Learning is an arduous and difficult but thrilling and fascinating process. Thats why individuals and nations are reluctant to learn something new. If someone wants to learn, he has to change his mindset and be ready to recognize those traditions and values which are contrary to his beliefs. It is the lesson of history that learning not only opens new venues of knowledge but also helps one explore a hidden and unknown world and eliminates outdated and obsolete ideas. It inspires one to go in search of new thinking which could lead to one moving in a progressive direction.
As far as learning from the past is concerned, there are two alternatives: to learn from the mistakes and avoid them; or to follow the same path and make an attempt to act without any change. Our experience shows that the idea of learning in order to avoid the same mistakes is not wholly correct. Although history is fully documented, there are few nations who make an attempt to learn from past experience. The best example is the Jews, who , as a community, are highly educated and have deep historical consciousness but since they assumed power and founded the state of Israel, it appears that they are not interested in learning from the past in order to deal with the Palestinians.
There is no doubt that the Jews suffered extremely and in spite of their ordeal and tribulations, they survived with tenacity and determination. If we look to their history, it is peppered with upheavals. From the Exodus and settlement in the land of Palestine, and foundation of their own state with David and Solomon, to an invasion of Nebuchadnezzar in 597 B.C. who demolished their temple and forced them to leave Jerusalem; their community has never had its shortage of problems. They, as a community, spent years in Babylonian captivity and maintained their religious identity by compiling the Torah. When Cyrus, the Persian king, conquered Mesopotamia in 576 B.C., he allowed them to return to the homeland. However, they could not live in peace. The emergence of the Romans and the expansion of their empire made them a target. The city of Jerusalem was burnt and they were again expelled. When some of their groups resisted, they were brutally crushed.
The Arabs were one of the heirs of the Roman Empire. The Jews found peace and security under their rule. They were appointed on important posts without any religious discrimination. When the Moors conquered Spain, they followed them to North Africa and helped them in establishing their hold over the conquered country. During the Moorish rule, the Jews were their partner and contributed in producing a rich culture which was based on tolerance and religious harmony. One of their great philosophers, Maimonides (d.1204) who is known in the Jewish community as the second Moses, was from Spain. Later on he migrated to Egypt and served Salahuddin Ayyubi as a physician. It was the golden period of Jewish history when, along with the Arabs, they created a wonderful and magnificent culture.
In 1492, the Reconquista ended the golden period and the Christian rulers asked both the Muslims and the Jews either to become Christian or leave the country. This time, the Jews were given refuge by the Ottoman Empire. From then onwards, they wandered from one country to another. They were invited to Europe by the rulers. As money-lending was prohibited in Christianity, the Jews war asked to conduct this business which was not popular among the people. Those who paid high interest did not like it; therefore, it created hostility against them. Moreover, when they got success and became a prosperous community, they were hated by the poor and deprived sections of society. As a result, they experienced expulsion from England, France, Germany and other countries. Then, they migrated to Eastern Europe. In Poland, soon they earned a reputation as skillful businessmen. However, the Polish elite and common people, after taking loans on interest, did not want to pay back the amount. They exploited the situation which subsequently led to their massacre and expulsion. In Germany, their settlements were separated by walls which were known as Ghettos. They were treated as outcasts with contempt and disdain.
The emergence of capitalism in Europe changed the fate of the Jews. As they were experts in banking and skilful financiers, they proved an asset to the system. The expansion and strengthening of democratic institutions and secularization of the European mind led to the elimination of prejudices against them while major intellectual and scientific contributions to the western civilization placed them on high status. When the Zionist movement planned to have a separate homeland for the Jew, the First World War provided this opportunity. The Jewish scientists promised to help the Allies in exchange for providing them with a homeland. They were offered to have Mauritius Island or Uganda. They insisted on the land of Palestine. Finally, the Balfour Declaration in 1914 promised to accept their demand. The imperial power of Britain handed over Palestine as it was a land without people.
Once the Jews got a homeland and assumed power, their character changed from the oppressed to the oppressor and from the exploited to the exploiter. They started to repeat all those tactics of suppression which they themselves had experienced in the past. They created havoc amongst the Palestinians in order to evacuate them from their homeland. They systematically massacred them, hunted them and forced them to flee. To settle the Jews, they made Palestinians refugees and made them homeless. They tortured those who resisted against them and target killing was their chosen method to eliminate their opponents. Thousands of freedom fighters, branded as terrorists, are in their prisons. They have erected walls around Palestinian cities and separated them like ghettoes.
They are using the history of their ordeal to hide their crimes and to silence the voices against their violation of human rights, occupation of the Palestinian land, target killing, and the building of illegal settlements on occupied land.
It shows how power changes the character of a nation and how it alters its outlook, historical perspective and historical experience. Instead of learning a lesson, the Israeli Jews are making a new history which is full of brutality and barbarity. Now, it is a lesson for the Palestinians to learn from the Jewish history and continue to struggle for their homeland.
The writer is one of the pioneers of alternative history in the country.
