Opinion: We’ve Lost the Script on Israel-Palestine

In the last few weeks, the Israeli-Palestine conflict has erupted, and that may be the understatement of the century. Since the October 7th surprise attack by Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Israeli civilians, a flurry of protests, online activism through social media posts and areas such as our community discord server have reached tensions higher than has been seen in recent memory. These even eclipse the events in the summer of 2021 that resulted in my decision to co-found ONE Nonprofit.

Since the horrific events of the 7th, Israel counterattacked with a barrage of air strikes on Gaza that have eclipsed the total original Israeli casualties, including many if not mostly non-combatants and children. It is expected that these numbers will continue to climb as the conflict, now considered an “Israeli-Hamas War”, continues to escalate. Most recently, an explosion outside a hospital in Gaza has resulted in mass controversy as the fog of war has hidden for certainty the true perpetrator of the attack. Each side has attempted to point fingers the other way and present evidence that convicts the other. There is only one problem: No one is listening.

The conflict in the middle east has blurred the lines of reason and sensibility in the mass populace. More and more sensible voices are drowned out by emotionally driven, wrathful and, frankly, hateful voices on either side. Anyone who has attempted to converse about this topic with someone like this will be familiar with the typical tropes: refusal to condemn blatant violence towards civilians and ‘whataboutisms’: or the tactic of deflecting any wrongdoing by pointing out the wrongdoings of others. Here is a quick example of a ‘whataboutism’:

Palestine Supporter: “Can you believe the airstrikes killing our children? It’s a massacre!”

Israel Supporter: “What about the events of October the 7th! Israel must defend itself!”

Palestine Supporter: “But what about the hospital that was blown to pieces!”

Anyone who has not had to witness or partake in a conversation such as this one should consider themselves lucky. These conversations tend to spiral out of control quickly, as either side begins to easily talk past the other. Even neutral parties, who do not consider themselves partial to one side or the other, are often pigeonholed as a Zionist if they point out the atrocities of Hamas, or a radical jihadist if they criticize the actions of Israel. This dichotomy is not only harmful, it is actively making the conflict worse.

We’ve lost the script when it comes to Israel-Palestine. Conversations like this are muffling reasonable voices, and emotionally driven loud individuals make fair conversations untenable. If we cannot have conversations, we cannot discuss peace. If we cannot discuss peace, it will never happen. In an age of information overload, either side has a plethora of source material, videos, anecdotes and news articles to share and validate their own opinion on the subject. Do not expect to be considered a fair and honest party if you only seek to validate what you already believe. Staying informed is important, but being fair and reasonable, in a time of irrationality, is more so.

Instead of responding with argument and further hate, we need to respond with love and healing. Enough blood has been spilt. Enough people have died. You are not going to be able to “convince” anyone if you do not first quell the hatred in your own heart. This situation - in its entirety - is nothing less than a catastrophe. We can only solve it by starting with ourselves. An eye for an eye is what got us here, but turning the other cheek is what will get us out.

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