When the first Jews started pouring into the Arab Palestinian state in the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, they would have felt a sense of self accomplishment. After all, they were returning to the land of their forefathers several centuries after they were so brutally expelled. They would have felt a sense of exhilaration as they were fulfilling messianic prophecies that mandated the return of the Jews to the land which God had given to them. And most of all, they would have felt a sense of relief to have escaped the clutches of death and anti-Semitism which had brought their lives in Europe to a physical and psychological ruin.
If they expected to find peace and tranquility in Palestine, they were sorely disappointed. The old gentile fiend was replaced by the Arab. The tiny Jewish minority had to put up with hostility with their more numerous Arab neighbors who, though belatedly, realized the territorial ambitions of the Jews. Zionism as a political concept became clearer, it merged the religious prophecies with the modern secular national outlook and created a deadly political force which appealed to Jews both young and old, fleeing Europe following the Holocaust. By 1948, with the British colonial power on the way out, the Jews and the Arabs found themselves on opposite sides and both sides realized that it was a battle for survival. For the Jews, the loss against the foe would forever extinguish their dreams of having a homeland of their own. For the Arabs, there would be forced displacement and a certain and damning loss of prestige.
As history would have it, the better equipped and disciplined Jews got the better of the Arabs, not once, but at least thrice, thereby securing the state of Israel as proclaimed by David Ben Gurion in 1948. The state of Israel lives on till this day and dispels old stereotypes that were applied to the Jews. The 'Wandering Jew' became the 'settled Jew' with his own homeland. The 'Jewish guilt' was replaced by the 'Jewish pride', his 'pusillanimity' replaced by a frighteningly strong sense of 'bravado' , but the stereotype of the 'scheming Jew' remains. Many amongst us allege that the Jews have conspired with the US and the guilt ridden European nations to deny the just demands of the Arabs.
Many Israeli citizens born in Israel, unlike their parents and grand parents are horrified to see what has become of their state. The long for peace and harmony which has eluded them so far. They long for acknowledgment and respect from their neighbors, but are met with barrels of guns and grenades. They want peaceful co-existence but are surrounded by a hostile opinion that treats them as the last Western Colonial Outpost in Asia.
The Arabs would have mixed opinions on the Jews, but all Arabs despise Israel. Liberal democracies from India to Indonesia express their shock at the way the Israeli forces treat their enemies, although this has become rarer with the growth of the Israeli clout in international affairs. The phrase 'Hindu-Jewish nexus' is a testimony to the fears of the predominantly muslim Arabs, who draw comparisons between the treatment of Palestinians in Israel and Kashmiris in India.
The question that was raised by intellectuals in late 19th century still remains- Who is a Jew? Though it has been severely complicated by the question- Who is an Israeli?.
Given that Israel is the embodiment of 'Jewdom' today, What should be the status of the millions of Palestinians who were driven off their lands by militant Zionists? What of those Arabs who are Israeli citizens but feel no sympathy to that state. And what of the substantial Jewish minorities in Iran and other Middle Eastern states.
What would be their sense of nationality?
