The Heart of the Problem With Israel: The Mass Expulsion of the Palestinian People

[fujiyama]

122. For many of the founders of the modern state of Israel

and most of its current residents, I don't think the divine aspect plays too heavily into it. Contrary to what many believe, the Jewish state is fairly secular - at least many of its citizens are. There is a huge split between liberal, reformist, and orthodox Jews. Most of the founders were also socialist and may have even been considered atheist.

I place most of the blame on two millennium of European antisemitism and imperialism. We're living with the results today of the maps carved out and constantly remade, whether it was for Christ, Muhammad, power for power's sake (the Romans), or resources.... Judaism was for much of that time, a relatively minor player in the region once the Jews were disbursed.

But it's hard to dispute that the "Holy Land" did have special meaning to even Jews that weren't religious. For them, Israel was supposed to be a safe haven from persecution - a place to practice their religion without interference from the state, to raise their children without being surrounded by people that constantly accused them of blood libel - of killing the Christian messiah... There were very few places that could be done (the US was one of the few and even here it's not like antisemitism didn't exist here).

Either way, making peace means having leaders that will take extraordinary risks - Sadat, Begin...Rabin, and even those like Carter and Clinton that facilitated the process. The only thing Hamas risks is more civilian casualties. And Netanyahu may be one of the most disingenuous and cynical politicians on the world's stage. So the modern conflict will continue on.