Look to the Root Cause of this Conflict

Date:

gaza

DR MANSOOR DURRANI

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen some friends asked me to write on Gaza, I candidly told them that far from being an “expert” on this issue, I am not even a “student” of this supposedly “complex” conflict. And therefore it will make no sense for me to add one more article, just for the sake of it, when the newspapers, magazines and social media are replete with writings of hundreds of “gurus” and “pundits”!

More so when I know very little about what happened in 1948 when the Zionist state came into existence. And then again in 1967 when it got expanded, by grabbing more Palestinian land, including the capture of Islam’s third holiest site, Masjid Al Aqsa.

Similarly, I know very little about the first and second intifada or uprisings. Sure, after the second intifada, I have been closely following a series of tragedies there, as many other justice-loving (not just peace loving) human beings across the globe do.

But when I see “experts” and “analysts” tiring their fingers on keyboards in “analyzing” the Palestine-Israeli conflict, I always scratch my head on their naivety, to say the very least.

The below factors or questions are presented as some of the major “causes” in relation to this most tragic conflict of our times:

Is UK government’s ILLEGAL and IMMORAL Balfour Declaration in November 1917, that formally laid the foundation of Israel, responsible for the conflict?

My simple mind says Nope!

Just because Muslims were politically and militarily at their weakest, is this why the creation of Israel on Palestinian land in 1948 responsible for this mess?

Nope, not even this!

Armed resistance launched by Palestinians under the leadership of late Yasser Arafat in 1950s?

Nope!

Alleged 1967 attack on Israel by joint Arab armies that resulted in losing more Arab and Palestinian territories to Israel?

Nope!

Camp David Accord of 1978 between Egypt and Israel that resulted in Israeli and Egyptian armies acting, literally,as one single unit and together punishing Palestinians in Gaza?!

Nope!

Giving Palestinian resistance factions no option but to resort to morally and Islamically debatable suicide bombings of late 1980s and early 1990s?

Nope?

Peace process launched in Oslo, Norway in early 1993 that turned Fatah, literally, into an extension of Israeli army detaining, torturing and killing their own Palestinian compatriots who are resisting Israeli occupation?

Nope!

Hamas’ resounding victory in the first democratic elections in 2006 against the US-funded and Israeli backed Fatah?

Nope!

Soon thereafter,Israeli and Egyptian armies jointly punishing the entire Gaza population – through a crippling siege -just because Gazans overwhelmingly voted in favor of Hamas?

Nope!

For 1.8 million Gazans, various Palestinian factions digging tunnels in Gaza to bring in food, medicine, and also bringing in arms to protect Palestinian lives against constant Israeli incursions?

Nope!

Palestinian resistance groups firing crude and unsophisticated rockets into Israel in retaliation of constant bombardment of Palestinian towns by one of the world’s mightiest army over the last 8-10 years?

Nope!

Hamas voluntarily giving up power in Gaza and agreeing to the formation of a Unity government in May 2014 between Fatah and Hamas?

Nooooope!

If the disease is not correctly diagnosed, it can never be cured – as is evident in never-ending bloodshed on the land of numerous Prophets of God that Palestine is. Thousands of tons of paper and millions of liters of ink have been wasted over the last 60-70 years in “analyzing” the above factors.

But considering these factors as root causes for the current hostilities in Palestinian territories occupied by Israel demonstrates a shallow understanding of the history of both Judaism and Islam. Let us be honest and admit that what is going on between Palestine and Israel is not at all a “political” conflict. It is simply a religious war.

The one and only reason for the Israelis (who are Jews) hostility against Palestinians (who are Muslims – regardless of whether Mohammad Dahlan and Mahmoud Abbas like their faith or not) is plainly stated in Qu’ran more than 1400 years back:

They will never be pleased with you till you follow their way [1:120-21].

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev confirmed this in an interview last week to Jon Snow of the UK TV network Channel 4 that Israel will leave Gaza in peace only if it becomes a Monaco i.e. a den of boozing, gambling and whoring.

The proof on the ground is last week’s killing of more than 10 unarmed Palestinian protesters in the West Bank towns in a single day, in areas fully under the control of Mahmoud Abbas. No tunnels exist in the West Bank. And no rockets were fired from there into Israel either. Still many innocent Palestinian lives were obliterated by Israeli fire!

So it is not rockets. It is not tunnels. It is not Hamas. The root cause is deep-seated religious hostility. Period.

But to Netanyahu’s disappointment, all the “activities” that Monaco is famous for are strictly prohibited in Islam – the faith of “moderate Fatah leader” Mahmoud Abbas and “extremist Hamas leader” Khaled Meshaal.

This is why, it appears naive to seek a “two-state” solution and “long-term peace” when the objectives of the two warring parties are completely opposite to each other’s.

The possibilities of “co-existence” or “living side-by-side in peace” are just not on the agenda of either party – not just Hamas alone. Repeated cycle of genocides and non-stop land-grabbing by Israel, year-after-year, present a strong evidence of where this conflict is heading.

As expected, Gaza has refused to surrender despite naked Israeli aggression against an impoverished and besieged civilian population. It is becoming increasingly clear that there will be ONLY one-state in about a decade or two from now. Will that be only Palestine or only Israeli? Time will tell.

In fact, armies of some Arab neighbors of Israel (and the security forces in the West Bank) are providing a blanket and unconditional support to the Zionist entity against the Palestinian resistance. If that crucial Arab/Palestinian support to Israel is withdrawn, then the one-state solution could be achieved much earlier than a decade or two!

Eyebrows need not be raised at this conclusion. I already acknowledged on top of this piece that I am not an “expert” on this subject and that I have limited knowledge of this conflict. I was compelled to share my own understanding. So I did.

________________________________________________________________________

All opinions and views expressed in columns and blogs and comments by readers are those of individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Caravan

theclarionindia
theclarionindiahttps://clarionindia.net
Clarion India - News, Views and Insights about Indian Muslims, Dalits, Minorities, Women and Other Marginalised and Dispossessed Communities.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe

spot_imgspot_img

Popular

More like this
Related

‘Our Helicopter didn’t Get Permission to Fly to Bikaner’, Says Ashok Gehlot

JAIPUR - Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot alleged...

Complicit in Genocide: Where Israel Gets Its Weapons From

Ramzy Baroud | Clarion India Over 9,000 Palestinian women have...

Six Senior Pakistan Judges Detail Brazen Meddling in Letter to Judicial Council

Clarion India ISLAMABAD - In a startling letter written to...

SC Dismisses Objections to Cemetery Construction in Mumbai’s Bhimnagar

Residents withdraw petition following the apex court's stern observations. Team...