Kids will be Kids

Most of you have probably heard that saying sometime in your lives, probably from adults shaking their heads at children. I've always objected to such generalizations, even regarding children. Kids have names, personalities, and stories - not as many as adults, but stories nonetheless. Even kids deserve to be listened to and understood.

That being said, what about those kids in the political playgrounds? Should we just write them off as typical politicians, or should we seek to understand them? Since I see no harm in the latter, let's do that.

Israel

source: cwrflags.com

Led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel is directly involved in the conflict. Netanyahu is the leader of the right-wing Likud party, currently a part of a coalition with other right-wing parties in the Knesset (parliament). Netanyahu is seen as one of the most right-wing politicians in Israel, known for his opposition to handing back land in return for peace. But he has stated he would accept the creation of a Palestinian state, on the condition of complete demilitarization. The Palestinians objected, citing injustice on Israel’s part.

Palestine

source: flags.net

Palestinian politics isn't easy to describe, because it's divided into halves: Fatah and Hamas.

Fatah

source: crwflags.com

Fatah was founded in 1959 by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to promote complete liberation of Palestine from Israeli control. It recognized Israel's right to exist and tried to reach a two-state solution with the Israelis in the Oslo Accords, meaning the disputed land would be divided into a Jewish state and a Palestinian state. Fatah is currently led by Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, who supports having peace with the Israelis and criticizes "armed resistance" attacks on them. He wishes to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Hamas

source: wikipedia.org

Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islam fundamentalist group. Its goal: to establish an Islamic state in what it terms Palestine (much of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza). Its charter acknowledges its desire to destroy Israel to achieve its means. It gained prominence when it won the 2006 parliamentary elections, due to allegations of corruption on part of Fatah. Led by Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas focuses on social welfare and “armed resistance”, gaining the approval of many Palestinians. However, its history of violence against Israelis has labeled it as a terrorist organization to many in the West. 

The 2006 election brought months of factional fighting, killing hundreds of Palestinians. The fighting continued until Fatah struck a deal with Hamas to join a unity government as a junior partner. But the tensions never faded, and conflict soon broke out again. On June 14 2007, Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led unity government, an action which Haniyeh claims to be illegal, since it has not gotten approval in the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council. 

So there you have it. But what are these stakeholders doing right now? Israel continues to build Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem, deemed illegal even by pro-Israeli Western powers. Hamas refuses to cooperate with Israel, and instead launches rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. Fatah tries to achieve their goals by appealing to the international community while ignoring the Israelis (as seen by its recent attempts to attain a seat at the UN). 

A bit complicated? Consider this: there's a kid eating another's candy even after being told not to, then there’s a kid trying to get the candy back with fists, and then you have another kid trying to tattletale on the candy-stealer. But no one addresses the root cause: that the kid is stealing the candy because he thinks it's his. Is there anything to be done about that? Perhaps, but more on that later.

The Holy City

"People need to grow up and listen to each other" was how I ended my last post. What I forgot to mention was that it's not that easy.

The root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the lack of communication between the parties involved. That's concrete. Therefore, all they need to do is to stop acting like children, right? Well, if everyone could do that, we'd all be living in a utopia by now. But in this case, it's not just about people acting like children. It involves religion.

Source: bibleplaces.com

Take Jerusalem for example. Jerusalem is the capital city of Israel, which the Israelis insist is their rightful city since it was once the capital city of the Kingdom of Israel around 3000 years ago. However, the Palestinian Authority (the group representing Palestinians) claim it to be theirs, making it the most fiercely contested piece of land in modern history. Why? Jerusalem just happens to be the holiest city in the world to three of the world's biggest religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.

Source: bibleplaces.com

This is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, said to be where Christ was crucified and buried. But since Christians make up only 2% of the Israeli population, they don't matter much in the trenches of Israeli-Palestinian politics.

source: wikipedia.org

This is what matters: Temple Mount (Hebrew), or Haram al-Sharif ("Noble Sanctuary" in Arabic). 

source: sacred-destinations.com

This is the Dome of the Rock, Islam's third holiest site. It's built right on the Haram, specifically the Foundation Stone, which is the rock from which the Prophet Muhammed is said to have ascended into heaven. This is where the Prophet is said to have been taught to pray.

source: sacred-destinations.com

The Al-Aqsa Mosque, situated next to the Dome, is one of the holiest mosques in Islam. All Muslims used to pray towards it before Mecca was established as a Muslim focal point.



