Palestine: Civilization, not Fighting Nation

Trivia question: In what state was Jesus born?

A) Israel
B) Palestine
C) Alaska

And the correct answer is...B!

American Jews like to say that Jesus was born in Ancient Israel, but there's one problem with that. When Jesus was put on the cross, it was in fact the Romans who were in charge; they called the territory "Palestine" after the Israelites' ancient enemies, the Philistines. When the Arabs invaded some six- or seven-hundred years later, they too called the territory Palestine.

Unlike American Jews, the San Vicente Catholics know that Jesus lived in a place called "Palestine." The sophomore class' most recent catecism assignment was to set up a display about Palestinian life in the time of Jesus. They made pyramids to demonstrate the social structures, a 3D display of the Second Temple, and a number of posters with similar information.

One of the posters was titled "Palestine: History and Geography." It was composed of only seven pictures and no words. The pictures included the following:

1) A cartoon of a brick wall in the shape of the Jewish star surrounding a tiny Palestinian flag
2) A Muslim woman at the Dome of the Rock
3) The security barrier
4) What appeared to be an East Jerusalem neighborhood
5) A Palestinian boy throwing a rock at an Israeli tank
6) An Israeli bulldozer

The combination of these pictures is obviously a misrepresentation of Palestine's history and geography, especially as it pertains to Jesus. Jerusalem and Nazareth are both west of the Green Line and Jesus grew up in a predominantly Jewish society. The "Palestine" of today - what is generally considered to be the West Bank and Gaza Strip - actually has very little in common with what the Romans called "Palestine" except for the physical territory. It wasn't until the Arab conquest that Arabs began settling in Palestine; Jews had been living there for hundreds of years.

If one were to attempt to provide a modern-day vision of Jesus' nation, as the San Vicente poster seemed to do, it's pretty obvious that photos of modern-day Israel would be most appropriate, with maybe some pictures of the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. Why, then, did these Argentinean students use not only pictures of Palestine and Israeli Arabs, but blatantly anti-Israel pictures as well? Do these students have some kind of bias against Israel?

I don't think so. While there are, as I wrote in my last blog post, a number of Nazis floating around Argentina, San Vicente has been welcoming and curious about my Judaism. They thought my pictures of Israel were beautiful; in one history class, the teacher explained (rather succinctly) that the Holocaust brought about the creation of Israel which caused conflict because the Jews took some Palestinians' land. This provoked no response of outrage or indignation from the students against Israeli expansion. The students here are, for the most part, apolitical about even their own country.

So why these incredibly biased pictures? The answer, I figured out: the students most likely did a Google search of "Palestine" and picked images that looked right.

To test it out, I did a Google search of Palestine myself. My conjecture seemed correct. While I didn't find the exact pictures on the poster, I did find some matches (the boy fighting the tank came up a lot) and a number of other, even more politicized pictures.

"Free Palestine," "End the Occupation," etc. are common hits. There are a few hits about the Dome of the Rock and other sites of Palestinian pride, but most are images that portray despair, destruction or armed resistance.

I see these images and it makes me very sad. Most countries have a culture that defines their nation - their art, architecture, history, or industry. Palestine, on the other hand, is defined merely as the opposition to another state. While there are a number of prominent Palestinian writers, musicians and academics, they are mostly living outside of the Palestinian territories, leaving the Palestinian culture one that is now based almost solely upon war, exile and poverty.

Nearly everyone in Israel agrees that land must be given up to create a Palestinian state. Everyone seems to be shifting left over time, with Ehud Olmert now saying that parts of Jerusalem must go as well. But once this truly independent Palestine is created, what will be its foundation, if not a mantra of driving the Israelis into the sea?

I believe firmly that a Palestinian state must be created. Unlike many Jews, I do not believe that the Palestinians are the same as all other Arabs. I believe as strongly in a free Palestine as I do in an independent Israel - both are nations who have historic ties to their land. But I worry for the future generations of Palestinians, for the Palestinian economy, and for the future generations of Israelis who will have to face this independent Palestine, because a functioning society cannot stand on war alone.

For better or worse, in the twentieth century, this is NOT Sparta.