The difficult and hard situation in the Middle East is by no means new, but a never ending story, it seems, and behind all words are real people, young and old who share a history of hatred, mistrust and foul deeds in both directions. But there are also good stories and attempts to live in peace and understanding. I chose the picture above of King David, David ha-melekh, to describe the long history of a troubled but also very dynamic area. My own agenda is an attempt to clarify the difficult situation as I see it, and hopefully contribute with something that could improve the situation at least to some extent. Today we see lots of hatred between Israelis, Jews, and Palestinians, as well as many other Muslim populations in the Middle East and elsewhere. I always get upset when people get hurt and killed, irrespective of that person is Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, atheist, girl, boy, woman or man, whosoever. However I also see that injustices and good efforts are made on both sides of these complicated conflicts. The Palestinians are furious for natural reasons for being treated like vermin, for not getting any help, for being killed and their ground taken. The Israeli Jews on the other hand want to be accepted as a people and to live in the area that was theirs before the Diaspora. When Israel became a nation again in 1948 the Jews celebrated, but the Arab population see this as Al-Naqba, the Disaster. The fights have continued, the Jews have taken control of most of the area, while the Palestinian population live in misery. Demolished houses, killed family members, the building of new settlements on the West Bank has created even more anger and frustration among the Palestinians. The Jews on the other hand realise that they are surrounded by enemy states and have for that reason created a strong army, the IDF, Tsavá Haganá Yisraél and secret agencies like Mossad and Shin Beyt. The different peace attempts that have been made have often failed because of the strong hatred, and created a vicious circle of animosity.
The Jews I know also feel that their right to defend themselves is rejected in many circles internationally. Antisemitic attitudes have increased and been fuelled among Muslims, left wing communists, among Nazis and other groups. The building of the wall on the West Bank and the many atrocities have led to many international protests, and new antisemitic attacks have continued in different parts of the world. Both Christian and Muslim Palestinians and other Muslim populations in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt or Iran e.g. continue their attacks on Israel. The Palestinians have every right to feel angry because of the bad treatment, and the struggle locally is uneven and brutal to say the least. Hamas also has as a goal to wipe Israel off the map, and destroy it, which make many Jews nervous and even more aggressive. Quarrels about the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is also a conflict that is very vivid. Devout Jews pray by the only remnant left of the old temple, the Western Wall, Kotel ha-ma’aravi. Since the Al ‘Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock now is situated on the spot and holy ground for the Muslims, the fights about the right and the history of the place create even more rivalry and suspicion between the two cousin people. The Palestinians also must be treated with dignity and respect, but must accept the Israeli Jews and their rights to exist. It also comes down to concrete discussions about partition, ownership, democracy, jobs, human rights, land- and water resources, which is very tricky and should be that for any country concerning a very small area.
The democracy protests in Egypt and other Arab countries continue and that is a good thing. The sad thing though is the civil war in Syria where the population, children, women and men continue to get killed by the country’s own leadership. Now the protests in Egypt also continues against Mursi’s attempt to give himself even more power and at the same time, influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood deny women their democratic rights. I hope for the sake of the Egyptians that they will get a democracy that might give them jobs, and rights for everyone, man and woman alike.Today on referendum day I wish them good luck and hope for the best.
My own view is that every people and every nation ought to have the right to exist. We are all human beings with the right to be treated in a fair and good way. I hate to see the foul sides of humanity where we hate others because we do not share the same religious or political beliefs, for our different skin colour, gender, age or social belonging. I am for Jews and Muslims, Druze, Christians, Atheists, Agnostics, Hindus, Sikhs, Budhists and other alike. However, I do not want to see another war that eraze people from the face of the earth. I want Israel to remain. Let the Jews be Jews, in Israel, Malmoe, Copenhagen, London or Berlin. Treat the Palestinians with respect and start listening in each other without devious hindthoughts. Let the Shi’ite Muslims be shi’ite, stop the fighting between Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan, stop the genocide of shi’ites in Pakistan, stop the killings of Christians everywhere and stop harrassing and oppressing women on a global scale. Give them their human rights to shape their lifes with pride and dignity. We only have one world, and if we’re not careful we might not have much of a world to fight for and to be proud of. Do not behave like a pack of wolves killing their prey. The "winning" people will get even more problems because of the destructive weather system. So let's co-operate in peace instead. We must all consider and stop this folly. Now!
Check also the texts on this blog that I wrote on November 8th, 9th, 15th and 26th as well as December 3d. If you want to comment on this text or any other you might do that or e-mail me on anders.moberg676@gmail.com.
Anders Moberg, December 15th 2012
swedish heart and soul 