Written by Ilhaam Khwaja
A conference room in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Houston, Texas, hosted a diverse gathering of inquisitive individuals on Sunday, February 25th. Ranging from Japanese journalists to deans of prestigious American private schools, those gathered there that evening were in attendance to hear Abdel Razzaq Takriti speak about the history of the Gaza Strip and the current crisis there. Takriti is a professor at Rice University where he works in the Department of History as an Associate Professor of History and is also Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair in Arab Studies. He received his doctorate at Oxford University, where he also previously taught. Of notable importance, Takriti is not only a learned scholar of history, but also of Palestinian origin.
At the beginning of his talk, Takriti stated that he got into studying history because he wanted “to see how we got here.” He proceeded with the history of the piece of land in controversy by explaining that the Gaza Strip is barely the size of a neighborhood in Houston, Texas, providing a comparison that could help his listeners understand the situation better. It’s a small enclave with a high density of people, which means that the impact of bombing campaigns is felt acutely by a large number of people despite the small amount of land.
In the last few months, 30,000 people have been killed by the bombing carried out by the Israeli government, and over 75,000 people injured. This military campaign is ongoing and it has been relentless partly due to the suppression of objective journalism. News broadcasts and articles have been heavily edited and skewed to share the Israeli perspective and justification for what Israel claims is the war on Hamas.
Before 1948
Before 1948, Israel did not exist. The area that is currently called Israel today mainly consisted of Muslims before 1948, with a few Christians and Jews mixed in. It was a very peaceful community, and the very few conflicts that actually emerged were caused by Christians vis-a-vis campaigns such as the Crusades.
How did Zionism Emerge?
According to Takriti, a very basic definition of Zionism would be “the development and protection of a Jewish nation in what is now Israel. Zionism emerged from two developments in Europe: severe anti-semitism and religious seclusion.” Anti-semitism is prejudice against Jewish people. The religious seclusion that was taking place in Europe was actually mostly perpetrated by Christians. Muslims were largely not present in Europe and did not participate in the anti-semitic campaigns against the Jews such as the pogroms that happened almost exclusively in Europe.
Russia and the Soviet Union also contributed to the emergence of Zionism. Russians wanted Jews to leave Europe and otherwise targeted minorities, which caused Jews on the continent to seek refuge elsewhere. The Soviet Union believed that having ties to Zionism would lead to having ties in the Middle East, which is what they wanted, and as such became supporters of the movement.
Nationalism was also a blossoming idea in Europe at the time. Nationalism is an ideology that states that each ethnic group should have their own nation/country. Nationalism greatly encouraged Zionism. Takriti actually gave an equation of sorts for the concept of Zionism: “Anti-Semitism plus nationalism equals Zionism.”
Colonialism
Colonialism is when a group of individuals not native to a place, picks a piece of land there to live on that already has an indigenous population. Theodor Herzl was the main leader in the colonization of Palestine. Herzl is known as the father of Zionism, and he greatly encouraged Zionism and colonialism both.
Herzl was looking for a place for the Jews to live and establish their idea of nationalism, which was also encouraged by Europe as a whole. His two options were Argentina and Palestine. Argentina appeared to be the more obvious and better option due to the amount of natural resources. However, in the end, Palestine was chosen because of the religious significance and history of the place and the emotional connection that people had to Palestine.
The colonization of Palestine by Zionist Jews presented a big problem because there were already people who lived in Palestine and traced their roots and ancestry to the land back for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Zionists argue that Palestine was empty when Jews went to live there (their claim is that Palestine was a land without people, for a people without a land); however, this is incorrect because Palestine was never empty. While the prominent religion in the region changed throughout time, the land was never uninhabited. Palestine had been predominantly Muslim for 1,500 years.
As Zionist Jews began to arrive in Palestine, Jewish colonies were intentionally built in Palestine in a specific shape that marked their colonization. Many Zionists argue that this situation is not one of colonialism, but rather simply the movement of people into different lands. Takriti rejects this argument as false because many historical documents demonstrate the intention of Herzl and his Zionists followers to arrive as settlers to Palestine to colonize the land and remove its native inhabitants.
Britain’s Role in the Colonialism
Britain also played a great role in the colonization of Palestine, which is not a greatly spoken about topic. Britain signed an agreement that said that they would convert non-Jewish people in Palestine to Judaism. There are many reasons for Britain to agree to this, but the main reason that most people think is that it was agreed to so that Britain could keep the French out of Palestine. This agreement would keep the French out of Palestine because it would mark that the British are already working with the Jews, the so French would stay away. Takriti actually does not agree with this, and thinks that the British had other reasons for signing this agreement.
Britain eventually took over Palestine and developed a scheme for how it would be split. Christian Zionists in Britain actually supported the idea of Zionism because they thought it had to do with the return of Christ. After the British took over Palestine, no one asked how the Palestinians were feeling about this situation, which further demonstrates a large amount of injustice.
Winston Churchill played a huge role in the British colonialism of Palestine. Churchill was the prime minister of Britain at the time, and he caused a lot of unacceptable situations and is known to have said a lot of adverse statements reflecting an extremely racist ideology. For example, he once compared the Palestinians to dogs.
The Balfour Declaration is a declaration that stated the British’s support to turn Palestine into a place for Jews to live. Churchill instituted the Balfour Declaration into law in Palestine, in 1917. Thirty years after this declaration passed, the Israeli state was created. Jews were allowed to be armed in Gaza, while Palestinians were not allowed to be armed. Before the British left the country, colonists began taking over and expelled the Palestinans that lived there. Other countries tried to interfere in this, but they were very unsuccessful due to powerful nations, such as Britain, being involved in the process. In the end, Zionist colonizers ended up conquering even more land than was originally intended because of these powerful countries’ interferences.
The Current Situation
Right now, land is split 78% to 22% with 78% of the land given to the Israelis, while only 22% of the land is given to the Palestinians. Israelis are always saying that the fighting with Palestinans is a form of “self defense.” With the toll on human life and suffering being what it is today, this is an extremely genocidal situation that we as a community should somehow address, by doing our part to help these innocent people who have inherited generations of injustice.
- Ilhaam Khwaja