I really don't like how you're phrasing this as a "conflict". Conflict to me would entail a two-sided scenario where both sides can end it, and this is not the reality of the situation. Israel is the only one with the power to end this "conflict" by ending its occupation of Palestine. Palestine cannot end the conflict, because that would entail giving in to their own ethnic cleansing. When we pray for peace on this abstract level we are relativizing the discrepancy in power dynamics between Israel and Palestine. And it's really not that "hard to understand" - we're witnessing a genocide as part of a 70-years colonial project, and the governments are preventing any kind of resistance or demonstration for their own personal gain. Speaking pro-Palestine gets you shadowbanned on social media apps, widely read media outlets are spreading misinformation, and public space is given to celebrities with biggest platforms and social media reach (who largely don't read news or think critically about these issues). HOW exactly can you even help Palestine if you live in the Western world right now?
If the West actually cared about antisemitism (as if that were really the crux of this issue), they could have limited the political space of right-wing parties in their own countries to start with. There are plenty antisemitic entities and networks both in Europe and in the US, but we are apparently not going to limit "freedom of speech" when it comes to actual fascists. There's a rather bizarre paradox in the fact that many Jewish communities in the imperial core of the West are impoverished and ignored, while the leading nations fund and champion a genocidal project on another continent. It's almost as if the issue is not really protecting Jewish people but rather maintaining a strategic point for Western military control in the Middle East.
I understand exactly what you mean and I agree with your definition of conflict.
But there are still organisations like Hamas or Hisbollah. I can't overlook them. I can understand that you credit their terror to helplessness and despair. But to me, this is as big a crime and I understand that Israel is trying to protect itself against terror. And I see the terror they are committing towards their people. The civilian population is not only a victim of Israel but also of their government. So no, I'm not on their side.
And I feel the question if Israel has a right to exist is long gone. It might have been wrong at the beginning and I probably agree that it was a mistake to let it ever happen. But now it's a fact. You can't displace 9 Million people, it would be the same injustice as it was then.
So to me, these thoughts make this situation very complex for me. Apart from the civil population of Palestine, I can't see anything worth fighting for or anybody who is fighting for the right cause.
But I agree very much with the spirit you're talking. I like your attitude and I will listen and think about what you're saying.
Let me close with the voice of one of the victims of the Hamas' terror. She gives me hope that maybe the young population of Israel could be the answer.
