Israel and Gaza

I will start by saying that I am not taking sides politically on this, because I don't know enough in a complex situation to make a judgement.What is more, anything I say here is what I can find out and may be mistaken, because ALL of the sources of information are biased, often very strongly. This is the case for everyone - it is almost impossible to find good, reliable information on this situation, because (for whatever reason) it seems nobody is allowed to be neutral.

There have been reports of the attacks on Gaza being Israels response to mortars being fired at them. This sounds reasonable, until you look at the numbers killed by such devices. From what I can find, the total numbers of Israelis killed by missiles fired from Gaza since 2000 is in double figures - probably somewhere in the sixties. In this latest conflict, Israeli deaths are small, and military rather than civilian - not that a single death is irrelevant, just that it is worth looking at numbers to see whether the response is valid. One of the reasons is the use of the Iron Dome technology to intercept most of the missiles fired at them.

Deaths in Gaza of the Palestinians are over 1000 in this conflict alone. So to argue that this is a reasonable response to attacks does not seem to make sense. It is like a kid being held at arms length by an adult, yet trying to punch still. Occasional punches will land on the arms, and may sting, but there is no real harm done. Then the adult punches the kid repeatedly in the face, as a response.

What is worse is that the Palestinian casualties are civilian, and relatively young. I posted a video from Jon Snow about his experiences, which is quite traumatic. One response I had was a video arguing the "human shield" approach of Hamas is what is causing the problems. The arrogance of the Hamas leaders is part of the issue - undoubtedly, they are using Gaza as a base for attacks because they cannot easily be identified there, because any response would cause massive civilian casualties.

But the truth is that it is Israeli missiles that are killing people, not Hamas mortars. If Israel was to stop firing into Gaza, then less people would be killed. Given that Hamas is not causing casualties, that would improve the situation. There might then be a chance for a solution to this.

Of course, this conflict does not stand alone as a one-off dispute. The problems are far more deep rooted than this. The current problems are caused because both sides have right-wing, nationalist leadership. there is an important lesson for those European countries who have elected significantly right-wing representatives here, that these policies seem to involve aggression and hatred of others, which often - in Europe as well as other places - can lead to armed conflict. That is a place we should not go again, not ever. This year is the centenary of start of WW1, a conflict that has scarred Europe because it was the worst of a war, the most unpleasant and gruesome conflict.

The deaths of the ordinary people is so often the result of this demand to occupy land. The people who usually suffer from the political ambitions of the powerful are the powerless. That is why Jesus was so often critical of the powerful, so often supporting the powerless - nobody else would look after them.

Of course, the real roots of this conflict go back even further - they go back to 1945, when Israel decided to form themselves a state in their traditional homelands. The problems are enhanced by the support from significant portions of the west, so often with a belief that this was their Christian duty to support Israel in its homeland. I have heard it expressed simply that "God promised them this land", as if that is it.

And yet a reading of the Bible does not really support Israel having a divine right to this land. The thing is, with the most conservative reading of the texts, they were promised this land, and used this to invade and occupy the land, killing the previous occupants. But then, they were driven out of the land, also by God, because they had failed to live up to the standard demanded of them. At that point, they lost any divine right to the land.

They were allowed back - note allowed - by their conquerors. The re-established themselves there, and existed for a long time under the rule of others, until their oppressors became fed up with them, and destroyed Jerusalem.

Israel do not have any "divine right" to their land. At the best, they should seek to occupy it under the rule of others. At the worst, the current Israeli nation is an occupying force who are invading the Palestinian homeland. They are being allowed - in fact, enabled - to do this by the west. So the responsibility for these deaths in Gaza is ours, every one of us.

And I say it is time to stop.