by Don Keelan
It is difficult to understand why Hamas, a terrorist organization that controls all that occurs in Gaza, would undertake a horrific attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Hamas must know that Israel would retaliate with an invasion with their overwhelming armed forces. Some other political entity directed the attack, most certainly: Iran.
Israel’s Defense Forces will, in time, remove Hamas from Gaza, and then what? Three monumental issues must be addressed if this part of the world will ever see peace.
First, Israel has a right to exist as a country free of any threat to existence. Second, the Palestinians must be free to govern themselves, not by a terrorist organization or its neighbor. Finally, we must realize that Iran means us harm, and presently, Israel is doing our bidding as Ukraine has been doing with Russia.
Notwithstanding Iran’s interference, the area had been making historic progress toward peace before October 7th. In 1979, Egypt and Israel officially recognized one another four decades ago at a landmark meeting at Camp David. This was followed by Jordan in 1994. Then came the Abraham Accords in August 2020, bringing together the United Arab Emirates and Israel. Just before October 7th, in an interview on Fox News with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, we were just weeks away from having Saudi Arabia and Israel sign a recognition agreement. Then came October 7th.
What is occurring in Gaza/Israel today is a classic case of unresolved geo-political issues. Add to this a lack of understanding of the origins of today’s crises by so many who have taken to the streets in protest on both sides of the barricades.
It might be worth noting that what is transpiring today did not begin with Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, or even Iran. Without going too far back into history, it started several hundred years ago.
Tom Segev, a noted Israeli columnist, in his 600-plus page book, “One Palestine, Complete,” writes, “As early as the beginning of the Seventeenth century, books and public discussion in England had taken up the idea of returning the Jews to the land of their fathers, in the spirit of the biblical prophets.” Over the years, some geographic areas of North Africa were suggested, but all were turned down. Then came WWI, and the long-time rulers of the Middle East lost their centuries of control, and the Ottoman Empire ended.
After decades of dealing with the matter of how to find a home for the Jews of Europe, the British, working under the League of Nations mandate, believed they could finally resolve the problem with the publication of the Balfour Declaration.
According to a Manchester, Vermont resident and expert on matters of the Mid-East, the British cabinet met on October 31, 1917, and authorized Foreign Secretary Balfour to issue the following:
“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.” As history has shown us, the issue of Palestine has never been resolved, and Iranian proxies have filled the vacuum.
Over the next 100 years, the Jews of the world would come to what was once known as Palestine. Shortly followed by the riots of 1922 and 1936. Four wars have been waged since Israel’s statehood was declared in 1948. All of this violence has established that you cannot resolve the errors of the past through violence. The diplomatic actions with Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia are examples of positive and constructive ways. But that leaves Iran and its proxies. The commitment by the U.S. and others to eliminate them is long overdue.
Another commitment that needs to be made is to bring Gaza and the West Bank back to a state where its citizens can be independent, prosper, and free of fear. This was the intent in 1917, but it can be realized today. Only if courage, leadership, and compassion are put forward, and religious righteousness and dogma on all sides are not allowed to dictate the necessary outcome.
The author is a U.S. Marine (retired), CPA, and columnist living in Arlington, VT.