The old story of human despair due to the Muslim-Jew conflict continues in the so-called holy land. In the last few weeks more than 800 Palestinians and dozens of Israelis have been killed by the two fighting parties (1). The tolls on both sides include innocent children, who are neither fighters nor hate-mongers nor policy makers by any means.
The current surge in the acts of hatred and violence began with the kidnapping of three Jewish teenage boys by suspected Islamic terrorists in the West Bank on June 12, 2014. This was followed by arrests of members of the radical Islamic group, Hamas, in the West Bank by the Israeli Defense Forces. In retaliation, Hamas started firing rockets into Israel.
The three Jewish boys were found dead in the West Bank on June 30. This was followed by a series of events: Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas has its power base; a Muslim teenage boy burned alive by suspected Jewish settlers in Israel on July 2; Hamas intensifying its rocket fires into Israel; and Israeli forces intensifying their punishing airstrikes in Gaza.
This kind of tit-for-tat acts of terrorism is not new in the land of the prophets of the principal dogmatic religions in the world, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. For example, in November 2012, 167 Palestinians and 6 Israelis died and in December 2008-January 2009, 1,391 Palestinians and 9 Israelis died (2). The latest news now is that Israel and Hamas have agreed on a short ceasefire (1). There is no reason to believe that the ceasefire would last, or that there would be no more large-scale Muslim-Jew fighting in that land.
The history of, and the resolve for, the formation of the modern state of Israel are beyond the scope of this short article. However, here are some references for readers who may wish to learn.
In August 1897, the First Zionist Congress resolved to create a homeland for the Jewish people in Eretz Israel, the biblical name of a territory where the Jewish people lived and where today's Israel is (3).
In November 1917, the Balfour Declaration provided support by a major world power (Britain) for a Jewish state in the biblical territory of Eretz Israel, which by that time had become Palestine, with an overwhelmingly Muslim majority population (4).
In July 1922, the League of Nations gave Britain the Mandate for Palestine, and recognized the "historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine" and the "grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country" (5).
In November 1947, the UN General Assembly resolved to partition Palestine between Muslims and Jews, allowing for the formation of the Jewish state of Israel (6).
In May 1948, the independent state of Israel was declared (7).
Of course, the history of the Jewish people between 1922 and 1947 was that of their genocide in Europe, which is well-documented.
The history of how a biblical Jewish-majority land became a Muslim-majority land in 1897 is not as well-documented. However, looking at some of the religious books that came out of that part of the world, one would very likely conclude that propagation of religions there was done by violent and brutal means, such as killing men and taking women as sex-slaves.
It would not be difficult for any honest reader of history of mankind to conclude that human civilization has been progressing. The world was much less civilized when most of the religions were concocted, and it was very wrong to propagate religions via barbaric means. Aside from religion-based hatred, the world also had a lot of other unjust ways of life.
The Muslim-Jew conflict is clearly a problem that seems to have no solution. While some temporary lulls in the conflict have made several Nobel Peace Prize winners, peace has remained elusive in the land that produced the big inventors of what is known as God.
Reading the news of innocent people, including minor children, being killed by powerful Israeli bombs, it is hard to not call Israel a terrorist state. While the Hamas is widely recognized as a terrorist organization, how can Israel be absolved of the responsibilities of causing the deaths and sufferings of non-combatants across its border? Indeed, the United Nations also thinks that Israel has been committing war crimes in Gaza (8).
While blames can be put on both Hamas and Israel, the root cause of the problem must be addressed in order to find solutions to problems like the one between the Muslims and the Jews. The root cause is hatred based upon religions and religious clanships.
Humans clearly need to get over the age-old brainwashing that created God and his messengers. If there is such a thing as the almighty God, surely he is powerful enough to stop the births of non-believers on Earth. Why would people need to help him maintain or promote his religion on Earth? Why should people hate other people for God? The progress of human civilization inevitably needs to include calling the business of God what it really is, the greatest fraud in the power game that fools too many ordinary people while causing too much of misery to too many innocent people.
=========== References:
(1) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28497439 (2) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28439404 (3) https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/First_Cong_&_Basel_Program.html (4) https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/balfour_declaration_of_1917.htm (5) https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1922mandate.html (6) https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/nov-29-1947-united-nations-partitions-palestine-allowing-for-creation-of-israel/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 (7) https://www.knesset.gov.il/docs/eng/megilat_eng.htm (8) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28437626
======================== About the Writer: Sukhamaya Bain is a US citizen who was born in a place that is a part of today's Bangladesh. He earned a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry in 1987, and currently works for the US federal government, evaluating chemistry. While being a scientist by profession, he believes that societal justice is vital for the well-being of mankind. Thus, he occasionally writes on sociopolitical issues.