Fighting escalates between Israelis and Palestinians
By MARIBEL MOREY
News Writer
Palestinian children hurl rocks at Israeli soldiers who retaliate with gunshots while markets are scattered with troops who monitor every movement and apartment buildings lay shattered after bombings. This Holy Land is in the midst of warfare.
In the mid-1940s, Palestinians were displaced from their homeland in Jerusalem when the Jews claimed the Holy Land and formed Israel after the Second World War.
"Israel still controls the territory that belongs by right and international law to the Palestinians," said David Burrell, a Holy Cross priest and theology professor who has spent the last two years in Jerusalem.
"It's wrong to render a group of people homeless," said Asma Afsaruddin, professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies.
"The Palestinians have a right to their own homeland — that was an injustice," Some Israelis, including Shoshana, who wants to be called by only her first name, a bible and Hebrew teacher at Temple Beth-el, believe the Israelis rightfully own the land.
"Yes, [the Palestinians] lived there and us Jews bought the land. We did not steal it from anyone," said Shoshana.
Basil Hirzalla, a Notre Dame premed student from Jordan questions this. "If they paid for it, what would we be fighting for? If there was a clear cut agreement, why has this [dispute] gone on for ages?"
Palestinians still have not lost hope. "It's our land, they came in they raped the women and kicked everyone out," said Hirzalla. "If you had a chance to get your house back, you'd fight for it."
Tension and fighting have recently escalated between Palestinians and Israelis. "The so-called visit of Ariel Sharon [the right-wing Israeli opposition leader] to Temple Mount was a cheap political maneuver by their political party. This man provoked this conflict by going over there the way he did. The Israelis are loathed to admit it," said Burrell.
Israelis agree that Jerusalem is their right as Abraham's people. "This land was promised to Abraham and to all our fathers. Jews lived in Israel through all the years, we never abandoned the land," said Shoshana. In 1967, Israeli leader Mostie Dayan had recognized how holy the sight was to Muslims and had given effective control of the Temple Mount to Muslim religious authority. Sharon's armed visit provoked tensions and fears to surface.
When Afsaruddin visited Jerusalem this past summer she felt tension between the watchful Israeli troops and the Palestinians in the marketplace. Later while at the Notre Dame Jerusalem center, In Tantur Ecumenical Institute, she was awoken by blaring sounds twice in one week.
"Israeli soldiers came in to the compound and talked loudly into their bull horns, looking for Palestinians in the area. You felt you were in the middle of a war ground," said Afsaruddin.
With the support of the United States, Israel has more means for defense. "[Israelis] are armed to the teeth. At worst, the Palestinians are throwing stones. [Palestinians] have been met by much harsher response," said Afsaruddin.
Shoshana disagrees and continues to say that the soldiers need to defend themselves when the public does not respect them. "I want you to stand there and let people throw stones at you. Just stand there and let it hit you. The soldiers need to defend themselves with what they have," said Shoshana.
"One of the worst things is that the Israeli Security Forces are not only using excess fire power against Palestinians, but also allowing Israeli settlers to indiscriminately kill Palestinian villagers," said Burrell.
With Palestinian and Israeli forces at odds for the Holy Land, this tension might appear like a religious war, but it is not. To the Palestinians and the Israelis, they each are trying to recover or defend the same homeland. "Israel does not want to give any more land. It's a dilemma. If all the rocks ran out we would still run after the [Israeli soldiers]. It's about honor, about pride," said Hirzalla.
"This is not really a conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, but really a deep, deep conflict within Israeli society itself with the majority who believe they must share land with Palestinians and those who think God gave them land to them and only them," said Burrell.
However, Burrell believes that these outbreaks are caused by other factors. In the present time, he believes that Sharon's visit escalated such tensions.
Though peace is still hopeful, both Israelis and Palestinians are massacred each day in the middle of warfare. "Everyone concerned in this wants peace and a normal life. Peace with justice, dignity and honor," said Afsaruddin. "Unless those issues are faced and resolved, peace is not going to be resolved." The land is not just a piece of dirt with a house; it's more than that. It's your past as a Palestinian, your roots that the Israelis deny.
"There has never been a Palestinian state until now. It's just a myth. It's just a wish," said Shoshana.
All News Stories for Wednesday, November 1, 2000
