The conflict in Gaza is a tragedy for the entire world. The attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7 are unforgivable, probably a war crime. But we would be less than honest and less than effective in seeking peace if we didn’t ask why they occurred.
First, let’s state, unambiguously, that Jews have the right to live safely with full human, civil and political rights in the country of their choosing without fear of attack. Any fair-minded person would say the same thing about Palestinians, right?
But the truth is that Palestinians living in Israel are denied basic human, civil and political rights. Since 1948, when Israel was founded, Palestinians have been second-class citizens and denied those rights.
Until that changes, there will be no enduring peace.
The elemental fact of Israel is that it was born through the ethnic cleansing of 750,000 native Palestinians. They were driven from their land, never to be able to return.
And Israel imposes an apartheid state on the approximately seven million Palestinians living in Israel today. That’s not my assessment. It is the conclusion of some of the world’s leading human rights organizations.
As for the conduct of Israel during the now month old conflict, it is bearing all the markings of genocide. Writing in the magazine Jewish Currents, Israeli historian Raz Segal stated that the actions of the Israeli government were “a textbook case of genocide.”
Killing thousands of civilians in collective punishment for the acts of a few fanatics is a war crime, according to the Fourth Geneva Convention. And cutting off the water, food, electricity, and fuel to 2.2 million people is a death sentence – a textbook crime against humanity.
Ethnic cleansing + apartheid + genocide + war crimes + crimes against humanity. That is not the formula for peace but state-sponsored barbarism.
If you stand on somebody’s face, you can’t be surprised if they bite your foot. Nor can you claim to be the victim. Until there is justice for the Palestinians in their own land – the same justice the Jews rightly claim for themselves – there will be no peace. If you want peace, work for justice. It could not be any more simple, or moral.
I teach AP Statistics. I teach understanding bias. I teach my students the six W’s and the how: who, what, where, when, why, and by whom. I ask you to watch the documentary “The Occupation of the American Mind”. Let us then talk about what fair reporting looks like.
This column was written with the help of Robert Freeman, author of the Best One Hour History Series and the founder of The Global Uplift Project.