Most people seem to implicitly believe that supporting one side means being against the other. If you are pro-Israel you must be anti-Palestinian, and vice versa. It’s a conflict after all. Both sides are fighting to win. Whose team are you on? Outside of sports and board games, reality is not that simple. Very few real-life conflicts are zero sum. I am not rooting for the Israelis to “beat” the Palestinians and go home with a W. That’s not how this works.
Anyone who knows me knows I am passionately pro-Israel: I am an outspoken supporter of the Jewish state on social media, I lobby for a stronger U.S.-Israel relationship, and I have organized countless campus events to educate students about the country. But, why would that make me anti-Palestinian? I do not want to eliminate the Palestinians nor do I want to remove them from the West Bank, Gaza or Israel proper. I wish for them exactly what I wish for the Israelis: the chance to live peaceful and prosperous lives in a state that represents them. I believe that anyone who desires that for both sides is not "anti" either of them. I would even say that anyone who does not desire that for either side is "anti" both of them.
Hamas (the Islamic, militant organization in control of Gaza) and the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction) movement against Israel, claim to be pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel. Using their respective methods of choice -- which are violence in the case of the former, and delegitimization and economic warfare in the case of the latter -- these groups aim to end the Jewish state, thus liberating Palestine. Though they have not been successful, these movements perpetuate the notion that with enough effort the Palestinians (and their fanatical, international “supporters”) can destroy the Zionist enterprise once and for all. This is a fantasy. Israel is a vibrant country, with thriving industry and a formidable army. The BDS movement does not have enough traction to significantly harm Israel, let alone threaten its existence, and personally I doubt it ever will. And Hamas, for as much damage as it can cause, does not have the capability to pose an existential threat to Israel. Simply put, Israel is not going anywhere. To encourage Palestinians to believe otherwise is to give credence to their Sisyphean armed struggle and to amplify their suffering.
Mahmoud Abbas’s PA (the Palestinian Authority which has partial control over the West Bank) is guilty of this as well. And although the PA cooperates extensively with Israel on security matters and has negotiated with Israel in the past, its leaders regularly incite and condone violence against Israelis. It is akin to trying to be the firefighter and the arsonist at the same time. This contradictory approach does not benefit the Palestinian people, who need to accept that violence is not the solution and Israel is not going to be defeated. Over the course of the last four months there have 100 stabbings, 37 shootings and 22 car-rammings perpetrated by Palestinians targeting Israelis, and recent polling shows that 72 percent of Palestinians support violence against Israelis. The legitimacy of the use of violence needs to be addressed within Palestinian society if the Palestinians ever want to make peace, experience prosperity, and gain complete sovereignty over themselves.
On the other side, there have been Jewish extremists who have been harassing and assaulting Palestinians and vandalizing their property in the West Bank. One of the most serious of these "price-tag" attacks, as they are often called, occurred in the middle of last year, when an extremist firebombed a house, killing a Palestinian family of three. These extremists are collectively referred to as Hilltop Youth, and although they are relatively small, Israeli security forces see them as a serious issue and are trying to crack down on them. The Hilltop Youth believe that the Jews must control all of the territory that they did in the Biblical era and should be ruled by a Jewish monarch. Their anti-Palestinian violence adds fuel to the anti-Israel fire and must be stopped for the sake of both Israelis and Palestinians.
The Palestinians, like the Israelis, are not going anywhere. They have nowhere to go, nor do they want to leave their homes one way or the other. They are and will remain Israel’s neighbors, and the two sides in this conflict must accept each other's presence if either is to live peacefully and prosperously, in control of their own fates. Anyone who pushes either side to do otherwise is an impediment to the long-term advancement and success of both parties and should be called out for it. So the next time you hear someone say they are pro-Israel or they are pro-Palestinian, ask them if they are anti-the other side. That will tell you where they really stand.
