The Context of the Middle East Conflict

I wrote the following at the height of the Lebanon war but I never managed to get it published:

In the Middle East Context is Everything – And Nothing

 If there is one principle that all sides adhere to in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian-Arab conflict, it is that context justifies all. For all sides there is a firmly held belief that the context within which they find themselves excuses the actions that they take.

Israel The Israeli line in the current round of conflict is that the country is being attacked, its civilians are under threat and therefore a response is warranted. Any action that  Israel takes is explicable and justifiable. Even when mistakes are made that cause civilian casualties – as in the recent deaths Qana – such occurrences are explained as unfortunate side-effects of an excusable exercise.

 On the side of Hezbullah, as well as Hamas, the same principle is held: we have legitimate grievances and hence our response is justified. Whatever action we take and whomever we hurt in the process is excusable.

 The striking thing about the principle that context justifies all is that it can only work unilaterally. The hurt that ‘we’ cause can be explained and justified by our circumstances but the hurt that ‘they’ cause is simply hurt, without explanation or cause. If to understand is to excuse, then any attempt to understand the other side becomes illegitimate.

This principle has been highly effective in all sides’ search for international support.  Israel has galvanised the majority of diaspora Jews and sections of the non-Jewish world (particularly in America) through its hasbara activities.

Israel can count on rock-solid support from this constituency for practically all its actions. Similarly, the Muslim world and much of the leftist non-Muslim world will openly or tacitly approve of Hezbullah and Hamas’s actions.

 Each side wants to ‘tell its story’ to the world in the firm belief that if their story is understood their actions will be approved of. This position is an utterly hopeless starting point for solving the current conflict. The idea that if we are understood we will be supported is bizarre. To understand is not to excuse. The height of moral relativism is to confine one’s attempts to understand to one particular party.

Any hope of building peace in the Middle East   (a depressingly slender hope at the moment) will stem from a courageous attempt to understand the situation in which all parties find themselves. One can understand Israel's
desperate desire for security without approving of every action it takes in its pursuit. One can understand Arab and Palestinian hurt and anger without condoning the often vile means that have been used in seeking redress.

As someone whose sympathies lie instinctively on the Israeli side, I often find it excruciatingly difficult to understand the perspectives of all parties in the current situation, still more challenging to weigh up the  morality of  Israel's actions. Ultimately though the desire for peace can only be actualised through sustained analysis and constant moral vigilance rather than in the ultimately fatuous principle that context excuses all.