[runarberg]

Agreed, the history by it self is not enough, except for the context it is put in. In the case of Israel Palestine this context matters. I like to put it in the context of colonialism and colonial warefare/resistance. Knowing the history is important, and 1948 is certainly a pivotal moment in history, but if you list events as if one thing leads to another (like my parent did) you, at best, end up with a simplistic view, a weird nonsensical justification and, at worst, wrong timeline and a confusing conclusion. Lying with history is after all a pretty known device to provide justification which otherwise wouldn’t be possible.

I like the context of colonization here because in 1948 Europe is in the middle of recolonizing regions lost during WW2 and the whole period after WW2 has been dominated by a) the cold war and b) decolonization. The cold war here seems irrelevant but decolonization seems important. Many post WW2 decolonization efforts were done via colonial warfare and resistance. Many of the colonial nations spent most of their military activity fighting resistance movements in their newly re-established colonies. Examples include the British army fighting the Mau Mau in Kenya, and the IRA in Northern Ireland, the French fighting FLN in Algeria, and the Americans fighting the Viet Cong in Vietnam. Even before WW2 the British were fighting Irish Republicans in Ireland.

In Palestine we have the British handing the colony of Palestine over to the UN in the hopes of a peaceful decolonization, which became moot when Israel declared independence in 1948. After 1967 it becomes obvious that Israel is the colonizer and Palestinians are the colonized. In 1967 Europe is desperately trying to keep colonialism alive so it makes sense they support another western colonizer in the Middle East. After 1967 we also have established resistance movements in Palestine such as the PLA (which later became superseded by Hamas and PIJ). By the 1990s, after the Cold war has ended, it becomes obvious that European colonialism is all but dead. However Israel remains as a beacon of hope, the last remaining colony of European settlers. But everyone knows it can’t stay like that. Decolonization is inevitable. And I think the hope is that the two-state solution is a way for the settlers to keep theirs while Palestine remains subjugated while not a proper colony (not learning the lesson from the partition of Ireland). This however failed, largely because Israel wished to keep colonizing Palestinians.

Of course this is simplistic. However this is the context in which I like to put this history.

[thisiszilff]

I think you are reading too much into my response. The list of events isn't an attempt to justify anything. It is mainly to establish that what happens in 1948 isn't coming out of nowhere, but rather has been brewing and building up for a while in the region. If someone is only familiar with 1948, they're going to really struggle to understand the motivations of either side and will likely end up with a simplistic view of one side or the other as evil depending on what information they get.

As for the colonialist interpretation... that confuses more than it clarifies. There is enough substance to the conflict itself that we don't need to resort to grand sweeping historical narratives.