Al-Qabas, Kuwait, Originally Posted in Arabic on October 23
There is no doubt that the current wave of unrest in Jerusalem is the result of Palestinian anger following too many years of negligence and disregard under the Israeli occupation. But there is also no denying that the Arab-Israeli conflict has a central religious component to it.
Religion, however, did not always play a central role in this war. On the Palestinian side, Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement, was only established in 1987. On the Jewish side, the Zionist movement that brought to the establishment of Israel was strictly secular throughout most of its years. In fact, most Israeli prime ministers – from Ben Gurion to Gold Meir – did not consider themselves religious at all.
All of this changed in 1967, when Israel captured the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and began attributing its victory to divine powers. Religious Israelis began claiming that their right to the land was derived from a biblical promise to settle it. From this point onwards, many Israelis commonly accepted the ethos of “Greater Israel”.
Interestingly enough, however, secular parties are still very influential in Israel. The Jewish State remains attractive not only to Jews, but also to Arabs. A recently conducted public opinion poll, conducted by the Palestinian Center, revealed that 52% of Arab Israelis would prefer to stay and live in Israel if and when a Palestinian state is created.
These are interesting and important findings, as they shed light on the domestic politics of Israel. They reveal that despite the religious foundations of the conflict, some Arab may come to terms with Israel’s existence as a Jewish state. – Hamed al-Humood