Ex nihilo nihil fit

 

Ex nihilo nihil fit

Greek philosopher and thinker Parmenides is best known for the succinct phrase ‘ex nihilo nihil fit.’ It translates roughly as; nothing comes from nothing. The revulsion felt by decent people at the slaughter of the innocents on both sides of the Palestine/Israel tragedy, is as heartfelt as it is deep. The appalling slaughter carried out in southern Israel and in Gaza is not an aberration which simply happened. It is the latest in a long series of violent incidents which show no sign of abating because the root causes of this evil have never been addressed.

Any scholar of history will know that the great injustice that is the continuing dispossession and humiliation of the Palestinian people, has incrementally robbed them of their land, their aspirations of statehood and their dignity.  This most intractable of situations has rumbled on for over a hundred years now and a solution looks as far away as ever.

After the collapse of the Ottoman empire at the end of World War One, Britain held a mandate over Palestine which allowed the UK to police the country and make decisions without so much as consulting the 90% of the population who were Palestinians. The famous/infamous Balfour declaration of 1917, named after the British Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, was contained in a letter sent to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the Jewish community in England. The declaration stated with the usual imperial arrogance of the time…

‘His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.’

Thus, the UK had declared that they would facilitate mass migration of Jewish settlers into Palestine without so much as consulting the people already living there. They had of course discussed it with Zionists who, after a series of persecutions and pogroms against Jews in Europe, were delighted. It should be noted that the British had said that they were favourable to a Jewish ‘homeland’ and not a Jewish state. With Arab nationalism rising between the wars, the influx of tens of thousands of Jewish people into Palestine added to a very volatile mix.

As the number of Jewish settlers grew in Palestine, conflict with the majority Palestinian population seemed inevitable. By the mid-1930s, the British were worried about the Palestinians becoming more strident in their opposition to what was going on in their country and cracked down hard at any sign of revolt. In time honoured fashion, they did as they had done in scores of colonial conflicts; they resorted to force. They, along with Zionist militias they trained and armed, burned Palestinian villages, murdered unarmed civilians, exiled thousands and used torture and mass imprisonment to enforce their will. These are verifiable historical truths, not some anti-British rant. The imperial war museum recorded the voices of British soldiers who spoke about these things and their testimony was used in the excellent BBC Radio series ‘The Mandates.’

World War 2 distracted everyone from what was going on but in the aftermath of that conflict, thousands of Jewish survivors of Hitler’s genocidal madness arrived in Palestine seeking a new start. Among Jews the setting up of a state was now a realistic and achievable aim. They turned their guns on the British with the intention of driving them out. The bombing of the King David Hotel in 1946 by the Zionist  paramilitary Irgun which killed 91 people at the HQ of British rule in Palestine was the biggest atrocity of the campaign. However, Irgun, led by future Israeli Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, kidnapped two British sergeants the following year and hanged them when the British executed three of their people. The bodies of the two soldiers were booby trapped and the resulting explosion injured more British soldiers when they were cut down. British public opinion was outraged and there were anti-Jewish riots in some UK cities. The British, sickened and not seeing what they had to gain by staying, announced they were leaving.

Once the British pulled out there was nothing to stop Ben Gurion declaring the foundation of the state of Israel, whilst standing under a large portrait of Theodore Hertzl, the father of political Zionism. As was predictable, the better armed and trained Zionist forces carried out brutal operations against Palestinians, which today we would call, ethnic cleansing. It was the time of the Nakba for the Palestinians and that catastrophe has continued to this day.

Successive wars have brought more and more Palestinians under the control of the Israeli military, culminating in the occupation of the Golan heights, Gaza, the Sinai-peninsula and the west bank in the six-day war of 1967. The cycle of violence has continued since then with few serious attempts to find a lasting and just peace. The current crises didn’t appear out of nowhere; it is just the next chapter in a long and blood-stained history.

The murderous attack on Israeli settlements by Hamas militants a week ago cannot be excused as anything other than an atrocity which was rightly condemned by the world’s media. Civilians should never be targeted in this manner in any conflict but much of that same media ignore or excuse the same murderous treatment of Palestinians. The hypocrisy of the west is staggering; Russia is condemned for trying to annex Ukraine and Zelensky armed to the teeth to defend his country. The occupation of Palestinian land and the building of settlements on it are in contravention of international law and yet our leaders say nothing. The targeting of civilians and the collective punishment of people in Gaza is also illegal and yet again there is silence. We are not children; we know the west sees Israel as a trusted ally in a troubled and volatile part of the world. We know they will support Israel in any regional conflict, but that support should not be a blank cheque to behave as they have done for decades towards the Palestinians.  

Some supporters of Celtic Football Club have already said they will bring Palestinian flags to the Champions League match with Atletico Madrid in late October. Few, if any of them are in support of the dreadful things perpetrated by Hamas in the Israeli settlements last week. They would say that they are showing solidarity with the Palestinian people who will now pay the price of that violence. UEFA will doubtless fine Celtic for any ‘political’ display at a UEFA match. This is the same UEFA who allowed commemorations at matches for the late Nelson Mandela, who said following his people’s victory over apartheid…

‘We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.’

Mandela was a believer in a peaceful, two-state solution and undoubtedly a man who had seen enough of strife and war in his own land to know the bitterness it leaves behind. A statue of him stands in the west bank city of Ramallah where he is still revered as a friend of the Palestinians. Few thought that South Africa would ever find a way out of their own brutal conflict, but they did. Few could see a way forward for the north of Ireland at the height of the troubles, yet peace came. The Berlin wall fell and the cold war ended. History teaches us that change can come but that it needs courageous leaders prepared to unclench their fists and talk.

The heartbreaking tragedy unfolding before our eyes in Gaza seems just the next page of a long and bloody history. The innocent men, women and children of Israel and Palestine are paying the price of their leaders’ historic and current failures, as a hopelessly compromised and hypocritical world looks on. At the time of writing, it has been reported that 2,200 Palestinians have died in Gaza and a further 8000 have been injured. Most of them are innocent of any crime other than being born in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Half of Gaza’s population is under 18. I hope those young people live to see a lasting and just peace in their lifetimes. It seems far away at the moment but we have to hope.

This image and the image at the top of the page

are artworks from Palestinian painter, Heba Zeqout.

She was sadly killed in the bombardment of Gaza

this week. May she and all innocent victims rest in peace.