ABOUT THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

ABOUT THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

People can disagree about morals, and people can disagree about facts. When it comes to the Israel-Palestine conflict people don’t disagree about morals, they disagree about facts. No one can argue that it is right to slaughter, shoot, burn alive, kidnap, torture, rape, bomb, or oppress, innocent people. No, everyone can agree that it is wrong unless they are a terrorist or a Nazi. What people disagree about when it comes to Israel vs. Palestine are the facts, both current and historical.

Morals are obscure and complicated so there is no right or wrong, people disagree about them and they always have. For example, when it comes to the meat industry, cows are innocent, yet we separate mothers from their calves to take their milk, we slaughter animals every day by the millions, and we use their bodies for consumption and materials. Arguing about morals can be interesting yet a bit pointless because, at the end of the day, everyone is entitled to their own opinion when it comes to politics or morals.

Even subjects such as human rights are debated. Is it a basic human right to have free healthcare? What about food? Clean drinkable water? Mobility? A home? Freedom of speech? The right to vote? The right to protest? Self-protection? Owning firearms? Committing suicide? Aborting a baby? Freedom of religion? The right to refuse the law? Where do we draw the line? What is basic and what is not? All these are subjects for debate because there are no universal truths about those matters. In the animal kingdom, there are no basic rights, the jungle works by laws of survival of the fittest.

But facts are different than morals. Facts are irrefutable. We can argue whether it’s okay or not to eat meat, and no one would win because there is no truth, only opinion. But when we argue about facts it's not a matter of opinion. When we talk facts, just like math, there is only one true fact, which means that one of the sides is wrong. That is what happens in the Israeli-Palestine conflict, people disagree about facts which means that one side is definitely wrong. Just like the earth that can only be either spherical or flat, but not both, same with history and current events, things either happened or didn’t. And if two different sources report different facts it means that one (or both) are lying.

That is why when it comes to arguments about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict my first demand is for you to state your facts, what do you think is the truth? and then bring your evidence, how do you know you are telling the truth? Where do you get your information from? Are your sources objective and reliable? Do you have evidence? Do they have evidence?

Once the person brings their evidence and sources, then we can debate each separate fact and look at counter-evidence to see if they are telling the truth. Only once we can agree about the facts – we can begin disguising morals and ethics. Before the facts are agreed upon, all talk about morals is completely pointless. How can you accuse one side of unethical behavior if you have your facts wrong? And even if you have your facts right, do you have an individual case or do you have the whole picture? Because sometimes an individual case can be a very misleading piece of evidence. For example, if the IDF is bombing a building in Gaza and people get hurt, it is a fact, but it is not the entire picture. If you only say that, you are still obscuring the truth if you forget to mention that the building they are bombing is used as a terrorist headquarters.

So before you even talk about the subject, heed my advice – read history books or articles about it. Since a lot of text, videos, and books are heavily opinionated and always omit crustal details, try to read as much as possible from both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian sources. After reading and learning a lot about the history of the conflict, you must read news sources from both sides about current events. Try to read/watch both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian media and read/watch opinions by various different people. It is always good to read information from official governmental sources as well as civilian ones. Finally, once you feel educated and you have a general picture in mind you are ready to ask questions. Try finding contacts in both Israel and Gaza and see what the people themselves are saying. Interview them with questions, be curious and open-minded, and do not assume people are lying, but try to corroborate their claims as well. If something from what they are saying doesn't add up, inform them of the fact that their claims are not in line with known information, see if they have an explanation, and if it makes any sense.

Now that you are more informed about the subject, after at least a few months of thorough research, you are ready to begin forming an opinion. Of course, you can skip all that process and make up your mind right now, but that would make you look foolish and will undermine your cause in the eyes of others. If you want to know how foolish you look, imagine if someone starts talking about the history of your country with zero knowledge about it.





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