Before watching the following clip if you begin from the premise that this is anti-Israel or pro-Hamas propaganda you will most likely gain little if anything from watching the clip, so you might as well move on. If on the other hand you truly want understand more about this conflict from a distinguished British/Israeli historian you may stick around cause you have at least a perspective that in my opinion provides the closest summarized overview that represents the core issue because it not only unpacks the roots of the conflict in simple terms, but also and more importantly demonstrates how this conflict is fueling a false narrative in the west one that is adopted by the liberal camp as well as the far right camp to varying degrees. I talked about the fear of importing conflicts in previous posts and President Macron a day or so ago prevented a pro-Palestine march in Paris to “refrain from bringing the Israel-Hamas conflict home” which I do completely agree. But on 2nd thoughts the conflict narratives/propaganda and suspect allegiances have already infiltrated our highest government institutions for decades in the west due to lobbyist groups from both sides of the conflict which in effect paralyzed our ability to do anything about it having internalized it into our own political eco system and we’re now on auto-drive mode going full speed in the wrong direction of finally resolving the conflict.
However, what I do not like about the clip is its title “The Myth of Israel” because it alienates those who actually support the existence/security of Israel, myself included. In fact I consider myself pro-Israel in many ways and supported the first peace agreements signed with Egypt in 1978 because at the time I believed it would help bring stability to the region including the resolution of the Palestine conflict; sadly this turned out not to be the case and was merely used as a diversion from the real issue and possibly buying time to establish a more powerful/influential state in the region-that’s my hunch anyway. What I ain’t is anti-Palestine in any way and I fully support a fair/just two-state solution which is most certainly achievable because I mention repeatedly this is NOT a jewish/islamic conflict but rather an occupation/ethnic cleansing conflict.So now we’re in a bit of a pickle; on the one hand as I mentioned in a previous post that with the bloody history between Israel’s/Palestinians there is no hope for peace without vital intervention by key players like the US and EU while on the other hand it seems that myths around the origins of the conflict run wide/deep not only in Israel itself but within the power brokers who in the normal circumstances can help resolve the situation relatively quickly.Note this will be my final post on this conflict because frankly it’s getting quite boring.
But before I go and finally set you free from this rather lengthy piece let me just say this in very simple terms; irrespective of any conflict in the MidEast or beyond, and irrespective of the sufferings people face targeting civilians is despicable & barbaric whether in action or reaction and no excuse can be valid from anyone. I hope that makes sense.
So now tell me honestly, do you like pickles?
Related Articles
A State of War Again for the Longest, Deadliest Conflict in the Middle East & The Way Ahead
Waving Palestinian flag may be a criminal offence, Braverman tells police