Israel in a flat minute (israel) 4.16.02

I cannot remember a time when Israel was not making the news with its conflicts and scaring holy hell out the entire world. The Middle East conflict has far too much control over the fate of our planet. It is a morass we cannot escape. I am pretty sure most people know next to nothing about the subject because the subject is so complex even experts lose track. So this is a briefing for those who always wanted to know about Israel but were afraid to ask. It is basic, but you can get the advanced version 24 hours day on CNN.
Most of my information in this column comes from two sources, Dr. Joel Moses of Iowa State and a summary on the history of the region from Newsweek. Dr. Moses taught a wicked class on Israel and the Middle East at Iowa State that was so full of facts, I was lucky to pass at all. Though it might be hard to tell by his name, Dr. Moses is a member of the tribe of Israel, he is an expert on the region and was never the least bit biased on the subject.
Israel is one country with two distinct histories, - one Jewish and one Arabic - neither history tells the whole truth and neither side gives much credence to the other.
To truly understand Israel and Palestine, one would have to go back to where the modern problem gathered steam and that is with Romans who occupied Judea along with the rest of the Mediterranean.
Left on their own, Jews would nearly tear themselves apart with infighting. Even today, arguments about national policy and who counts as Jewish keep tensions among Israelis high. If it weren't for being in the middle of the Arab world, they would be free to argue these fine points.
Even in ancient times, only an outside force like the Romans could keep Jews focused and united.
Jews made life tough on the Romans so the Romans tried to solve their own crisis in the Middle East by scattering rebellious Judeans all over the empire in the belief that once these people melted into the local population, they would cease to exist.
These Jews were known as the Diaspora and what the Romans did not count on was the strength of Jews to persist as a culture and the power of Judaism as a religion to bind them. Rather than melt away, Jews simply adapted.
Anti-Semitism was prevalent in many countries where Jews settled because Jews were viewed as alien.
Back in Palestine, there were still plenty of Jews to keep the home fires burning, but eventually the region became more Arabic and Muslim than Jewish in race and religion.
Fast forward to the 20th century, many Jews, tired of oppression throughout the world, but mostly in Europe, resettled in Palestine in the '20s and '30s. It was not until the Holocaust that the world really got behind the idea of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
And why not? It seemed like a solution, Palestine is where Jews came from so why not just make it a modern country?
Well, there were a great many Palestinians living there who felt their claim on land they had occupied for a couple thousand years was valid.
In 1948, the United Nations divvied up Palestine much to the chagrin of 700,000 Arabs who were displaced by the creation of the state of Israel and that is only the official number. The Arab world is not about to forgive being carved up by Western nations.
Feeling they had the right to defend themselves, Arabs invaded Israel on the grounds that the U.N. did not have the right to displace Arabs from Palestine. They lost and they were not happy about that, but they planned to come back another day.
So ended Israel's war of independence and so began the war of ideas that is Israel and the Middle East, but it gets worse.
In 1967, Israel felt threatened by Egypt, a country that was threatening Israel but had not attacked as such.
Israel struck first and to the amazement of everyone managed to not only fight off the Arab forces but captured the Sinai Desert and Gaza Strip from Egypt, East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan and the Golan Heights from Syria.
This territory added to Israel's security because each one is easier to defend than the original borders. Israel opened settlements in these occupied territories to secure their claim and add to their national defense.
This is problematic because even the U.N. has called "no fair" on Israel and suggested that giving up these territories would be in the best interest of peace in that region.
Israel is not about to give up these territories and its security in spite of the fact that many of those displaced Palestinians from 1948 live in these territories.
This is the heart of the matter and where the propaganda machine gets fired up hard and heavy on both sides. One side's armed action is another side's terrorist act. Both sides are equally offended by this notion.
There are thousands of factors that can be added to this basic outline of the problem from ancient tribal history to oil dependency and the effect of World War II on the region to media bias, Islamic extremism, 9-11, influence peddling and more.
This should be enough to make the reports on television more understandable, but this is and always has been a thicket that is likely to prick us all before its done.
- Greg Jerrett is a Nonpareil staff writer. His column runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays. He may be contacted at 328-1811, Ext. 279, or by e-mail at gjerrett@nonpareilonline.com.