History is not just about the past, but the future as well

 

What does history have to do with the current Israeli-Palestinian crisis and our own future?

 

Time is the echo chamber of history. History reverberates through time to torment those who do not learn the lessons it teaches. It is the knowledge and understanding of history – especially the mistakes – that can lead us as individuals and as a society to a better future. If not, we will be trapped in the whirlpool of repeating the historical mistakes of the past.

That is why it is so perilous to fall prey to the disingenuous and incendiary diatribes of ambitious, but deeply flawed politicians and demagogic wannabe leaders, who don’t want us to know or make sense of our country’s history; let alone learn from that history.  

The current cadre of these duplicitous politicians use the buzz-word “woke” as a dog-whistle, signaling that trying to understand and correct historical mistakes is in some way wrong. They take this approach because they recognize that if we have knowledge and understanding of our country’s political, social and economic history, we will never accept their desired style of authoritarian-type leadership.

The risk of ignoring the lessons of history

We are currently witness to the calamity that can occur when political leaders of any ilk and their followers fail to pay heed to the lessons of history.

We are rightfully aghast and outraged by the wanton brutality and methodic killing of Israeli civilian men, women and children by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Not to mention the collateral property damage, suffering and death inflicted on innocent Palestinian citizens living in Gaza, caused by Israel’s response.

The Israeli government has responded to these attacks by declaring war on Hamas, seeking the total annihilation of this group and its members. Israel also seeks to further isolate millions of Palestinians living in Gaza, even though the vast majority of them are not involved with and do not endorse the actions of Hamas.

In light of the blatant crimes against humanity carried out by Hamas, it is natural to support the feelings and actions of the Israelis, but unfortunately nothing is ever simple and straight forward in these types of situations. This crisis did not happen overnight, but over time. It is an echo of past actions that have reverberated over time.

I won’t take the time here to go into all the details, but suffice to say, the fuse was lit for the explosion of the current crisis 75 years ago when Israel was carved out of land that had been the home of Palestinians for thousands of years. This action disenfranchised and degraded the Palestinians, while ultimately relegating them to limited areas.

Over time, no Israeli government made a serious effort to acknowledge, understand and resolve the feelings of Palestinians who were pushed off their historical lands and reduced to less than citizen status.

Indeed, historically it has been the policy of the Israeli government to absorb more and more Palestinian land by establishing new Israeli settlements; blocking Palestinians from forming their own state and confining them to smaller and smaller areas (Gaza) controlled by Israel. (Thinking this would make Israel stronger and safer, but these actions ignored history.)

How would you feel?

Is it any wonder that this Israeli attitude and approach would enflame Palestinians; driving them to resistance and to embrace firebrand groups that use deadly terrorism against Israel? Over the years, Israel has responded to increased civil resistance and violent attacks by ratcheting up its oppression and isolation of the Palestinians. It is a little like a dog chasing its tail.     

Both the Israelis and the Palestinians could have learned lessons from history that, in all likelihood, would have significantly mitigated this conflict.

With a history of suffering through thousands of years of oppression, marginalization, pain and organized genocide, Israel’s leaders and people should, of all people, be able to understand and empathize with the feelings of current day Palestinians. Israelis should learn from history that revenge against violent resistance is not a solution, but rather a highly combustible accelerant.

A solution will only emerge when Israelis elect leaders who will courageously work to provide the Palestinians with the same status and rights the Israelis enjoy. It may not be the easiest way to peace and security, but history teaches that in the end, it will be the only way.

And what about the Palestinians role in finding a solution?

As for Palestinians, they can learn from history as well by understanding the approach of the African National Congress (ANC) to overthrow nearly 100 years of white domination, oppression and apartheid in South Africa. In short, after decades of futile terrorist-type resistance, the ANC rejected violence – especially against civilians – and called for non-violent “ethical resistance.”

In conjunction with international moral support and financial sanctions imposed on the South African white government, the ANC strategy of “ethical resistance” made it increasingly difficult for the white minority of South Africa to resist change. Today South Africa exists as a peaceful multicultural democracy.  

In an opinion piece in the NY Times (October 15, 2023) Peter Beinart wrote, “But South Africa offers a counter-history, a glimpse of how ethical resistance can succeed. It offers not an instructional manual, but a place – in this season of agony and rage – to look for hope.”

(Mr. Beinart’s full article, “The Work of Moral Rebuilding Must Begin Now” is an excellent well-balanced dissertation on the current crisis and well worth reading.)

The United States is not immune from making historical mistakes.

It’s natural to revel in our historical victories, but if we want future victories, it may be even more important to learn from our historical mistakes.  

For example, we can better understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if we learn and understand our country’s history with the indigenous natives – Indians – of America. There is an eerie parallel between the history of the Israeli-Palestinian tumult and our history with American natives.

In 1607 the first permanent group of European immigrants landed in America. This triggered an almost 300-year effort to subjugate the indigenous natives and take away land they had occupied for at least 8,000 years. As the Europeans methodically moved west, they gobbled up more and more Indian land. Often, the American government forcefully moved the Indians off their land and confined them in limited areas called “reservations.” (Think Gaza.) The indigenous natives were denied the rights and freedoms afforded the white European interlopers. (Think the Palestinians.)

Not surprisingly this action triggered aggressive resistance from the Indians who were trying to protect their culture and the land that had belonged to them for thousands of years. This led to what was euphemistically referred to as the “Indian Wars.” During this time thousands of innocent men, women and children of both the settlers and the Indians were kidnapped, injured and killed.

It is a point of interest that during that time in our history, Indians who aggressively resisted the encroachment of white settlers were universally referred to as “savages.” While today Palestinians who aggressively resist Israel are referred to as “terrorists.” The application of these inflammatory terms does not engender a willingness to understand the grievances and work toward a resolution, but rather a license to “fight fire with fire.”     

And the moral of the story …

The point of all this is that knowing and understanding our history – both good and bad – is important to our future, because if we don’t, we may not have one.

That’s why it’s so dangerous to be influenced by or follow these “woke” hating political leaders who don’t want us to learn or come to terms with the full history of our country. If these demagogic politicians get their way, there will be no way for us to understand issues of the day from the perspective of history and build a better future.

If that happens, we will be history.

                                                          ###

Bob MacDonald – Former president of ITT Life; founder of LifeUSA; retired chairman and CEO of Allianz Life of North America; author of numerous books on business, management and leadership. bobmac5201@gmail.com