THE G,H,I…P OF WARFARE!

Is it really so easy to choose sides in a war?

How do I choose sides anyway, when the collateral damage is too huge a price to pay? When civilians, kids, women, men, animals, homes are turned into rubble. Do I count the number of bodies to determine who is at fault?

Or, do I look for the one responsible for this hate?

To give you context, what I imply here is the geopolitical fiasco that ails the Middle-Eastern countries & their people, solely Palestine & Israelis or Israelis & Palestine. Don’t want to seem biased on whom I have named first there.

To break down this whole ordeal, we need to moonwalk right back to where it all started.

It’s 1047 BC in the Kingdom Of Israel (modern-day Israel/ground-zero of the conflict). King Solomon is the ruler and the capital of the kingdom is Jerusalem. The Jews have just got their religious pilgrimage site, the “First Temple” here, built under King Solomon’s rule called the Temple Mount.

Fast forward to 586 BC, Babylonians step into the scene and destroy the Temple Mount followed by the Persians who re-construct the same and call it, The Second Temple. Romans invaded the kingdom and destroyed the Second Temple leaving only a wall. Jews flee to Europe fearing execution. Now, as per popular belief & bibliographic records Jews had been considered to have crucified/killed Jesus, a kind of negative sentiment seemed to have formed against Jews. To date, you’ll hear the same against the Jewish people.

King Flavius Constantius died in the year 306 after which Constantine The Great, his son, ascended to the throne. Impressed with Christianity, Constantine adopted the religion, thereby propagating the same throughout Rome. And since Jews were already blamed for the crucifixion of Christ, the hate for Jews fires on. Jews were beaten and killed during his tenure, forcing them to flee towards Europe & others. Constantine, then constructs The Church Of The Holy Sepulchre right where Jesus was crucified, just 2 kilometers from the Temple Mount. Muslims in the region call the Temple Mount, Haram Al Shareef.

Time passes, it’s 638 AD, and the Arab Army Of Umar defeats the Romans. They construct The Dome Of The Rock near the Temple Mount followed by The Al Aqsa Masjid. Thus, all of these religious shrines located near each other become an area of utmost importance for Christians, Muslims & Jews. This made Jerusalem crucial for the religious communities.

Jews, forced to flee wanted to come back to their homeland after feeling mistreated in Europe, like second-class citizens. The demand for their homeland now turned into politics where Zionism was born, with the sole motive of relocating Jews.

Year 1914: World War I where Germany & Britain go head-to-head with the Ottoman Empire ruling over Jews supporting the German front. Britain was looking for allies and this is where the game changed. The British pivoted to the Zionists (with a target to sway the decision-makers in the US) by announcing that it would favour the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, the creation of “Israel”. The same was put forward by the British in the form of The Balfour Declaration which did cite the event but cleverly never mentioned the proportion of land/location they would be allocated.

So, now it was Britain, the US, USSR with Jewish support v/s the Ottoman Empire supported by the Germans. Many died in the war from both sides, with the war finally concluding in 1819. The British side wins.

The Ottoman Empire is overthrown, and now The British start ruling the same region. Now, it was time for the British to fulfil their promises made in The Balfour Declaration. Thus, began the mass migration of Jews from Europe back to their homeland. By then, Arabs & Muslims were higher in numbers, but the Jews settled in some parts of the region. Neither, the current occupants of Palestine nor the neighbouring Arab countries were happy with this.

The Jewish National Fund founded by the Zionists helped Jews buy land in Palestine. By 1914 the Jewish population had increased rapidly from 25 thousand in 1878 to 85000+ & even more. On one hand, the British expressed to the Arabs, their desire for peace in the region & on the other hand continued with the mass migration of Jews.

As per the British White Paper On Palestine found in 1922, it was understood that all of this was an intentional tactic by the British, i.e., their favourite move, “Divide & Rule.”

