It’s been around since human beings’ prehistory, and it has killed millions. It has led to some nations (think of them as big tribes) acting as aggressors and their victims egotistically whining that their plight is worse than other victims’ and vowing for revenge.
These thoughts came to me when a reporter commented on the ongoing Israel vs. Palestine conflict, “No one can imagine how my brothers are suffering.” Sure, they’re suffering, but anyone watching how the Russians have created crimes against humanity in Ukraine knows worst suffering goes on there…and it isn’t a competition, is it? (Zelenskyy makes an understandable error by comparing Palestine to Russia because he’s Jewish; if fact, Israel represents the bullies in this and all Palestinian conflicts with Israelis because or the latter’s military might.) Or, remembering the Armenia vs. Azerbaijan, Yugoslavian, or other conflicts in the world. For one tribe to say that another in conflict doesn’t suffer, or imply its suffering doesn’t compare, is egotistically playing the role of the persecuted for PR attention.
How will the Israelis respond? As my father would say, two wrongs don’t make a right. In Ukraine, it looks like the desire is to push the Russians out and be left alone. Netanyahu is talking about ethnic cleansing, though, or completely eliminating Hamas at least and killing many Palestinians in the process. Israel has already squeezed the Palestinians into what amounts to a refugee camp, taking more and more land for Jewish settlers to win political points. That’s more akin to Britain’s treatment of Catholics in Northern Ireland, where they were walled off into ghettos. Or China’s similar treatment of the Uighurs, quarantining them in one place and using them as slaves.
So let’s get beyond the myopia of that reporter and go after the real problem here, tribalism. The phrase “God’s chosen people” describes it all too bluntly for one ancient tribe: Tribalism has been the cause of human conflict since human beings’ social groups first existed! When will we learn that we only have one world and that all human beings have the right to live in peace? There is no Israeli side nor a Palestinian side. There should be no sides! Nations should exist only for administrative efficiency as we all work together to progress toward a better future worldwide.
There’s no right or wrong side in all these silly and stupid tribal battles. Better said, they’re all wrong if war is the result. To pretend otherwise is to lower our social groups to the level of warring chimpanzee tribes where each ape tribe tries to annihilate the other. We should be better than that.