I am Ethan Daniels (he/him), and my email is ethan.daniels@email.ucr.edu. I am a student at UC Riverside studying economics and have been working closely with Hillel at UCR since the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. Hillel International is an organization that offers opportunities to both Jewish and non-Jewish students to explore Jewish history and identity.
My generation must come to the realization that very few things in this world can be viewed accurately in simple terms. We must recognize that most problems, especially global conflict, are highly complex issues that require an understanding of multiple, often differing viewpoints. For example, when considering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is possible to be horrified by the vicious slaughter of more than 1,400 Israeli men, women and children on Oct. 7, as well as the living conditions in Gaza.
It is certainly plausible to argue all killing is bad. Reconciling the purposeful murder of Israelis by terrorists with the unintended deaths of innocent Gazans as a result of retaliatory military strikes by Israel cannot be achieved without each side taking the time to gain a full understanding of the needs and concerns of the other. Until such a mutual understanding is achieved, it is inappropriate to equate Israel’s response to terrorism with the barbarous acts of Hamas. In fact, one could argue that the IDF has every right to respond to brutal acts of terrorism carried out by Hamas.
It is deeply disappointing that so many people worldwide, particularly university students across the United States, have been quick to draw false equivalencies between recent events in Israel and Gaza.
Some most disturbing messages being spread by the SJP, Student for Justice in Palestine, and other pro-Palestinian groups are when they chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free,” a phrase that means wipe out Israel and kill all Jews and “No peace on stolen land.” So the Native Americans should just go around and slaughter men, women and children? Additionally, “for the intifada,” a phrase used by terrorists to incite violence. Their position clearly posits that Israel is committing genocide and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians, creating the belief violence is the only answer. This lie, coming from people who have never seen their people gathered in trains by the millions and shipped to death camps, is beyond disturbing. There is no convincing evidence that proves that Israel has ever committed genocide or ethnic cleansing against Palestinians. In point of fact, the Palestinian population in Gaza and the West Bank has exploded since 1948 rather than being systematically wiped out as they suggest.
I do not commend the treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli government. In fact, I condemn it. However, it is important to note that it is Hamas, an Iranian-backed terrorist organization comprised of Palestinians that has run Gaza since 2007, who commits war crimes and crimes against humanity, even against Palestinians, every day. Hamas uses innocent Palestinians as human shields and stores weapons underneath mosques, schools and hospitals. A further example of the atrocities perpetrated by terrorists in Gaza occurred on Oct. 17, when Islamic Jihad fired a missile at civilians located in Israel but instead struck a Gazan Hospital.
The SJP and pro-Palestenian’s labeling of Israel as a colonizing state or an apartheid state is not only wrong but also harmful and antisemitic. First of all, a colonizing state, or colonizers, are those who march into and take control of land to which they have zero connection, as the British and Dutch did in South Africa. Secondly, an apartheid state implements policies of systematic segregation or discrimination on the basis of race. Israel is the only country in the Middle East that gives all people the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and equality before the law, and Israel is the only truly democratic country in the Middle East. Currently, ten Arabs serve in the Knesset, the Israeli Congress, a testament to Israel’s dedication to democratic opportunity, values and inclusivity.
There exists no ethnicity or religion with a stronger connection to the land of Israel than the Jewish people. Yet Israel has never annexed the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip is not part of Israel. Rather, it is Hamas, the Iranian-backed terrorist organization, not Israel, who controls Gaza. It is untruthful to label Israel an apartheid state instead of recognizing that Hamas holds authority over the 2.3 million residents of Gaza. Gaza must be liberated not from Israel but from Hamas.
If the pro-Palestine argument is based on the idea that Palestinians were first to inhabit the region, that argument is invalid. The Jewish connection to the land goes back more than 3,000 years, 1,500 years before the Islamic religion was even established.
Fast forward to 1947. The British were in control of what is now Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The United Nations passed a resolution, the “Partition Plan,” which advocated for the partition of Mandatory Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. It’s important to note that it did not establish the actual states but merely proposed them. The Arab authority rejected the proposal, unlike the Jewish leadership who accepted it.
On May 14, 1948, the state of Israel was established, resulting in the first Arab-Israeli war. Arab states, including Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, tried to halt the establishment of Israel. The war concluded with a peace treaty in which Israel maintained its independence while Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip and Jordan took control of the West Bank.
Furthermore, this assumption that Israel just walked into Gaza and the West Bank one day to occupy the land is an immense fallacy. In 1967, with tensions in the region running high, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser blocked Israeli ships from entering the Straits of Tiran. Nasser then mobilized his military in defense positions along the Israeli border. These acts represented an overt act of war against Israel.
In response, Israel launched an airstrike against Egypt. Jordanian and Syrian forces quickly joined in to help their Egyptian ally. This war is referred to as the 6-day war because of Israel’s quick and overwhelming success. As a result of the war, Israel seized control of the Golan Heights from Syria, the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza from Egypt, and the West Bank from Jordan. Such is a natural outcome of war. Territorial changes and strategic concessions are the price paid when wars are lost. The borders of most countries on Earth have been defined by war; very few otherwise. Yet it has always been the intent of Israel to enable Palestinians the ability to self-govern in return for assurances of mutual peace and security.
So here’s my message to the SJP: if you want to call Zionists oppressors, take a look at Gaza, the West Bank and many other Arab countries. These places — controlled by clear Arab majorities — historically fail to uphold the most basic human rights. If you’re LGBTQ in Gaza, the West Bank, or many other Arab countries, they kill you. If anyone speaks up against Arab leadership, they kill you. And in few places in the Arab Middle East does there exist any semblance of women’s rights — unlike in Israel. So why is it that the SJP and the pro-Palestine side remain quiet when Arab nations or terrorists commit atrocities, but when it comes to the right of Israel to defend itself, they utilize language that calls for the killing of all Jews? The SJP’s lack of understanding and hypocrisy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is palpable.
Again, I am deeply sympathetic to the suffering of people everywhere, and I firmly oppose the killing of innocent civilians in Israel, Gaza, or any other place on Earth. Whether you are Jewish or Muslim, chant “Free Palestine” or “Am Yisrael Chai,” we must always remain mindful that violence is never the answer. Human civilization has progressed too far to resort to barbarism. We should know better, and it is more than concerning when so many people put their ignorance and bigotry on display as they blame Israel or Jews for the suffering caused by others.
