Finding Identity

Separating Jews and Palestinians into two states has been based largely on the rights of the indigenous, Palestinian people, and those of the persecuted, Jewish people. It is noted that monotheistic religions, (such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) are born in a cycle of violence of what becomes a particular religion (Ellis, p. 75). Wars between these three dominant faiths are not foreign to us, and they continue in the modern world. However, because “the victory of dominant narratives in [these faiths] are against indigenous cultures and religions,” we can recognize that the indigenous quality of monotheistic religions and earlier local types are not so much indigenous. I was not perplexed so much by the history and evolution of such indigenous people: including migration, intermarriage and evolving cultural and religious feelings (Ellis, p. 76). Rather, that such complicated histories (including cycles of invasion and settlement) would suggest that those original to the land are hardly indigenous due to their evolution and complicated histories. I agree with Marc Ellis, that an understanding of such is imperative for a future of “fruitful interplay” between the indigenous culture and the settler and similarly see this as a greater accomplishment than preserving per say, indigenous culture (p. 76). 

The Jews and Palestinians as an example of such interplay and its role in the identity of these people, much of which is rooted in a struggle for equal rights (citizenship for example) and reflected in the aforementioned and frequent cycle of dislocation and violence. The idea of neutral space that was surfaced is certainly a valuable goal, however, I similarly recognize the identity and sanctity that is felt for Jews and Palestinians in favor of a separation of their communities. Amid suffering, atrocities, exclusion, and brokenness, I believe that the relationship between these two groups reinforces the need for a political space in which memories can exist but also in which identity distinctions reflect respect and pride, despite undeniable historical transformations (Ellis, p. 81). The prospect of a civil rights movement including Jews and Palestinians who “embrace citizenship and refuse a peculiar institution that can only continue the cycle of dislocation and death,” can feel near when identity and subsequent claims are threatened (Ellis, p. 86). It is particularly apparent in the modern world, characterized by many civil rights movements who vary in size and type, yet are all grounded by the sanctity of identity. 

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