The situation

For the last 100 years or so, Jews have struggled to return to their ancestral homeland, even if it meant displacing the people who already lived there. For centuries, Jews and Arabs lived here together in relative peace and mutual respect. But a movement began in the late 19th century for Jews from all over the world to relocate to Palestine, which centuries before was the kingdom of Israel. The most radical of these Jews insisted that God’s Old Testament promise of this land to the Israelites applied to them. Some were willing to do anything to regain the land. Violence broke out between these immigrants and the local population, Arabs who had lived here for centuries. Then World War II happened and, in the ashes of the Holocaust, world opinion overwhelmingly turned in favor of the creation of a Jewish homeland here. With no provisions made for the native population, the U.N. voted in favor of the creation of the modern state of Israel in May 1948. By some estimates, nearly a million inhabitants were forced from their houses and off their land as Jewish residents of the new nation sought to claim their new homeland.

For the more than 60 years since, these two peoples have fought over every parched inch of this land. Although neither side is innocent, one side clearly has superior power and might. The degree of control Israel’s government exerts over the Palestinian people is mind-boggling in its complexity. One small example: the mother of one of my co-workers is allowed to visit her daughter’s home only once a year, even though they live not more than 10 or 15 miles apart. Here’s another: Israel sometimes posts soldiers outside Muslim mosques and prevents men 40 and under from entering to pray. Such issues raise my ire – but cause real hardships for Palestinians.