MHCC FORUM EXPLORES ISRAEL/PALESTINE CONFLICT

Conflict between Israel and Palestine has been ongoing since the mid-20th century, but has blown up this past month with more deadly attacks and counterattacks.

On Oct. 17, MHCC political science instructor Janet Campbell hosted a Zoom presentation on the conflict’s history and offered a forum for students and faculty to ask questions. The session highlighted the complicated origins of the latest attacks and some possibilities of how this conflict may end, if ever.

On Oct. 7, Hamas, a political party and military organization ruling the Gaza Strip, fired thousands of rockets toward Israeli cities and critical Israeli military sites. Militants also stormed Israeli cities and villages, as well, killing several hundred Israeli citizens and taking at least 200 more hostage.

Israel quickly responded with constant bombardment of heavily populated Gaza, pushing Palestinians to evacuate while planning to launch a ground invasion there (now underway, starting in the past week).

While rocket attacks on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip have continued for several decades, this is the most significant attack on Israel since the 1948 Arab-Israel war.

Campbell offered a brief history of the conflict, saying that it was mainly about land – and while religion played a part in it, it remains mainly a battle over land.

She explained the original proposed solution between the Palestinians and the Israelis was to have a two-state solution (both getting their own territory and recognized nation, or “state”), and with this, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was born. This organization recognized the right of Israel to exist, and it declared the Gaza Strip and West Bank as Palestine.

Over time, Campbell explained, some groups were unhappy that the PLO was “conceding land” to Israel. One of these groups is Hamas. In 2006, she said, Hamas won the election in Palestine, and Fatah, the previous ruling party, was taken out of power. Fatah decided to fight Hamas for power, and after the end of their internal conflict, Hamas controlled the Gaza Strip, and Fatah controlled the West Bank (along the eastern edge of Israel, on the west bank of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea).

Most importantly, Campbell said – and the key reasoning behind this latest attack – is that Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist. This has also driven Israel’s massive military response.

Now, “The people in Gaza can’t really go anywhere and can’t have access to goods without Israelis being involved,” she said. This is why this conflict has become a severe humanitarian crisis, because there are limited ways for Palestinian civilians to flee their land.

Image sourced from Web

Once Campbell opened the session to questions, one participant asked, “How do you see this [conflict] ending, or do you think it will?”

Campbell said, “It has to at some point…these eruptions will be constant.”

She noted the seriousness of any all-out ground invasion by Israeli troops into the Gaza Strip.

“(A)t this current point with Israel wanting to eliminate Hamas…they will probably not conduct a full-on ground invasion because that is door-to-door combat…with very heavy casualties,” she said.

Another Zoom viewer asked, “How long do you think this (current conflict) will last?”

This is the larger question many people around the world are asking, Campbell said.

“The big worry is that this will become a multi-front war (with Israel battling several opposition groups/countries),” she said. “I think that everyone is well aware that a large conflict that might draw the United States in is not a good idea.”

Campbell’s insight and opinions about the situation were very valuable. With all the different news sources and media outlets – and their possible biases – it was refreshing to get a clear view of the current conflict and how it may play out.