Msgr. Paul V. Garrity

The crisis in the Middle East today is the result of failed leadership over the past 150 years.

This does not mean that there were not great people who did their best to bring order out of chaos. It does mean that there were more non-leaders who thwarted the best efforts of those who were trying to balance history against present needs.

Following the end of World War I, the British Mandate came into existence through the League of Nations. The former Ottoman Empire territories of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank were to be administered by the British. This helps us to understand how the British government could promise the Jewish population that someday there would be a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. This promise was called the Balfour Declaration, named after British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, who made this official promise in 1917 to Lord Walter Rothschild who represented the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland

World War II was a horrendous event that consumed thousands of lives and changed the trajectory of history. Hitler’s anti-Semitism that went unchecked through the 1930s blossomed into the Holocaust that brought about the murder of over eight million Jews from all over Europe. Following the war, the case for a Jewish state or homeland was never more clear. Unable to fulfill Lord Balfour’s promise, the British government handed the issue over to the newly established United Nations. In November of 1947, the UN General Assembly voted Resolution 181 that would create two independent states, an Arab State and a Jewish State. The Arab countries voted in opposition to the Resolution and unsuccessfully sought redress from the International Court of Justice.

Following the UN vote, war broke out between the Arab and Jewish populations within the territory of Palestine. Six months later, the Jewish section of Palestine declared its independence and the establishment of the State of Israel. The 1948 Arab-Israeli War commenced with troops from Egypt, Trans-Jordan, Iraq and Syria seeking to crush the newly established state. An armistice ended this conflict in July of 1949 but with Israel having increased its territory by 50%.

If Arab leaders could go back in time with the knowledge of what their intransigence has created, it is very likely that they would make some very different decisions. Before and after World War II, the British intended that there be two independent states. Eighty-five years later, the so-called two-state solution remains elusive if not impossible in the short term.

Leadership is all about character. The kind of leadership that the world needs today, and for that matter, has always needed is servant leadership, leaders who can put aside their own prejudices and grievances in order to focus their entire energies on the common good. Leaders who are driven by prejudice and hatred may succeed in amassing followers by stirring up anger and resentment. If they succeed and come to power, they eventually turn to force, fear and intimidation. Hamas and Hezbollah are great examples. Hitler mesmerized the German people by convincing them that they had been victimized after World War I.

Strong leaders lead by instilling hope and not fear. Strong leaders listen to the needs of people around them and respond accordingly. Strong leaders recognize that much more can be gained by people working together than by tearing down the opposition. If the Arabs and Jews of Palestine in the late 1940s had worked together to establish two independent states, the world would be in a better place today.

What non-leaders lack is character. They are willing to pursue short term goals without a vision of what can be and should be accomplished in the long term. They hate compromise. They are willing to cheat and steal in diverting resources away from people in need. They use other people shamelessly without compunction about the loss of life. They spread lies, knowingly, to stir up anger and resentment. As Israel continues to target the so-called leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, a new generation of twisted leaders is probably being born. The time is now to change this trajectory and begin moving in an enlightened direction.

The two-state solution, once envisioned by the British and the UN, is the only way that Israel and Palestine will ever achieve peace. Now is the time for leaders with character to stand up and begin to work tirelessly to bring this about. Gaza needs to be rebuilt, and Israel needs to lead the way. Arab states responsible for torpedoing peace a long time ago, need to come to the table with the resources necessary to create a prosperous Palestinian State. This new state needs to recognize the right of Israel to exist so that there are real futures for Palestinian children born today.

It is impossible to understand the Middle East today without a sense of history and an acceptance of the UN vision of 1947. Moreover, history needs to inform all our decisions today.

Msgr. Garrity is a Senior Priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and former pastor of St. Mary’s Parish and St Mary’s School.