Protesters hold signs demanding the liberation of hostages who are being held in the Gaza Strip after they were seized by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Nov. 21, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen

JNS.org – Trying to understand current events in the Middle East without knowing its history is doomed to failure. Trying to understand Israel without an understanding of Jewish history and Zionism is equally futile.

Over 100 years ago, the Jewish people began to realize they would never be safe without their own land, government and army, along with the power to determine their own future. For its entire history, the State of Israel they founded has been under attack. Although Israel has extended its hand in peace to its enemies from the beginning, it has never known a day of peace.

It will take historians decades to understand what led to the Oct. 7 massacre. Undoubtedly, many of Israel’s enemies—and even some friends—will blame Israeli policies. Many Israelis and their supporters will claim it was the age-old antisemitism embraced by Islamic fundamentalism.

History teaches that the latter are correct. Arab and Muslim violence against Jews goes back to the origins of Islam. Palestinian Arab violence against Jews began decades before Israel was founded. Hamas’s dedication to violence is hardwired into its very being.

There are many people, including some Jews, who attempt to differentiate between the Jewish people, Zionism and the State of Israel. Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists make no such distinction. Palestinian terrorists have targeted Zionist Jews and non-Jews, anti-Zionist Jews in Israel and anti-Zionist Jews outside of Israel. Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims and their supporters regularly call for the murder of Jews. This violence is based on hate, not politics.

Moreover, hate does not self-generate. It is justified by culture and ideology. Mainstream Palestinian ideology is racist and genocidal. It maintains that Jews have no history in the Land of Israel and thus no right to live in it. As a result, Palestinians wrongly believe that their terrorism will eventually succeed in ethnically cleansing Israel’s Jews.

The Palestinians don’t understand that this is suicidal. Zionism is not a modern colonialist ideology. It is the modern expression of a belief that is thousands of years old. The deep connection the Jewish people have to their historic homeland is rooted in every aspect of Judaism. The idea that the Jews would wait 2,000 years to return to their land, risk life and limb to restore it to its former glory, build an entire country and then abandon it is absurd.

Supporters of the Palestinians make a similar mistake. They either fail to understand that the Palestinians support ethnic cleansing or actively support it. That this is both morally obscene and ultimately self-destructive does not occur to them.

The overwhelming majority of Jews are Zionists. Their support for the Zionist movement’s belief that the Jewish people have a right and a need for a homeland hasn’t waned. In fact, with each Palestinian attack, Zionists feel their belief that the Jews will only be safe on their own land with their own army to protect them is confirmed once again. Israel’s enemies should study Jewish history. If they did, they would understand that the Israeli people and their state aren’t going anywhere.