We Must Tolerate One Another Or Die

[mallorys_camera]

poliphilo quoted my favorite poet Auden:

There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.

Well. We must tolerate one another or die.

But that doesn’t scan as well.

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We must love one another or die is a difficult formula to live by, given the present state of the world.

Ichabod keeps texting me links to podcasts that will explain what’s going on in Gaza to me, much the way helpful Protestant missionaries used to disseminate Bible tracts to the heathen Chinese.

The Big Bad, it seems, is zionism.

I have a hard time separating out historical “Zionism” from the contemporary (small-z) “zionism.” I always thought Zionism was the movement to establish a Jewish homeland. Mission accomplished, and trust me: I have no interest in living in Israel (although true, I have some vague notion that I should visit Israel some day.)

I still have only the vaguest notion of what “zionism” is. Apparently, it has something to do with conflating Judaism with Israel.

It’s kinda difficult not to conflate Israel with being a Jew when the main chant at a recent pro-Palestinian rally in London was, “Gas the Jews.”

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The history of that part of the world is famously fraught with conflict.

Palestine was an Ottoman territory that the League of Nations placed under UK administration following the end of World War I. British oversight continued between 1922 and 1947.

The Brits supported turning Palestine into a homeland for the Jewish people.

Neighboring Arab states did not agree.

Nevertheless, there was an enormous amount of mostly Ashkenazi immigration into that area. (Cue theme from Exodus.)

In 1947 the Brits threw up their hands and turned the whole mess over to the United Nations, which partitioned Palestine into two states: one Palestinian Arab, the other Jewish Israel.

The Palestinian state was never established; Jordan and Egypt annexed the territory.

Ensued a 25-year conflict during which Israel expanded its boundaries to include 77% of the original Palestine territory.

This resulted in lots and lots of refugees—approximately half the Palestinian Arab population. Thus was born The Right of Return—the political position that first-generation Palestinians (and second-generation Palestinians, and N¹⁰⁰⁰-th generation Palestinians) had the right to reclaim the property they’d left behind.

To make sure Palestinians were all in on the Right to Return, Jordan and Egypt refused to allow large-scale immigration into their countries. Much better for the cause to keep Palestinians living in wholescale misery in refugee camps along the borders, right?

During this time, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)—a Palestinian nationalist coalition—led by Yassar Arafat arose. The PLO averred that Palestine, as it existed under British control, was an indivisible territorial unit and that the Jewish state was, therefore, illegal.

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Now.

I’m not big on theocracies.

I can actually get behind the notion that a “Jewish homeland” is not a great idea.

I can also get behind the notion that Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, and Afghanistan (Islamic theocracies) and Vatican City (Christian theocracy) are not a great idea.

But I digress.

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In 2000 and 2001, a series of negotiations between Arafat and I-forget-the-name-of-the-Israeli-prime-minister took place (the two I remember were at Camp David under Clinton and at Taba; I think there were others, too), and both turned down the best deal they were ever likely to get.

At this point, there is no obvious way forward.

But nothing justifies Hamas’s horrific terrorism.

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Anyway.

I should just stop consuming media.

I can’t do anything about what’s going on.

So what's the point of knowing anything about it?