The first time I debated the legitimacy of a Palestinian state was in 10th grade. I was a competitor in Lincoln-Douglas debate, and the topic for that month was about global open borders. I had expected arguments about the economy, the environment, and refugee displacement. What I didn’t expect was a forty-five-minute round about Israeli oppression and occupation.
This was particularly challenging for me because I grew up Jewish. As long as I can remember, Judaism has been connected to self-determination. Moses facilitated ten plagues and parted the Red Sea to lead the Jews into the promised land of Israel (BBC). And following WWII, Israel was a sanctuary to Jews who had been targeted by the horrors of the Holocaust (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). To reject the religious and cultural importance of Israel is for a plant to reject soil and water. Why should the Israelis have to share or abandon their land for someone else?
After losing the round, I started to research counterarguments. What I learned about Israel and Palestine shocked me. In 1947, after the UN had voted to create the state of Israel, it proposed a resolution for the creation of an Israeli and a Palestinian state. Israel accepted it. The Arab states rejected it (“United Nations Resolution 181”; United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). The resolution passed, but it was unsuccessful due to the immediate violence Israel faced in the Middle East (“United Nations Resolution 181”).
After years and years of conflict with the Arab states (“Arab-Israeli wars”), Israel hardened. It turned away from coexistence because it had no reason to believe in lasting peace. That was when the Palestinians began to fight back. Protests occurred, killing Israeli civilians in cafes and shops. The violence created Hamas, a terrorist organization that wants the end of Israel and a Palestinian state in its place (Araj & Brym). Based on the surface-level research I did, I came to the conclusion that a two-state solution was a good idea, even though I believed Israel was in the right.
When the tournament ended, I thought my interactions with Israel and Palestine would too. But I was wrong. On October 7th, 2023, Hamas fired rockets at Israel, starting the war at hand (Federman & Adwan). I began to see countless articles and videos, saying Israel was committing genocide and apartheid, Zionists were colonizers, and Israel’s right to defend itself had come at the cost of 30,000 dead Palestinians.
My initial reaction was one of anger and disbelief. I didn’t believe that Israel would kill thousands in the pursuit of Hamas. I didn’t believe that Israeli was a settler colonial state. And I certainly didn’t believe that Israel was violating the Geneva Convention. But my anger came from a place of ignorance. In the years since that fateful debate round, I had not kept up with the news. I had chosen to read articles that fit my worldview instead of ones that challenged it.
I was determined to rectify my mistake. And what I learned was nothing less than cruel. In the Gaza Strip, crowds of people trying to unload food shipments were shot and killed (Shurafa et al.; Parker; Qiblawi et al.). During Ramadan this year, a twelve-year-old boy set off a celebratory firework, straight up in the air. The gunshot came before the sparkles. In response, Israel’s security officer called the dead child a terrorist (Parker et al.).
These had to be accidents, right? But they weren’t. Israel’s prime minister has used Torah passages to justify the extermination of Palestinians since October 7th (NPR Morning Edition). When we read passages in the synagogue, we use them to teach about what is right and what is wrong. The use of the Torah as policy, the same way Catholics use the Bible to justify oppressive laws, baffled me.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza was even harder for me to stomach. Israel had been denying water, food, and electricity to Gaza for years (“Gaza Strip”; Parker; Qiblawi et al.). But now, they were preventing aid trucks from entering the region without justification, which has caused a famine (Loveluck et al.; Parker; Qiblawi et al.; Shurafa et al.). And despite all of this, Israel was no closer to destroying Hamas than it was in the beginning (Thomas & Horton).
After reading through all these articles, I had to confront myself. How could I support the BLM movement and not the Palestinians, when the Palestinians face the same cycles of brutality from the IDF that Black people do from the police? How could I support women’s rights and not protest against Israel’s blockage of supplies needed for safe pregnancy and birth (Loveluck et al.; Qiblawi et al.)? How could I call myself an advocate for social justice when I had decided to cherry-pick which groups deserved justice and which didn’t?
