Israel-Hamas war: I’m worried about where this will end this time - Rob Rattenbury

Several thousand people demonstrate in central Auckland for a ceasefire in Gaza. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Someone contacted me a day or so ago asking if I’d write a public column on Israel and Gaza. I suddenly realised I don’t know enough about the Middle East to form any sort of decent opinion.

Where do I start? The Bible? The Romans? 1917? 1948?

I have never really learned the history of the modern state of Israel and its interactions with its Arab neighbours. Certainly not enough to survive any form of informed debate with my self-respect intact.

I do wonder at the sanity of Hamas though. What were they thinking? Did they expect Israel not to retaliate?

To me it seems a madness permeates that sad part of our world, the Levant, Palestine, the Holy Land, whatever, and has done so for centuries.

It seems that since 1945 there has been perpetual war.

A situation not helped by the West mostly backing Israel. I cannot seem to make sense of it all, unlike other conflicts where blame is easier to apportion.

I can’t use any rational thought process when looking at Israel and Palestine and do the issue justice. It’s too complicated in my mind.

I do have one thought. Christians, in this case the British, in perhaps their usual ham-fisted paternalistic way, initially thought that a Jewish homeland would be great and bought into the late 19th century Zionist movement.

After World War II, the British, scarred by war and broke, wanted out of Palestine. Up stepped the USA, offering Jews a home away from the bigotry and hate of the Old World. Except it was already someone else’s home.

I’m torn by the emotions and the knowledge of what the Jews have suffered since at least the third century at the hands of the Gentiles, especially the Nazis.

I’m also deeply torn by how Palestinians seem to have been just displaced by Britain, and later America, helping the Jews invade their homeland in droves, especially after World War II.

A people driven from their ancestral homes to live in camps on the outskirts of the Holy Land.

I understand the concept of a Jewish homeland. I spent each day of my college years immersed in the stories of the Bible. Well, I was supposed to. It was always the period before lunch and my worms were normally biting so I was more interested in having lunch. I admit to a severe lack of interest back then and really only a passing interest since.

I have never had a desire to visit that part of the world, so only know what I see on the television and read when the occasion arises.

However I’m torn by just seeing the awful daily diet of killed and injured, especially the very young and very old on both sides. The civilians who find themselves in the middle of something they have no control over, their lives in grave danger simply because of where they are living.

I’m worried about where this will end this time. Israel seems intent on a form of annihilation of Hamas, along with the whole infrastructure of Gaza.

I also really fear what Iran and other players in the region may do.

I look at the uselessness of the United Nations who nobody, especially America, seems to listen to nowadays.

My personal experience of knowing both Jewish and Muslim people is somewhat limited. It sounds trite but I’ve never met a Muslim or Jew I didn’t like and admire or learn from. They are educated, clever and friendly people.

To me, they are people like the rest of us. They want to be happy and safe. They love their children, their old people and their cultures. The history of both sides is tragic, to say the least.

Jews regard Israel as their homeland, many of their ancestors leaving the area due to persecution and war up to 1700 years ago.

So the Arab/Israeli situation is, to me with my very limited knowledge, too complicated to pontificate about. It’s just so sad all round.

So this is my column. I do not condemn anyone involved in this latest war other than Hamas, who have suddenly put their own people in such danger and who, for reasons only known to them, did what they did without warning to Israeli civilians recently.

I feel deeply for the Arab and Israeli civilian populations who are, once again, facing huge danger and uncertainty in their daily lives. Something we as New Zealanders living at the bottom of the world simply have no concept of.

I would urge both sides to exercise restraint, especially Israel, a mighty military power backed by America. War can never be an answer to the troubles of this tiny piece of our world - 27,000 square kilometres. Only a bit bigger than the Manawatū-Whanganui regional area.

Reference:

Geography of Israel and Palestine - Wikipedia.

Who Owns the Holy Land - Lloyd Geering, St Andrews Trust 2001.