Thinking Citizen Blog — Orion of the Israel-Palestine Conflict
Thinking Citizen Blog — Monday is Foreign Policy Day
Today’s Topic: Orion of the Israel-Palestine Conflict
I began teaching the Israel-Palestine conflict in 1977 as a section leader in the course that is now “Government 40,” Harvard’s introductory course in international relations. The marquee professors were Stanley Hoffmann and Joe Nye. Much has happened over the last 46 years. But how much has really changed? What are the seven most important things to know about the conflict? Because of the high level of sensitivity on both sides, I have always tried to avoid taking sides. The third attachment below is copy of a handout I made in 2018 for a What Matters Table discussion of the issue. My experience has been that the overwhelming majority of students are reluctant to take a stand publicly, orally or in print. Why antagonize others? Who wants to lose friends over a political issue? After almost half a century of playing the role of neutral arbiter, I have decided to put my cards on the table, hoping others will follow suit and that a civil but frank discussion will follow. My dream is that the discussion will take the form of an exchange of “Orions” — a prioritized list of the seven most important facts every 18 year old should know about topic x. The complexity of this issue is mind-numbing. This post is a real test of the “Orion method” of mental distillation. What does your alembic come up with? Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
ORION’S BELT — Alnilam (1), Alnitak (2), Mintaka (3)
1. Alnilam: Jerusalem is to Jews as Mecca is to Muslims.
2. Alnitak: Jews have 1 country, Arabs have 22. Muslims 50.
3. Mintaka: If any people have a well documented claim to any land on the planet earth, it is the Jews to their Holy Land.
THE TWO UPPER STARS — Betelgeuse (4). Bellatrix (5)
4. Betelgeuse: “The Jewish people were homeless for almost 2000 years and the most persecuted minority on the planet, culminating in the Holocaust.”
5. Bellatrix: The contribution of the Jews to world civilization is incalculable — whether in science or the humanities. Most importantly, perhaps, Christianity and Islam are both offshoots of Judaism.
THE TWO LOWER STARS — Saiph (6) and Rigel (7)
6. Saiph: Jews came to Israel in the 19th and early 20th centuries not as an invading army but as settlers and refugees who turned a desert into a garden and built a state where Muslims (especially women) have more rights than they do in most Muslim lands. 17.2% of Israeli citizens are Arabs. There are 15 Muslim members of the Knesset.
7. Rigel: Israeli territorial expansion and any restrictions on Palestinian life after 1945 was in response to threats to its national security most notably the the coordinated invasion by surrounding Arab countries in 1948. For Palestinian activists 1948 is the “Nakba” — the catastrophe. To me, yes, a great catastrophe. But not the creation of the state of Israel but rather the rejection of the two state solution by the surrounding Arab nations. Recall the words of Azzam Pasha, the secretary general of the Arab League “This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades. It does not matter how many Jews there are. We will sweep them into the sea.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict
History of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict — Wikipedia
The real origin of the Palestinians’ catastrophe — The Boston Globe
Top 10 Pro & Con Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict — Israeli-Palestinian — ProCon.org
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest or most important thing you learned in the last week, month, or year related to foreign policy. Or, even better, the coolest or most important thing you learned in our life related to foreign policy.
This is your chance to make someone else’s day. And to consolidate in your memory something important you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart. Continuity is the key to depth of thought. The prospect of imminent publication, like hanging and final exams, concentrates the mind. A useful life long habit.