The mass migration continued in large numbers from all over the world, especially with the rise of Adolf Hitler & his ideologies against the Jews. Already, being blamed for the death of Christ and certain differences with Christianity & now with the Nazi ideology, hatred spewed further with Jews being persecuted, attacked & slaughtered, left & right. World War II records around 60 lakh Jews killed. All of this strengthened the desire to go back to their homeland.

By now, the Jewish presence in the region had surpassed that of the Arabs.

The Year 1939: World War II, the Arabs decide to back Germany against Britain, the US, USSR with Jewish support. We all know who lost.

Ironically, the UN was founded after this, and the winners in the war dominated the house. Jews were to finally get their homeland. The British submitted The Balfour Declaration to the UN but also stated that Palestine was out of their control considering the migration of Jews and thus, the UN should take this matter into their hands.

UN’s Committee reports 1/3 rd Jews, 2/3 rd Arabs with around 6% of the total land in Palestine acquired by Jews. UN passes its decision to divide the whole region into two countries with the Jew-dominated area, to be called Israel & the Palestinian-dominated region to be called Palestine. UN would hold control over Jerusalem. India and other Arab countries voted against the division of Palestine. But as per majority votes, the resolution was passed and a new map with the division details was released in 1947.

The British leave the region. Unhappy with the outcome, all the neighbouring Arab countries launch a strike on Israel. But Israel forces them to back off and occupy way more of the region than decided by the UN.

In 1950, Israel passed the Law Of Return, which allowed any Jew to go to Israel & receive Israeli citizenship. Now, coming to the strategic barriers. France & Egypt had created the Suez Canal.

Egypt, burdened by financial crisis sells shares to Britain. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser tried to establish control over the trade route against France & UK & blocked the route for Israel.

Egypt is attacked by the UK, France & Israel, the latter occupying all of Egypt. UN intervention forced Israel to back off but Israel put forward the condition that trade shall never be stopped for them on this route.

PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) is formed in Egypt by Arab leaders with the motive to retrieve Palestine from Israel. Egypt tries to block the Straits of Tiran to prevent Israeli trade with an anticipated attack plan in place with other Arab countries. All get defeated. Israel occupies Egypt once again along with the Gaza Strip, the West Bank & East Jerusalem. UN comes to the rescue and frees Egypt fails to do so with the other regions.

PLO goes face-to-face with Israel with the other Arab nations taking a back foot. Multiple attacks ensue on Israel. Arab OPEC members (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) issued an embargo against Israel.

29 Israeli commercial hijacks were conducted by PLO On Israel. 5 Israeli athletes were assassinated in 1972 Summer Olympics in Germany. In a bid to hunt down PLO fighters, Israel attacked Lebanon with 17825 persons killed. In 1988, a weakened PLO officially opted for a 2-state solution earlier proposed by the UN. Israel denied the same, citing previous experiences with the neighbouring countries & future strategic reasons if Arab nations choose to attack.

In 1993, the US intervened to solve the tension with the Oslo I Accord, which let Palestine have the Gaza Strip & the West Bank. Both nations signed the agreement. Israel violates the norms. Palestinians lose faith in PLO & Israel. Multiple incidents were reported where representatives from both sides, if found playing a soft hand would be assassinated.

This is where HAMAS was born. Radical Palestinians form the group denying Israel’s right to exist & conduct guerrilla warfare, all funded by Arab nations.

Palestinians start supporting Hamas.

Fast forward to May 2024, and we have witnessed numerous attacks from both sides, Israel and Hamas from the Gaza Strip.

With activism at the discretion of our fingertips, how do you decide your side?

How do we choose from:

“All Eyes On Rafah,” v/s “Where Were Your Eyes On Oct 7”?

In this battle of Persecution, Power & Politics the solution is yet to be found, and the situation is like a bad stalemate. Regardless of who wins, the price paid already in civilian blood and lives will have outweighed the outcome.

By the time you read this, Hamas has called for a cease-fire but sadly the real perpetrators that sowed the seeds of dissension have got away, way back.