In 1917, when it became clear that Britain was to take temporary control of the land known as Palestine, which had previously been ruled over by the Ottoman Empire, British Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur James Balfour immediately issued a statement in favor of the construction of a Jewish state, which had already been conceived of many decades beforehand.
In this document, known as the Balfour Declaration, Balfour delineated this sentiment, highlighting that “His Majesty’s government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country”.
This was the original call for a two-state solution. Since then, there have been many more calls for the “two states for two peoples” approach to the precious land of Israel. In 1947, the United Nations partition plan that officially generated the State of Israel was met with effusive applause by the Jews and vehement protest and violence from the Palestinians. The Palestinian leader before and during World War II was Haj Amin Al-Husseini, who served as an adviser and ally to Adolf Hitler and aided him in carrying out his final solution in the Middle East. His sentiments did not exactly dissipate within the Palestinian community after the war ended.
Israel is a prosperous and philanthropic nation that seeks to maintain its security in a neighborhood which does not exactly resemble that of Mr. Rogers’. As a precursor to peace negotiations, the moderate Israeli majority asks that Palestine recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Although there are 49 Muslim nations and only one Jewish one, there has never been a Palestinian leader who is willing to acknowledge Israel’s right to be a Jewish state.
For the record, not every Israeli or Jew wants peace. There is surely a constituency of extremist Israelis and Jews that never want to see an extant state of Palestine. But those people are certainly not the majority. On Tuesday, January 22nd, Israel held elections for its Knesset, or its parliament. Of the 120 newly elected representatives, 90 belong to political parties in favor of an eventual peaceful and stable Palestinian state, spanning the moderate right wing parties all the way to the Israeli Arab parties.
The Palestinian faction that Israel, along with the rest of the world, prefers —if not requires— for the peace process is Fatah. Fatah controls the Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas. The other prominent Palestinian party is Hamas, a terrorist group which reigns over the Gaza Strip. Hamas just recently launched a campaign to establish a military academy for junior high school students. Under this educational system, children as young as 12 will learn how to best liberate all of Palestine “from the river to the sea,” a euphemism for Iran’s preferred term, “wiping Israel off the map.”
Clearly Hamas is not a partner for peace. Ostensibly, Fatah is such a partner. However, President Abbas has repeatedly tried to unify his government with Hamas since Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense Operation, in which it defended itself from a barrage of 1500 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip during a week of intense combat.
I feel it necessary to reiterate that Israel is not perfect. It has its fair share of extremists and its repository of obstinate, single minded individuals. Although they were painstakingly careful, Israel did tragically kill Gazan civilians several months ago. Furthermore, Israel should not antagonize Palestine—and the rest of the world—by proliferating its settlements at the moment.
It is apparel from last Tuesday’s elections that the majority of Israelis want peace and favor a state of Palestine, albeit a stable and friendly one. Yet it takes two to tango. I hope that in the coming months, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will distance himself from the terrorism of Hamas, and he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can sit down face-to-face and negotiate a Jewish State of Israel and a Muslim State of Palestine.
Zac is a senior majoring in philosophy and communications. Do you agree that consorting with Hamas is damaging to the peace process? Comment on this article online, or send us feedback at opinion@dailycardinal.com.
