The Tribune

THE media coverage of last week’s horrific atrocities in Israel committed by Hamas terrorists who penetrated the country from Gaza has been so extensive that it would be superfluous to add to it today. This outrage of unparalleled ferocity and evil that left 1,300 people dead, including children and babies, was the worst single loss of Jewish lives since the Holocaust in the Second World War, and it has shocked the rest of the world.

From what I have heard and read this past week, in order to try to understand why and how such horror could have happened, and how anything similar can be prevented in the future, many people now want to know more about the history of the long-standing dispute between the Palestinians and Israelis.

There is already a plethora of information on the internet about the history and background to such a sensitive and complex subject that ignites passions on all sides. However, much of this is evidently biased as the authors tend to express subjective judgements about deeply held grievances, depending on their beliefs and opinions so that the overall picture can become clouded. Moreover, it is also hard to link up so many different reports into a single narrative that is easy to grasp.

I should therefore like to draw attention to a recent podcast explaining the background succinctly but comprehensively. This features a conversation between Rory Stewart, a former Conservative MP in Britain and contender for the Tory leadership who served as Secretary of State for International Development under Theresa May’s premiership, and Alastair Campbell, who was Director of Communications and Strategy at Downing Street under Prime Minister Tony Blair. Stewart has also had a varied career as a diplomat and writer. Having held such positions, these two are both well informed about a variety of government business and international affairs, and they currently co-host a successful podcast called The Rest is Politics. This is apparently well received by listeners and watchers in the UK even though, given their very different political backgrounds, some suggest that the two make odd broadcasting bedfellows.

Rory Stewart is given the daunting task by his co-host of describing the history of the Arab-Israeli dispute in ten minutes. To my eye he does it very well in a fair, informed, balanced and realistic way that ought to be readily understandable to those who may know little about the subject.

Rather than a diatribe – as so many commentators indulge in when talking about the issue - he offers a clear, thorough and unbiased explanation. His sometimes aptly nuanced dialogue with Campbell reveals thoughtful insights without criticism of the main players; and it is this sort of straightforward exchange that is surely needed at the moment in helping people understand the background. So I recommend this podcast to anyone wishing to learn about such an emotive subject from a knowledgeable observer who explains and analyses calmly and objectively the historical events of seven decades since the foundation of the state of Israel and have led to last week’s violence.

Many people believe it is important to know about this because unrest in the Middle East invariably poses a threat to wider world peace. It has become a cliché that history has a habit of repeating itself. Furthermore, the sad fact is that the information available from the US mainstream media tends to be superficial, with many of those who claim to be commentators far too often exposing their own obvious lack of in-depth knowledge about the subject they are discussing.

In the hope that those interested might want to watch Rory Stewart’s presentation, I am loath to try to repeat what he had to say. But, in case this is hard to find, perhaps it might be useful to draw attention very briefly to a few points.

Stewart maintains that more than two centuries ago the Jewish people of the original region of the present-day Israel were displaced by the Romans and dispersed to places like Iraq, Yemen and countries in Europe. At the beginning of the 20th century the Zionist movement was founded in Europe. It started to push for a homeland, in what was regarded by some as their ancestral land, for the Jewish people who had been widely persecuted as an ethnic group.

The Balfour Declaration, issued in 1917 by Britain, which took over control of Palestine under a mandate, publicly pledged to establish ‘a national home there for the Jewish people’. But the region was already populated and, apparently, the local people were not consulted. However, in the ensuing years there was a growing movement of Jews returning there to settle, and this, of course, increased following the Holocaust. Then, after Britain ended its mandate and withdrew from Palestine in 1947, the UN voted to partition it, but this was rejected by the Arabs. The state of Israel was established in 1948 and land was taken from Arabs, large numbers of whom became displaced.

That remained the situation until the Six-Day War in 1967 when Israel was attacked by Egypt, Syria and (later) Jordan. Israel was victorious in this conflict but took over more land, including the West Bank, than was agreed as a part of its borders in 1948. It likewise prevailed in another conflict with Arab countries known as the Yom Kippur War which occurred exactly fifty years ago.

In the 1990s, following what were known as the Oslo peace talks, the territory was divided into different parts in pursuing a two-state solution and a Palestinian Authority administered part of the West Bank while Gaza was later governed by the group Hamas. But these were not contiguous territories and by 2005 Israel had withdrawn from Gaza, forcing several thousand of its settlers to move, and handed the territory over to Palestinian control, with Hamas taking it over from the Palestinian Authority in 2007. Subsequently, Hamas has been launching rockets into Israel and has been designated in the UK as a proscribed terrorist organization.