I had never confronted my own biases before. But through that process, I learned that curiosity and research must come together. It means nothing to wonder why a conflict happens and refuse to inform yourself of it. And as someone who usually does do the research, I learned that it’s important to do the research, even when you’re scared of the answers you may find. Now, my understanding of the conflict goes a little like this:
Multiple times, Israel has banned display of the Palestinian colors: red, black, green, and white. The watermelon, a fruit with these same colors, has become a symbol of Palestinian freedom on social media (ElBardicy et al.). I think the symbolism is fitting. The plant itself is a resilient one, and can even withstand the growing heats of climate change (Malambane et al.). And watermelons are notoriously difficult to break open. In a region of constant war and hatred, the Palestinians have stood strong like the watermelon.
Among Israel’s many wildflowers is the Bermuda buttercup (Oxalis pes-caprae). It isn’t native to the Middle East, and is considered invasive (Elmore & Cudney; “Nodding Wood-Sorrel, Bermuda Buttercup”). The buttercup easily overpowers native plants (Elmore & Cudney). This pattern is reflected in Israel’s occupation of Palestine; Palestinians were forcibly displaced to make room for illegal Israeli settlements after the Six-Day War (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights).
The Israel-Palestine conflict is like planting a watermelon and a buttercup in the same pot, right on top of each other. They compete for water, food, and resources, and inevitably, one plant will grow stronger than the other. Their roots will tangle, the leaves will argue, and nothing will be solved. The solution is not to kill the watermelon or kill the buttercup. The solution is not to put them in separate pots because every other pot is full. The solution is to grow the watermelon in one area of the pot and the buttercup in another. Two plants can grow in the same pot (Bengert Greenhouses). They can share the pot and both will thrive.
Peace is not easy. But if no one takes the first steps to peace, if no one stands up for what is right, the cycle of oppression will never be broken. The buttercup will continue to overpower and the watermelon will continue to die slowly. The world deserves a free Palestine and a safe Israel.
***
Works Cited
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BBC. “Religions – Judaism: Moses.” BBC, 6 July 2009, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/moses_1.shtml. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Bengert Greenhouses. “Mixing Potted Plants Together.” Bengert Greenhouses, New York Marketing, 13 Feb. 2023, bengertgreenhouses.com/mixing-potted-plants-together/. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
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Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Gaza Strip”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Apr. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/place/Gaza-Strip. Accessed 19 April 2024.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “United Nations Resolution 181”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Feb. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/United-Nations-Resolution-181. Accessed 19 April 2024.
ElBardicy, Mohamad, et al. “Why Watermelons Are a Symbol of Palestinian Solidarity.” NPR, 8 Jan. 2024, www.npr.org/2024/01/08/1222718339/why-watermelons-are-symbol-of-palestinian-solidarity. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Elmore, C. L., and D. W. Cudney. “Creeping Woodsorrel and Bermuda Buttercup.” Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Integrated Pest Management for Home Gardeners and Landscape Professionals, Jan. 2002, www.maine.gov/dacf/php/gotpests/weeds/factsheets/woodsorrel-cal.pdf. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Federman, Josef, and Issam Adwan. “Hamas Surprise Attack out of Gaza Stuns Israel and Leaves Hundreds Dead in Fighting, Retaliation.” AP News, 7 Oct. 2023, apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-rockets-airstrikes-tel-aviv-11fb98655c256d54ecb5329284fc37d2. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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Parker, Claire, et al. “In Jerusalem and the West Bank, Ramadan Is Marred by Violence and Loss.” Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2024, www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/22/jerusalem-west-bank-ramadan-violence/. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Parker, Claire. “How Israel’s Restrictions on Aid Put Gaza on the Brink of Famine.” Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2024, www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/03/gaza-aid-convoy-israel-war/. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Qiblawi, Tamara, et al. “Anesthetics, Crutches, Dates. Inside Israel’s Ghost List of Items Arbitrarily Denied Entry into Gaza8.” CNN, Cable News Network, 2 Mar. 2024, www.cnn.com/2024/03/01/middleeast/gaza-aid-israel-restrictions-investigation-intl-cmd/index.html. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Shurafa, Wafaa, et al. “Palestinians Say Israeli Troops Fired at People Seeking Food. Israel Says Scene Was Deadly Stampede.” AP News, 29 Feb. 2024, apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-02-29-2024-f9b5a62a80d8b83eac4946d3c85af58b. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Holocaust Survivors and the Establishment of the State of Israel (May 14, 1948).” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 19 Apr. 2023, encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/postwar-refugee-crisis-and-the-establishment-of-the-state-of-israel. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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