By Justine Hemmestad, With Help From Major Itamar Ben David
For our first question in commemoration of the October 7 terror attack on Israel, Courtney asks Major Itamar Ben David, “What was the catalyst for the Israel-Hamas conflict? Why do you think it amounted to the degree it has today?” He answers, “You asked me specifically about the current Israel-Hamas war that started on October 7, 2023. The simple answer is that there was some ceasefire after the last clash with Gaza (there have been many clashes since 2005 when Israel left Gaza completely). Hamas broke it on October 7 with a horrific massacre in Southern Israel, the killing of 1200 Israelis and kidnapping of about 250, and now Israel is determined to annihilate Hamas and remove the threat of the terror state called Gaza. Taking down a country is never pretty, especially when the Jihadist indoctrination of Hamas completely brainwashed the entire population. “If you are happy with this - short answer - perfect. but I want to use this opportunity to open a broader discussion. One of our challenges in understanding the war in Gaza is that every commentator uses a different time and geographic frame, making it difficult to follow. Also, because it is a conflict that so many actors are invested in - they have their own interest in insisting that their frame is the right one because their solutions answer the problems they originally framed. As a Jewish Israeli, I will try not just to give you my answer/ narrative but also equip you with some tools to approach this conflict: “Now, after giving you my simple answer, please consider the following questions: When did the conflict start? Was it 2023 with October 7? Was it 2007 when Hamas took over Gaza? Was it 2000 in the second Intifada? or the 1980s when Hamas was established? Maybe it started in 1967 when Israel took over Gaza in the 1967 war? or maybe in 1948 when Israel was established and defeated the Arab Armies and the Palestinians during the independence war. Wait, maybe we should go back to the roots of Hamas - with the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt in the 1920s; after all, Hamas is the Palestinian branch of it, right? As you will read about this conflict and the documents of the ideologues of these movements, you will see that the timeframe is usually not even in the 20th century. very quickly, they will talk about the early days of Islam and the crusades, and Palestinian nationalists will also talk about them being the descendants of the Canaanites who were expelled from the Land by the ancient Israelites 3000 years ago, and now they suffer again under the Israelites. My point is that choosing the point in time at which this conflict started is completely a political choice. My suggestion to you is to be a careful listener to the multiple narratives that are being used and who is using each narrative, why and when. Sometimes, the same speaker will use different historical narratives, even contradicting narratives, just to make a point. “What about Geography? The question is - who is fighting against whom? Is it big powerful Israel against small and poor Gaza? Or is it Israel against Iran and its terror proxies in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen? Is it “The West” with Israel as the spearhead against the Palestinians? “The West” and Israel against the Muslim world? If your map is small - you don’t understand the conflict. If your map is the entire globe and you see the geopolitical alliances, agree- ments, and disagreements, you can probably better grasp what is happening. “As a person who dedicated his entire life to studying this conflict, I can assure you that History and Geography aren’t enough. You also need to understand the scriptures, both the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, the culture of Jewish Israelis and Palestinians and so much more. So, the second half of your questions amounted to this level because of all the components I mentioned.” Editor’s note: The answer Courtney received is one of the main things I’ve learned by having this series with my friend Itamar in the Leader and what I’ve hoped to bring to my neighbors, which is how nuanced the fighting is, and how deep into history it stretches before arriving to where it is today, as well as how the very people who attacked Israel distort the news. Thank you, my friend (both Courtney and Itamar)!
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