunately, the conflict is viewed in very extreme terms with almost no middle ground. So, the narrative goes, if you support Israel and its right to exist in peace and security then you cannot support a Palestinian state. If you condemn Hamas then you have to condemn the Palestinian cause itself. Conversely, if you support the Palestinians and their right to their own state then you cannot support the right of the state of Israel to exist. Palestine, should then, exist all the way from the river (Jordan) to the (Mediterranean) Sea with no place for Israel. Worse, if you support Palestinians you have to discredit the Holocaust.
To prove one's point, one goes way way back in history. Supporters of Israel will quote Abraham's tryst with God, the exile to Egypt where the Hebrews were oppressed, drawing parallels right away to Egypt today, hinting at its inherent incapability to play a role fair to Israel. They will then move to how Moses led the way back to the Promised Land at great cost to himself, and how David founded the great kingdom of Israel, and so the land belongs to Jews eternally, where Palestinians are trespassing.
Supporters of Palestinians go back in time before the Israelis arrived in the land of Canaan where they point out different tribes, including the Philistines, the ancestors of the Palestinians had been living. They take out maps from the Ottoman Empire to prove there was no Israel prior to 1948. All these unnecessary forays into history are peculiar to this conflict. They also, unfortunately, help to obfuscate the real issues and the current state of the conflict.
The Two State Solution
The fact remains that it is possible, even necessary to condemn Hamas barbarity, while also batting for a sovereign Palestinian state. It is possible to sympathise with Israel, and defend Israel's right to exist while not endorsing the disproportionate force that it is retaliating with. It is important to want all those kidnapped by Israel to be returned safely to their homes while also calling for an end to the violence in the Gaza Strip where since 7 October at least 3,450 children have reportedly been killed, according to Unicef. The total number of dead is obviously higher.
The land is tiny but there is still enough for two independent states of Israel and Palestine to exist side by side in peace and security. Most Indians confuse Palestinian demands as being those on the territory of the state of Israel. What the Palestinians demand however is the rest of the land – the Gaza Strip and the West Bank – that should constitute a viable Palestinian state already spatially separated by Israel.
Palestinians want their state where they can be citizens and govern themselves. And through my many travels and visits in the region I found many Palestinians actually looked to Israel as a future model for themselves. This might seem strange, even bizarre, given the raging conflict there.
In the Middle East, however, Israel is the only country where people can openly protest their government 's policies and some have been protesting even against the war in Gaza. It is a country which sees a whole lot of internal debates and regular elections. It is a society driven by knowledge and innovation and Palestinians crave that kind of society for themselves.
That is why it is enough to go back to the 1990s and renew both the spirit and letter of the Oslo Accords to realise two sovereign states of Israel and Palestine, coexisting side by side in peace and harmony for long lasting peace in the region and by extension in the world.
Aditi Bhaduri is a journalist and political analyst. Views are personal, and do not represent the stance of this publication.
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