ArticleI began writing for The Age in 1981, and worked there for more than 30 years, the last 12 as religion editor. Among the 3 million or so words of mine the then-Fairfax papers published, none were about Israel/Palestine.
That is partly because the conflict is not primarily religious. But more importantly, as a wise philosopher advised me, when it comes to such controversial and deeply divisive issues, unless you can include every necessary nuance it is better not to write at all. You are more likely to inflame.
So I begin this article with a trigger warning: it is certain to offend almost everyone who is wedded to one side or the other.
How do we cope with the realisation that the nation that we long saw as a beacon of hope in the Middle East has carried out calculated and unconscionable cruelty? What do we do when our side are the bad guys (or as bad as the other side)?
For decades, Israel was the David facing the Goliath of the Arab world, fighting wars simply to survive in 1948, 1967 and 1973. Today Israel is the Goliath, mercilessly hammering a people who simply cannot resist.
I am half-Jewish (my father’s side). Our wider Dutch family was virtually extinguished in World War II: our family book has scores of entries that end “died: Auschwitz” or Treblinka or Sobibor. I do not claim this gives me an atom of extra moral authority, but it exacerbates my horror.
I ardently support Israel’s right to exist. If that makes me a Zionist, then I suggest every decent human being should be. But I simply cannot equate that with today’s Israeli government.
Both Israel and Hamas are firing out propaganda as fast as they can, and one has to be wary about accepting claims. Yet the systematic destruction of Gaza and its starving children are clearly not invented, while it is simply unfathomable that Israeli troops are shooting desperate Palestinians as they line up for scarce aid or endorsing awful settler violence on the West Bank. There are claims and counter-claims on these issues, but it is the fact the violence exists that matters.
Any discussion must acknowledge that this situation is one of unbelievable complexity, with ample blame to go around almost wherever one looks; war crimes abound. Where do we start? Around 1000BC when King David takes Jerusalem from the Jebusites and makes it his capital? In 66AD, when the Romans join the list of those who ethnically cleanse the Jews and half-empty the country? In 1948, when the UN calls Israel back into existence, but at a high price for Palestinians? On October 7, 2023, with the Hamas savagery?
For nearly 80 years Israel has been surrounded by existential enemies who want it destroyed, especially since the 1979 theocratic revolution in Iran. As Israelis point out, those nations can lose wars many times, but Israel will lose only once.
It is perhaps worth noting that huge numbers of Israelis reject the slaughter of Gazans, that bitter criticism is widespread in Israeli media, and Israelis are protesting against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who seems to want to prolong the war to avoid accountability for corruption allegations.
In fact, the only people with more contempt for Palestinians than Netanyahu’s regime are Hamas, whose leaders, comfortably ensconced in Qatar, have said it is the UN’s role to care for Palestinians; their job is to kill Jews. In nearly two decades of power they spent billions of aid money that could have been spent on schools, hospitals, water or electricity supply on military tunnels and on rockets to fire over the border. That’s what this war is like.
Hamas could have gone a long way to ending the war at any point by releasing the hostages. Israel is right that Hamas cannot be part of the solution.
As for the sometimes ugly protests around the Melbourne CBD, I don’t think anyone believes that Netanyahu thinks “they’re marching in Melbourne. I’d better ease up.”
Of course it is partly about solidarity, but it is hard to reconcile collective self-righteous anger with the worst instances of “protest” we’ve seen: smashing up an Israeli restaurant, or bursting into university lecture theatres, wearing masks, to demand students denounce Israel, or to intimidating an elderly Jewish woman in a wheelchair.
Obviously what is happening now is catastrophic for ordinary Palestinians, and simply has to stop. But, as many ordinary Israelis realise, it is also terrible for them: the nation has coarsened its moral conscience, it has dehumanised an entire people and it has turned many former supporters against it – realising one of Hamas’ chief goals.
I fear Israel will pay a more terrible price in decades to come; it may be sowing the seeds of its own destruction. It won’t always be the biggest regional power, especially if the US regrets its apparently unconditional support. And polls in that country suggest that young Americans increasingly do not support Israel – in 20 years they will be the ones running the country.
For now, and possibly unendingly, as Israeli writer Etgar Keret told The New Yorker: “Not only is reality horrible, you also don’t know what the real story is.”
Barney Zwartz is a senior fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity. This article was first published in The Age.
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