Michelle Campos, assistant professor of modern Middle Eastern history in the department of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University, visited Hamilton to lecture on the origins of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict on April 6. Campos, a specialist in the late Ottoman period in Palestine, discussed how the current conflict in Israel was set into motion early in the 20th century. Her lecture was part of Middle Eastern Events Week at Hamilton, sponsored by the Middle Eastern Students Association (MESA).
Campos began by displaying images of two maps, one from the Israeli government and one from a Palestinian schoolbook. Both maps depicted virtually the same territorial outlines, but one was of "Israel" while the other was of "Palestine." Campos said that these maps show how each side of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict has its own exclusive narrative, and how the struggle has come to be seen as a zero-sum game by both sides. The "ethos of national conflict" that exists among both Israelis and Palestinians, in which each side sees itself as victimized and just and the other as aggressive and unjust, creates this zero-sum thought.
The conflict in the state of Israel is about many things, Campos continued. It is a nationalist conflict between Zionist Israeli nationalists and Palestinian nationalists, a conflict between Islam, Judaism and Christianity, and a territorial conflict over individual areas of land. It also has broader meanings which vary depending on which side is constructing them. For example, the Palestinians see their struggle as part of the larger modern anti-colonial struggle by Muslims around the world. Meanwhile, Israelis tap into the message of a worldwide struggle against radical Islam. Also, Campos said, both sides are engaged in a struggle over the fundamental symbolic idea of "nativeness" and ownership of place.
Campos then gave a historical overview of the early 20th century events which brought the land formerly known as Palestine from the control of the Ottoman Empire, to British control, and eventually to statehood as Israel. During Ottoman control, she noted, there was a fundamental hegemony of Islam throughout the land, but there was also tolerance for religious minorities (Jews and Christians) and there was great economic and social interdependence between the three groups. As a growing Zionist national movement brought more and more Jewish immigrants to Palestine in the beginning of the 20th century, ensuing territorial conflicts consolidated Palestinian identity and created a Palestinian nationalist movement. When Britain came to control Palestine after World War I and issued the Balfour Declaration, in which Britain declared its commitment to creating a Jewish national homeland in Palestine, the conflict escalated. Campos noted that the terms of the conflict – Zionist Jewish nationalists versus Palestinian Arab nationalists – were set before the Balfour Declaration, British control changed the dynamic by favoring Jews over Arabs.
In 1948, when the United Nations and Britain pulled out of Palestine, the conflict erupted into civil war. The outcome of the war, which established the state of Israel and the territorial areas of Jewish and Arab residence within the state, is viewed vastly differently by Israelis and Palestinians. The Israeli word for it is "Atzma'ut," or "independence," while the Palestinian word is "al-Nakba," or "catastrophe." In the aftermath of 1948, Campos said, Jewish immigration into Israel from around the world increased, at the same time that Arab Palestinians were moving out, both into the West Bank and Gaza and out of Israel all together. Campos then answered questions from the audience and discussed the current state of affairs in Israel.
Professor Campos's lecture was part of Middle Eastern Events Week, sponsored by the Hamilton Middle Eastern Students Association (MESA). The week has also included a screening of Jehane Noujaim's film "The Control Room" on Al Jazeera and a discussion on politics and religion in Israel with Professor Erella Brown. The week's events will conclude with a home-cooked Middle Eastern feast for members of the Hamilton community on Sunday evening. Questions about Middle Eastern Events Week or MESA can be directed to Amanda Hannoosh (ahannoos) or Tamim Akiki (takiki).
-- by Caroline Russell O'Shea '07
