This reflection was written shortly after editor Ben Woodard ’25 participated in a trip to Israel hosted by the Tory in January 2023. Given the horrific events of the past two weeks, he felt that it was important to share his reflection to spread awareness about the reality on the ground in Israel as he experienced it.
My very first piece for the Tory was entitled, The Lopsided (Il)legality of the Israel-Hamas Conflict. In it, I argued that Hamas was illegally attacking Israeli territory and civilians and that, as such, Israel had every legal right to respond with overwhelming force, up to and including invading the Gaza Strip. However, Israel had instead been – and continues to be – extremely careful in its reaction, limiting response attacks to long-range strikes on clear military targets and providing warnings to civilians (and, as a consequence, Hamas).
Now, again thanks to the Tory, I have had another opportunity to dive into the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, this time through an immersive, weeklong educational trip to the Holy Land. And, once again, I have come away with an overwhelming sense of the moral lopsidedness of the conflict. Just while I was there, seven innocent Jews were shot and killed by a Palestinian terrorist at a synagogue, and two more were shot by another Palestinian while walking to a prayer service, both in response to an Israeli raid on a terrorist cell where nine Palestinians were killed. Once again, Israel defends its people and existence, and Palestinians attack innocent civilians. This theme of moral imbalance rings true in the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank.
In all areas under Arab authority, terrorists and violent autocrats prosper. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) governs the West Bank, and Hamas, a US-designated terrorist organization, governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas regularly launches rockets indiscriminately into Israel, targeting population centers, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) supports the PLO and gives pensions to the families of suicide bombers. Of course, hundreds of thousands have died under the Assad regime in Syria, which most international organizations say should be in control of the Golan Heights. From the Golan Heights, I could see Syrian cities vacated because of the war – not far from prosperous Israeli farms, shielded from both state and non-state terror.
Israel’s military strikes, on the other hand, are defensive, precisely targeted, and carefully planned to avoid civilian casualties. Palestinian civilians need only fear Hamas or the PLO occupying one of their schools, mosques, or other buildings to use as a rocket launch site or weapons cache. Even in that case, Israeli forces take care to attack at night when buildings are empty, or they (literally) call in advance to warn occupants to evacuate. Furthermore, Israel cares for its enemies, offering medical and humanitarian aid to thousands of civilians displaced by the Syrian Civil War and saving the life of the Palestinian who shot two Jews while I was visiting, among many other examples.
In peacetime, too, the two powers (Israel versus the PA, PLO, Hamas, and Syria) are morally lopsided. Jews are not permitted in the Arab-controlled territories in and around Israel. I drove past numerous large red signs outside Arab villages that warned Jews entrance would be “Dangerous To Your Lives.” Arab authorities prevent beneficial interaction with Jews. The Mayor of Efrat, Oded Revivi, explained to members of the Tory trip that attempts at mutual cooperation were severely endangered by the Palestinian Authority, leaving both Jews and Arabs worse off. Even on the Temple Mount, controlled by Israel but delegated to the Jordanian Waqf, Jews are not allowed to pray.
But Israel’s Arab citizens can, and successfully do, run for office and serve in the Cabinet, judiciary, and Knesset. They are also free to visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. Israel granted citizenship to the residents of East Jerusalem, meaning they – even the terrorist who shot seven – can travel freely. The Gaza Strip and the Palestinian areas of the West Bank are left relatively independent, especially the former, which has become a 140-square-mile humanitarian crisis and terror cell.
Campus conversations on Israel–Palestine issues (at least, those that do not descend into no-communication orders) generally focus on national sovereignty and Palestinian claims on the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank. But entirely setting aside these claims (which I believe are historically and legally weak), given each side’s respective track records in governing, no one should want Palestinians to have independent authority over these regions, at least for the time being. Israeli control is better for Jews, better for Arabs, and better for global peace and justice.
(Photo courtsey of Flickr)
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