Then, in 2000, Palestinian leaders turned down the opportunity to create a state with its capital in Jerusalem and 98% of the land they had claimed they wanted.
It was the first time that Israel had offered to divide its capital. But, I learned, it was the third time that Palestinian Arab leaders had refused to create a state.
So I finally started making an effort to learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, rather than just accepting the popular narrative. I realized that I’d accepted falsehoods without thinking, I was ashamed of myself.
And I ripped that bumper sticker off my car.
About that time, one of the tales Palestinian Arabs often recited was about the Arab town of Jenin. The narrative was that the Israeli Defense Forces had entered Jenin, slaughtered all the Arabs there, and buried them all—men, women, and children—in a mass grave. I learned that this was an invention repudiated even by the U.N., and when I visited Israel ten years later, the town of Jenin was still there and populated by Arabs.
The image I’d had of evil Israeli occupiers was a fiction. I had felt obliged, as a Jew, to do something about the supposed crimes of my people, so I had participated in organizations such as The Jewish Voice for Peace. Why hadn't I felt obliged, as a Jew, to determine that what I’d heard was true?
I was angry that no one at my synagogue had tried to set me straight. No one had even expressed offense that a JVP bumper sticker was in the shul’s parking lot two or more times each week.
I was angrier with Palestinians. How could I make sense of the conflict when I couldn’t trust them to be truthful? How can people achieve peace if they don't honestly discuss their grievances?
Clearly there was (and still is) injustice: children taught to blow themselves up in order to kill Israelis, conflicts resulting in the deaths of Arabs and Israelis, and nothing done to prevent hatred and fear from growing.
With a fictional narrative promoted even by the “balanced and unbiased media,” where can we learn the truth? Why did the Palestinian Arabs turn down opportunities to create a state in 1937, 1947, 1948, 1967, 2000, and 2008?
If you’ve only listened to the popular narrative, don't be afraid to read pro-Israel information for a change. All of us should try to learn facts from the perspective of both sides. How else can we find a route to peace?
Unfortunately, I'm still wondering where to find truth from the Arab perspective. Arabs say they want land and peace, but Israel's “land for peace” policy has not been successful. After its neighbors attacked Israel (three times) and lost, Israel gained land that it offered to return in exchange for treaties. Only Egypt regained land, the Sinai, by simply acknowledging that Israel exists. Simple.
Yet world opinion still vilifies Israel and Israel alone.
While visiting Olympia, Washington recently, I saw a mural on Capitol Way that includes the images of two women. The word “Peace” is painted next to the woman in red, green, and black. The other woman, in blue and white, is tattooed with the words, “I will not occupy.” The mural not-so-subtly puts all the blame for the conflict on Israelis.
What is it that’s occupied? Gaza? Judah? Samaria? Arab towns in Israel? The Golan?
There are no troops in Gaza. (Hence, rockets being fired on Israel.) When Jewish settlers began to build-- legally-- in Judah and Samaria during peace negotiations, the IDF demolished their buildings. And the few times I traveled through Arab-Israeli towns, I saw no Israeli soldiers or even road blocks.
How about the Golan Heights? Israel acquired that land defending itself from Syria and offered to return it in exchange for a peace treaty. Unlike Egypt, Syria refused to sign a peace treaty. It was years before Israel accepted that it would have to administer the area. The Golan Heights represents Syrian intransigence. Some people call it “occupied territory.” I call it northern Israel.
Judah and Samaria, renamed "The West Bank" when Jordan conquered the territory in 1948, are the Jewish heartland, but Arabs live there.
The political spectrum in Israel is enormous, but there seem to be cycles of hope and cynicism among all Israelis. One famous singer, who had been a peace activist in the 1970s, said, “There is no one to make peace with.” Arafat had killed the moderate Palestinian Arabs who had been willing to make peace. Today, Hamas uses violence to keep Palestinians in line; it randomly accuses people of aiding Israel and executes them publicly.
Irshad Manji once noted that while she knows Israelis who argue for the Palestinians, she has never met a Palestinian who argues for Israelis. She describes the disappointment she felt when visiting a Palestinian writer who dared not express himself frankly about peace while in the same room as Palestinian leaders.
It might be possible to validly criticize Israelis and Palestinians. Unfortunately, you’ll only hear criticisms of Israel and they are often false. You have to know who is speaking and what his agenda is. Opposition to Israel is rarely about peace; it is mostly inspired by the hatred of Jews, not by facts.
That may be one reason why peace initiatives have not succeeded. There can be no peace without truth.
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