Divide and rule
 |
| Justice Katju suggested the best solution to Israel-Hamas conflict |
I had posted the video below, in which I said that the only way to resolve the Israel-Hamas conflict was to create a reunified, secular, democratic Palestine, combining Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights, and Lebanon.
Immediately a lot of people responded that if Jews and Arabs are made to live together there will be a lot of bloodshed, as they are mortal enemies since ancient times, and will cut each other's throats if made to live together..I totally disagree
This viewpoint is based on the conception that Jews and Arabs intrinsically hate each other. I submit this conception is a myth, and is part of the nefarious divide and rule policy of imperialists:
Some of these myths are:
1. Hindus and Muslims hate each other, so India had to be partitioned, as they could not live together.
2. Protestants and Roman Catholics hate each other, so Ireland had to be partitioned.
3. Greeks and Turks hate each other, so Cyprus had to be partitioned.
4. North Indians and South Indians hate each other, so south India should be separated from India, and granted independence.
5. Dalits in India are looked down upon by upper castes, and even by OBCs, so they should be given a separate homeland.
6. Sikhs should be given a Khalistan.
7. Kashmiris should be given azadi
8. Whites and blacks in America hate each other, so the black minority in USA should be given a separate homeland.
9. For the same reason, the white minority in South Africa should be given a separate homeland.
10. Jews and Muslims hate each other, so Israel had to be created as a Jewish state.
I submit that these are all myths, and there is no real hatred between these communities. Far from achieving peace, artificial partitions between them will only artificially polarise society, and result in endless conflicts and violence.
Take, for instance, Hindus and Muslims. Far from being bitter enemies, the truth is that for centuries they lived together amicably in India, and it was only after the Mutiny of 1857 that communal hatred was artificially created by the British rulers, as explained here.
The truth is that the vast majority of people are good by nature, as explained by the great French thinker Rousseau, and so would naturally like to live amicably and peacefully with people of other religions or communities. It is only some of our institutions and some vested interests which polarise society and generate hatred, e.g. the caste system in society, or parliamentary democracy in politics (which runs largely on the basis of caste and communal vote banks).
Similarly, the belief that Jews and Muslims are intrinsically enemies of each other is a myth.
The real reason of creating Israel as a Jewish State was that a huge amount of oil was discovered in the region, and hence to safeguard and protect oil supplies from the Middle East to Western industries, Israel was created as a military garrison and armed outpost for this purpose, using the pretext that Jews needed a homeland after the Nazi atrocities on them.
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)
