Opinion: How do we reconcile recent events in Gaza, Israel? Can there be mutual respect?

So how do we reconcile the events in Gaza with the above passage? How do we reconcile the actions of Hamas? How do we reconcile the actions of the Israeli government? How do we reconcile the treatment of the Palestinian and Israeli people? How do we reconcile the denial of food, water, fuel and medicine to the Palestinians of Gaza?

On Oct. 7, Hamas launched an attack that killed an incredible number of Israeli citizens, young and old. On Oct. 14, a populated courtyard of an Episcopal hospital in Gaza was also struck. Though the hospital was not harmed, the courtyard was populated by displaced Palestinians who thought such a location was safe from hostile fire no matter from where that hostile fire came.

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The Palestinian and Israeli people have been asked to deal with death, destruction and grief. In this particular conflict, the Israeli citizens were the first to shoulder this burden, but that burden quickly shifted to the shoulders of the Palestinian people, and, to be clear, the burden the Palestinians are shouldering is merely an intensification of the burden they have been asked to shoulder for generations.

The conflicts of this region go back to the Biblical book of Exodus with archeological evidence going back even further. Beginning with the Crusades, 1100 C.E., European countries joined the conflict. The crusaders opened the door to the Mongolians, and both were eventually expelled by Saladin and Mamluk caliphates. The Ottoman Empire ruled up until 1917 when the empire was crushed. As victors, England and France drew political boundaries for their own strategic and financial benefit. These political boundaries incorporated warring Arabic tribes within the same boundaries.

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This parallels the antisemitism at the time in Europe, which migrated with European colonization to this continent. This antisemitism culminated with the Holocaust. When the Holocaust was put down, the Jewish people of Europe had no place to go so they migrated to the region once known as Canaan, and this migration helped to ignite the most recent conflict that has been going on for 75 years.

What happened on Oct. 7 may have ignited a chain reaction involving much of the world. Hamas enjoys support from Iran, which has a relationship with Russia. The American public expects the Biden administration to throw its support behind Israel. Hamas has the stated purpose of eliminating Israel, and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demonstrated that he is a war monger and has hinted at the elimination of the Palestinian people within the borders claimed by Israel. The world is like a child’s plastic swimming pool that has had a cherry bomb thrown in the middle. That cherry bomb happens to be the Middle East. In some ways this conflict has placed the entire world into an existential crisis, first Ukraine and now the Middle East.

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To say this is a region of instability is an understatement. For thousands of years various cultures and tribes have tried to control this region with the sword, but the tip of the sword will never buy peace. Hopefully, peace and justice are the desirable outcomes. As the Book of Proverbs tells us, “justice is what makes a government strong,” and the foundation of justice is truth.

If tranquility is ever to be achieved, the sword needs to be set aside and the voices of all the people need to be heard. Conversation is essential, which requires listening and speaking: a conversation representing all the interests and, until that conversation happens, the people will suffer. Resentment, hatred and violence perpetuates the evil referenced in Proverbs. Proverbs is quite clear that evil is not to be tolerated and that truth leads to justice. However, embracing the words of Proverbs defies human nature, which is fed on conflict.

It would be nice for all parties to come to the table with one question for each party to ask and answer and that question is, “What do you need and what can we collectively do to address that need?” That is an honest question that places legitimacy on the needs and desires of all involved in this conflict. The time has long passed for mutual respect to replace mutual animosity.

Lee Sease lives in Burnsville. He is a former Superintendent of Schools in Middlebury, Vermont, and has visited Israel and the West Bank.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Opinion: Israel and Palestine must come to a peaceful agreement