Understanding the Complex History of Israel
By Noa P., Contributor
Words like ‘colonialism’ and ‘settlers’ have been repeated as the justification for why Israel does not have the right to exist. These terms are deeply offensive and blatantly false to the Jewish community, and act to erase the deep-rooted history that Jews have with the land, spanning back thousands of years.
The false notion of Jews being settlers in the land of Israel has been a common argument used to delegitimize the Jews’ right to the land. According to StandwithUs, a non-partisan educational organization fighting anti-semitism, Jews are the Indigenous people of the land of Israel and have had an unbroken and documented presence in the land for over 3,000 years. And according to the Jewish Virtual Library, this was long before there were Palestinian people— long before Islam, and long before the Arabic language was introduced to the land. Israel is the birthplace of the Jewish people’s unique identity, language, culture, and religion.
Up until about 2,000 years ago, most Jews lived in Israel, named Judea at the time. But, they were expelled by the Roman Empire. At that time, there were no Arabs living in this land. Since the Jewish expulsion, there have been many groups that have controlled what is now Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, there has never been a State of Palestine.
The conflict with the Arabs began in the 1800’s, as both groups bought and sold land in this area, which at the time was part of the Ottoman Empire. During WWI, the British defeated the Ottomans and took control of the land. The United Nations finally passed a resolution in 1947 in which the British would withdraw and two states would be created. The area with a Jewish majority was to become the Jewish state, and the area with an Arab majority was to become the Palestinian state. The Jews happily accepted this resolution. The Palestinians and surrounding Arab countries would not accept any existence of Israel or Jews in Israel.
Upon declaring their independence in 1948, Israel was immediately invaded by numerous Arab countries, including the Palestinians. The invasion was meant to eradicate the Jewish state and exterminate every single Jew living within.
Both Jews and Palestinians were displaced after the Arab countries launched their war against Israel. Of course many Arabs remained in Israel after the war and today they enjoy full rights in a democratic country, and make up approximately 20 per cent of Israel’s population.
Since then, there have been numerous wars launched to annihilate Israel. These wars include the Six Day War of 1967, initiated by Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. As a result of the war, Israel took control of Gaza – previously held by Egypt – and the West Bank – previously held by Jordan. If Egypt and Jordan were accountable for the land, they could have easily created a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders, but that has never been the goal. The goal is not to create a Palestinian state, but rather to destroy the only Jewish state in the world.
As the Palestinian population continues to grow from 1948 to now, the Jewish population in surrounding Arab countries has decreased to nearly zero. This ethnic cleansing of over 850,000 Jewish people in Arab countries has been completely ignored.
After multiple attempts to negotiate peace, Israel unilaterally withdrew entirely from Gaza in 2005, ending the occupation since 1967, in hopes that the Palestinians would create a better future for themselves. This resulted in Hamas immediately attacking Israel, purposefully targeting Jewish civilians. A partial blockade in Gaza was put in place only after this violence, in order to protect Israeli civilians from Hamas’s attacks. This blockade was reinforced by Egypt, in acknowledgement of Hamas’s role as an Iranian proxy terror organization.
Hamas has been very clear about their goal— to kill every Jew, not only in Israel, but throughout the world. They do not have the interests of Palestinian civilians in mind, but rather have used them as human shields during their combat. Hamas has been known to publicly execute Palestinian civilians who go against their rule.
Contrary to the misinformation being spread, all Arabs living in Israel have full rights as citizens. Many attend Israeli universities and work as doctors, lawyers, and hold positions in the government, the judiciary, and in the Israeli army. In total, there are over two million Arabs in Israel who are citizens. Currently, there are a total 136 Jews in all of Gaza—all of whom are kidnapped hostages.
