Sibling Rivalry
Anyone with siblings would understand the dread, uneasiness, and overall fear that comes with growing up together. Having someone who knows all your faults and weaknesses as a result of sharing a house together can make each vulnerable to the other. This is how I view Arabs and Jews, both growing up in Jerusalem, and both aware of the other’s weak spot. I view the continuous bickering between the two as children holding a grudge over the other. A childish feud. Both in need of a parental figure to tell them who is wrong and who is right, who gets what toy/piece of land, and who is in timeout for breaking the rules again. The parental figure has changed multiple times from the British to America and will most likely continue to change until one of the children learns to stand up for themselves and/or becomes an adult.
In Jerusalem: One City Three Faiths by Karen Armstrong, the Jews and Arabs are constantly viewed as having communication problems and resorting to force instead of diplomatic agreements to settle such disputes. One such case was when the Western Wall was used as a holy site for Jews without permission or acknowledgement that the wall resided in Haram, meaning it had significance to Arabs as well since it’s where “Muhammad had tethered Buraq after the Night Journey” (380). It was stated that “jews must not treat the holy place as though it belonged to them” (380) when they started regularly praying at the site and bringing furniture, the shofar, Torah, etc., like they owned the place. If only a peaceful mediation session ensued after the accusations were stated, there may have been a chance for coexistence. However, that was not the case, and petty actions were taken to cause grief and avenge the wrongs that had been conducted against them. An example of such was when jews were blowing the shofar so the “dhikers suddenly became very loud and noisy” (381). Another was when “Muezzin timed the call to prayer precisely to coincide with services at the wall” (381). Also when “Arabs began to lead their animals through the alley during Jewish services” and lit cigarettes there during sabbath (381). All these caused Jews to become increasingly angry and resentful. What were once petty actions quickly turned into violent attacks that claimed the lives of both Arabs and Jews.
Something so innocent as a child kicking a ball into the neighbors lawn, should be met with a normal response as in handing it back with little detestment considering that the action was harmless and the perpetrator was in fact a naive child. This was not the case when a Jewish boy kicked his ball into an Arab garden. How did simply handing the ball back instead turn into the death of a child? Tensions grew on both sides, and for what? Soon after “Palestinian peasants began to arrive in Jerusalem with clubs and knives” (383) and brutality was unleashed into the holy city with fatalities that could have been prevented if only a compromise had been reached. Each side is biased to their own perspective of how events played out, but each also had a choice in how they reacted when attacked or threatened. It may seem like neither side had an alternative path to take and retaliation was the only way to ensure that they survived as the remaining inhabitants of Jerusalem.
This statement greatly explains why the conflict in the Middle East has not decreased after all this time; when both sides see themselves as innocent and the other party guilty for all the conflict. “On both sides black-and-white accounts of the struggle have tended to oversimplify the issue, presenting it in terms of villains and heroes, total right and absolute wrong, the will of God or a divine chastisement. But the reality was more complex” (372). The main problem is that both sides are equally at fault, however they are too egotistical to admit that they have done wrong and accept the consequences of causing harm to one another. Each has a unique perspective, and even though that specific statement refers to the Zionist takeover, it still correlates with the conflict witnessed to this day in Jerusalem.
Jews and Arabs have simply not reached adulthood in the metaphorical sense where they can put aside their childish disputes and either get along with one another or keep a reasonable distance from each other unless invited for a family reunion, in which case, leave the weapons at home.
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