The Nation.



Two Middle East Wars

By Amos Oz

This article appeared in the April 22, 2002 edition of The Nation.

April 4, 2002

Arad, Israel

Two Palestinian-Israeli wars have erupted in this region. One is the Palestinian nation's war for its freedom from occupation and for its right to independent statehood. Any decent person ought to support this cause. The second war is waged by fanatical Islam, from Iran to Gaza and from Lebanon to Ramallah, to destroy Israel and drive the Jews out of their land. Any decent person ought to abhor this cause.

Yasir Arafat and his men are running both wars simultaneously, pretending they are one. The suicide killers evidently make no distinction. Much of the worldwide bafflement about the Middle East, much of the confusion among the Israelis themselves, stems from the overlap between these two wars. Decent peace seekers, in Israel and elsewhere, are often drawn into simplistic positions. They either defend Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank and Gaza by claiming that Israel has been targeted by Muslim holy war ever since its foundation in 1948, or else they vilify Israel on the grounds that nothing but the occupation prevents a just and lasting peace. One simplistic argument allows Palestinians to kill all Israelis on the basis of their natural right to resist occupation. An equally simplistic counterargument allows Israelis to oppress all Palestinians because an all-out Islamic jihad has been launched against them.

Two wars are being fought in this region. One is a just war, and the other is both unjust and futile.

Subscriber Login

4 ISSUES FREE

Subscribe Now!

The only way to read this article and the full contents of each week's issue of The Nation online is by subscribing to the magazine. Subscribe now and read this article -- and every article published since for the past five years -- right now.

There's no obligation -- try The Nation for four weeks free.

.

About Amos Oz

Amos Oz, whose The Same Sea has recently been published in the United States, is one of Israel's leading novelists and a founder of the Peace Now movement. more...

Popular Topics
Most Searched

Issues »

Most Emailed

Issues »

Blogs

» Campaign 08

VEEPSTAKES: One Last Clinton Scenario | It's probably Biden, but...
John Nichols

» The Notion

MSNBC Taps Rachel Maddow for New Show | A rising progressive star scores her own prime-time show.
Ari Melber

» Editor's Cut

A Fateful Crossroads for America | Faced with neocon policies that have led to a new cold war, will Obama show the courage to chart a new course?
Katrina vanden Heuvel

» The Beat

VEEPSTAKES: Feingold On Why He's Off the List | ... and the standards that should guide Obama's choice.
John Nichols

» The Dreyfuss Report

McCain, Circa 2003 | The man who killed thousands of Vietnamese in the '60s just couldn't wait to kill Iraqis.
Robert Dreyfuss

» ActNow!

From Fannie Lou Hamer to Barack Obama | Denver Public Library highlights how the civil rights movement changed American politics.
Peter Rothberg

» And Another Thing

Good-Bye, John Edwards | On policies and persons
Katha Pollitt

» Capitolism

Six Little Words | How Civil Rights Act could save America's labor movement
Christopher Hayes