On October 7, gunmen from Gaza entered southern Israel and went on a rampage, killing over 1,300 civilians. Israel responding by pushing the gunmen back into Gaza, and pounding targets with an air bombardment, as preparation for an expected ground invasion. These actions beg the question of how it all started.
Gaza is essentially one big city, and some would consider it a slum. The Palestinians who live in Gaza look back to a time when their ancestors occupied the entire region of what is now the nation of Israel. Palestine was never a nation, however. Before Israel, it was an area within the British Protectorate established after World War I. Before that, it was a region within the Ottoman Empire. Before that it belonged to Arab tribes, before that the Byzantine Empire, and before that the Roman Empire. The current expectation is that when Israel took over, it would honor the property rights of people living on the land. This did not happen, however.
Property rights is the 2nd of five elevating innovations and is core to humankind’s development. However, they haven’t always been treated the same way. That a new nation would honor existing land contracts is largely a modern expectation. This was generally not the case in the ancient world: William the Conqueror did not, Germany during World War II did not, none of the Communist countries did, even the US did not. However, the mid-20th century was a murky time when expectations were in flux and the convention was not clear. Given this uncertainty, a two-state solution was proposed, where Jews and Palestinians would receive roughly equal land, side-by-side. However, since Jews were 31% of the population, Palestinians were 60%, and Christians were 8%, sharing the land equally was seen as a bad deal for the Palestinians. War resulted. In losing the war, the Palestinians lost their first opportunity at statehood. Nevertheless, the two-state solution remains the working solution of the United States and United Nations.
Hamas attacked to draw attention to their plight, as Israel establishes relationships with Arab nations that no longer focus on their issue. Yet this fight is unlikely to change the world order—it remains a fight between two societies that have long fought each other, unless countries allow themselves to be dragged into it. Even then it is unlikely to change the world order. One can but hope it ends quickly with minimal casualties.
Source:
Dylan Moriarty, Bonnie Berkowitz, “Visualizing the Size of Gaza City Compared to US Cities,” Washington Post, 17 October 2023; accessed from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/17/gaza-size-population-comparison/
Office of the Historian, “The Arab-Israeli War of 1948,” US Department of State; accessed from https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/arab-israeli-war
Joseph Chamie, “Israeli-Palestinian Population Growth and Its Impact on Peace,” PassBlue, 2 February 2014; accessed from https://www.passblue.com/2014/02/02/israeli-palestinian-population-growth-and-its-impact-on-peace/
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