The above is the gist of Rory Stewart’s remarks but, of course, he enlarges on the subject in his podcast with Alastair Campbell which contains a full discussion with him and lasts for about 30 minutes.

By murdering people inside Israel and taking hostages, many of whom will have gone there to escape the horrors of the Holocaust, pogroms and ethnic cleansing elsewhere in the world, Hamas has been accused of committing acts of genocide similar to ISIS’ actions in other parts of the Middle East.

Many consider that the pre-planned butchery and other atrocities perpetrated by Hamas gunmen is a measure of evil that is beyond comprehension and should be condemned by all. Hamas’s stated aim is the annihilation of all Jews and to wipe Israel off the face of the map. But the organization’s ferocious killers, who are embedded within the civilian population of Gaza, clearly have no compunction about using their own people as human shields and have no regard for their welfare knowing, as they must, that Israel will react with force and many civilians will be killed and wounded as a humanitarian crisis rapidly develops.

All that said, however, the US is urging restraint on Israel at the same time that it is offering all support. On his current Middle East tour, it is noteworthy that, in confirming the US’s deep commitment to Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned about the danger of the conflict spreading and against harming civilians in the Gaza Strip, particularly if Israeli forces mount a ground offensive – and has also warned that Israel should be mindful of opening itself to accusations of war crimes in taking revenge for the large numbers of Israeli citizens killed or maimed last week.

Gaza is a narrow strip of land on the Mediterranean east coast bordered by Israel to the north and east and Egypt to the southwest. A Google search reveals it is 25 miles long and 7 miles wide, which is uncannily similar to the island of New Providence, and this may help to put the issue into perspective for Bahamians. But Gaza has a population of over 2 million, and, even in what have been regarded as ‘normal’ times, the territory has been blockaded by Israel. Now, it is being bombarded by the Israelis, resulting in many casualties already and, reportedly, an invasion of ground forces is threatened as 300,000 Israeli reservists are being mobilized; and, all the while, Gaza is reported to be running out of essentials like food, water and power.

The UN says Gaza is being pushed into an abyss. Many people agree that Israel has the right to defend itself and to react with force to Hamas’s atrocities but that should not include heavy-handed attacks on civilians trapped in Gaza with nowhere to flee to.

Israel’s population of some 9 million will surely continue to fight for its continued existence even if the land it occupies continues to be disputed. So some accommodation surely has to be found – and, despite the seriousness of the differences among those concerned, observers are wondering more and more why the main players will not accept the reality of this in order to stop the endless cycle of human suffering. That said, of course, critics maintain that the complexity of this age-old dispute should never be underestimated.

Rugby World Cup reaching a climax while competition stiffens

A month ago in this column I wrote about the current Rugby World Cup getting off to a fine start at the beginning of September and looked forward to the prospect of a feast of this popular sport available to watch live on ESPN. As anticipated, watchers and followers have been treated in the meantime to some splendid matches during the pool stage leading up to the quarterfinals last weekend.

As I reported last time, there has been a welcome levelling-up of standards among the rugby-playing nations who were considered in the past as ‘minnows’ when playing against the stronger teams from New Zealand, South Africa, who are the current world champions, and Australia together with the more powerful countries from the Northern Hemisphere like the current top ranked team of Ireland as well as England, France, Scotland and Wales.

The gap between these and the traditionally weaker countries has narrowed discernibly, to such an extent that the result, for example, of Fiji’s encounter with England in the quarterfinals last Sunday was in doubt until well into the second half of the match.

The quarter-final matches at the weekend involving New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, France, England, Argentina, Wales and Fiji have been described in the international press as enthralling and scintillating contests showing the sport of rugby at its very best. Indeed, one UK newspaper described South Africa’s thrilling victory over France on Sunday by a single point as one of the greatest matches in World Cup history – hyperbole, perhaps, but not that far from the truth.

This is not the time or place to try to explain the attractions of rugby to players or spectators nor to dwell on the complexities of the game and how the referees perform on the pitch. But there can be little doubt -- from the vast stadia in France that have been packed with spectators (more than 78,000 at the quarterfinal between Ireland and the famous New Zealand All Blacks) and what are said to be huge TV audiences – that the sport now has an enormous international following.

The supporters of New Zealand, Argentina, England and South Africa await with eager anticipation – and, it must be admitted, some trepidation -- next weekend’s semifinals. Fortunately, there is no space today to attempt any personal predictions. But I gather the smart money is on New Zealand and South Africa to be facing each other in the final on October 28 in Paris.