In Judaism, Temple Mount is the place where the Holy Temple, the most holy place for Jews, once stood. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., and its destruction came to symbolize the start of the Jewish Diaspora (their exile).

source: levitt.com

The Western Wall (or the "Wailing Wall") is the only remaining part of the Temple that was destroyed in the Roman conquest. Jews go to the wall to pray and leave prayers on pieces of paper between the stones.

source: wikipedia.org

The Foundation Stone, the stone at the heart of the Dome of the Rock, is where the Ark of the Covenant (a chest containing the Ten Commandments given to the Jews by God) used to be placed upon. It is the holiest site in all of Judaism.

Now this is where it gets convoluted: the Jews believe that their Temple will be rebuilt on Temple Mount with the coming of the Messiah, who will then bring judgement down on the heathen and reward the faithful. But one tiny problem: that's where the Dome of the Rock currently stands. So if the Jews ever want to proceed with their plans of Judgement Day, they must tear down the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. So you can see why Jews and Muslims might be so fierce about these thirty five acres of land. Indeed, it's been the cause of many bloody clashes between Israelis and Palestinians.

Jerusalem is the crux of the conflict. Can it be sorted out? Perhaps, but more on that in a bit.

Kids on a Playground

Source: elmer.ca

Imagine a group of kids playing on a playground. They're playing on the swings and throwing themselves down on to a slide. They're enjoying themselves - occasionally getting in some childish fights of course, but enjoying themselves nonetheless.

Then come the big kids.

These huge, troll-like 5th graders approach the playground, snapping their fingers like the Sharks from West Side Story. The frightened little ones cower at the sight of them, and when the big kids start throwing rocks at them, they scatter and run away as fast as their little legs can take them. The big kids just laugh and settle in the playground.

The little kids who ran away, tired and scattered, go to other playgrounds to play. But the kids who were already there don't seem to like them very much. Some of them even try to label them with weird yellow stickers and ignore them. The little kids, now calling themselves the "Z"s,  begin to miss their old playground. It was the perfect playground for them, a playground that didn't have people who disliked them, a playground where they could be with all their friends and only their friends. Many of their old buddies were now hanging out in the other playgrounds, but they didn't seem to fit in either. So after the longest time, the old group come together again, and begin to walk towards their beloved old playground.

By this time the big kids had long since left, having been forced away by an army of little kids with moon and star designs on their shirts. When the Zs reach the playground, they stop at the edges, the air tense and nervous. Then the oldest of them, David, marches into the playground and yell "WE'RE BACK!!!" The others cheer, and run to their old swings and monkey bars. They're finally back together - a happy family.

But in their joy and excitement they forget one thing: there were other kids there. Some of the kids who had originally forced the big kids away had stayed there afterwards. They were few, but they were still there with their star and moon t-shirts, and they had been playing on that playground for what seemed to them like forever. So naturally, they didn't like all these new faces occupying their playground. They start arguing with the intruders, but the Zs didn't seem to listen. The Zs said that the playground had been theirs for ages, and swore never to lose it again. The other kids, calling themselves the "Stars",  said that the playground had been theirs for ages, and swore never to give it up. So what happens next? Naturally, they call each other liars and call each other names. When someone finally lets out the S-word ("Shut up!"), they start throwing their cute little fists at each other. The Stars even call their friends nearby for help, but the Zs stand strong. Both groups pound each other with fists, throw rocks, and even spit on each other.

At this point you'd expect the grown-ups to show up, break up the fight, and force them to talk to each other in a civilized manner. But in this world of playgrounds, there are no grown-ups - only children.

This is basically what forms the gist of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The "Z"s are the Israelis, who were exiled from their homeland (the playground) after the Romans (the Big Kids) conquered it. The Jews were scattered far and wide across the Middle East and Europe (the other playgrounds). Meanwhile, the Byzantine Empire, the replacements for the Romans, was forced out of Jerusalem by the Islamic Caliphate army (the "Stars"). As time passed, Jews longed for their homeland, especially with the rise of anti-semitism. Eventually, the Zionist movement was formed, comprised of Jews who wanted to return to their homeland and establish a national Jewish home. By this time Arabs were living in the Holy Land, now called Palestine. When Britain was given a mandate of Palestine after WWI, they started allowing Jewish immigration into the land, while trying not to make the Arab residents angry. All seemed to be in vain, however, when in 1948 the Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion ("David" from the scenario above) formally declared the independence of the state of Israel. The surrounding Arab countries immediately invaded the land but the Israelis held out with their lives. In the real world, there are no adult figures to put a definite stop to a fight. Sixty three years later, this fight is very much still ongoing.

International politics can always be explained by comparing it to kids on a playground. Is my analogy perfect? No. Is it offensive towards two of the biggest religions in the world? Probably. But considering it's dealing with one of the most complicated issues in the world, it's good as an analogy gets. One thing speaks perfectly loud and clear though: people need to grow up and listen to each other.