Many of us struggle to find an objective explanation for the troubles of the Middle East which have once again led to war. Maybe it’s not possible not to be confused if the truth is not confronted. That truth requires us to identify cause and effect and for many that is uncomfortable because it reflects badly on my own country’s history in my own lifetime and can lead to borderline prejudice accusations from those who deny the truth.
Britain’s overseeing of Palestine from the Balfour Declaration onwards was at best naïve at worst fatally incompetent. Post War as the horrors of The Holocaust began fully to emerge Zionism became the liberal’s norm. So essentially unrestricted emigration of (mainly) European Jews to Palestine was facilitated.
The problem was that the land identified for Israel was already occupied – a recipe for conflict leading to war. From 1948 Palestinians and other Arabs pursued military goals none of which succeeded. We liberals mostly cheered not realising that our support for Israel led inexorably to settlements and de facto expansion. Except for Sinai , which it didn’t want, every bit of land occupied in wars was retained by Israel. This was only possible with Western (primarily American) support.
The process of Israel’s expansion was inevitably a cause of conflict, terrorism (remember Munich ?) and every attempt at resolution, however well meaning, failed. That Iran gave succour to those opposed to Israel’s overt pursuit of Lebensraum is understandable though not, of course, the murderous way they did it. It is not “liberal naivety” to oppose Netanyahu whose war it is. Nor to sympathise with Palestinians.
The actions of Hamas and Hezbollah have rightly been condemned as has Iran which funded them. But the fact remains that in the land area controlled by Israel there is an approximately equal balance of Jews and Palestinians (7.4m each). Some in positions of power in Israel want to remove Palestinians entirely though the scale of this makes it impractical. The alternative “Two state solution” has inevitably receded as a practical outcome.
You could conclude that the clearly Israeli driven war with Iran has no postwar plan assuming US-backed Israel triumphs militarily. What next ?
Paddy’s Blogs in a crazy world 
There is a historical precedent for the Middle East conflict. Although there were some differences, the invasion of white Europeans on the continent of America displaced an established civilisation of Native Americans. The ancestors of the settlers who murdered and pillaged are the Americans we claim to have a special relationship with today.
History matters. Generations of the victimised are doomed to have no voice. So it will come to pass for Palestine. The strong always overcome the weak. What is right and just gets hidden by propaganda and racial prejudice.
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