THE
HORSE AND THE BULL
Reflections and
Thoughts on the Latest Flare-up
Between
Israelis and Palestinians,
November 2012
All the Winners are Losers,
All the Losers are Winners:
Some Thanksgiving Day
Thoughts By Eliyho Matz, aka Sitting Book
The latest expression
of hostility between Israelis and Palestinians erupted in the Middle East in
mid-November 2012. There is no
need to dig for new reasons to explain why the current conflict started, for
this is an on-and-off fight that has been going on for years. Ever since the first Israeli (Jewish)
settlers arrived in what we call the “Ancient Land of Israel,” we had the
beginning of a political, ethnic, religious enmity between Israeli Jews and
Palestinians. The Israeli
Jews succeeded in creating a
nation-state in 1948. The
Palestinians rejected the idea of a nation-state in 1948. The wars in 1948 and 1967 led directly
to the confused war of 2012.
The
leaderships of the Israelis and the Palestinians failed to achieve any sort of
a geo-political solution, and there are many reasons for that. It is evident that the Israeli nation
is today in control militarily of the Palestinians; this means that Israelis control the lives of millions
of Palestinians. The Palestinians
are resisting, some passively, some with arms. The current November 2012 conflict is, in my opinion, a
result of the B. Netanyahu government to avoid any negotiations with the
Palestinians. What I mean is, the
Israeli settlers on the West Bank have pushed the Netanahu government to the brink
of political stalemate, and Netanyahu ready for new elections in January 2013,
has created a war, so he thinks, to avoid dealing with Palestinian sovereignty.
Palestinian
Gaza, under the Hamas government, has declared its desire to exterminate the
Israelis, thus giving Netanyahu the ability to prolong the Israeli occupation
of the West Bank, along with the opportunity not to negotiate with any
Palestinians. Of course,
Netanyahu’s calculations are wrong.
The geo-politics of the world-at-large, and the unreasonable Israeli
desire to use military force to solve problems associated with the
Palestinians, will only hurt the Israelis in the long run.
The
American settlers who moved West encountered American Indian resistance. The American Indians resisted because
their land, their livelihood and their culture were being decimated. The crescendo of the struggle between
the settlers and the Indians happened at the Battle of Little Big Horn in June
1876. Both American Indian
leaders, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, defeated the American force led by
General Custer. The conclusion of
the battle was clear. But even
though the American Indians were courageous and won the battle, in the end they
lost in their geo-political war against the American government and settlers.
In
Israel, Israeli settlers who illegally occupy the West Bank with the support of
the Israeli government and of course the Higher Authority of the Israeli G-ds,
have led the Israeli nation into a battle using the biblical code name that
sounds like an American Indian name, “Pillar of Cloud,” to deceive the
Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Unfortunately, the Israeli trick did not work, and the Pillar of Cloud
became a cloud of dust. The Hamas
showed resilience and fought back.
The Israelis revealed their strength in the battle, but lost the
war. Mr. Netanyahu can tell many
stories, but his trick did not work; nothing has changed, and there are still
millions of Palestinians who need to be dealt with. He and his “Custered” generals have been defeated. What to do next will depend on the
wisdom of the Chiefs of the Palestinians, that is, if they want to apply a bit
of wisdom, as well as on the wisdom of the Israeli voters in the upcoming elections.
Here
is one suggestion: the Israeli nation established in 1948 made a public
statement called “The Israeli Declaration of Independence.” This Declaration was an attempt to copy
the Western idea of a declaration of political intent. Thus it was designed to make it clear
to all what the intention of the Declaration of Independence was, i.e., Israeli
sovereignty. However, if one reads
the Israeli Declaration of Independence, he or she can immediately see that the
Israelis were not sure exactly what they were declaring. Thus, Mr. Netanyahu recently declared
Israel to be a “Jewish State,” while the Declaration spoke of an “Israeli
Nation” and about tolerance to Israel’s inhabitants and neighbors. If wise Palestinians understand that
incongruity, they should make a public reading of the Israeli Declaration of
Independence in Gaza, in the West Bank, in New York, and in other places of
their choosing. This act alone
could topple the Netanyahu attempt to prevent them from becoming a nation of
Palestinians, similar to the Israelis.
A
few additional observations on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
a.)
The leaderships of both the Israelis and the
Palestinians are defective. The
question is, of course, what do we do with defective leaderships?
b.)
Is the leadership of both sides doing what it is doing
because it is trapped in its own rhetoric?
c.)
Both sides have plenty of Crazy Horses and Sitting
Bulls, but not the leadership of reasonable people to solve the issues.
d.)
We all have to remember that the final goal of solving
the conflict is an alliance between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
e.)
Is the world, that is America, I mean the American
leadership, willing to see item “d” as a viable solution?