Page 32 - October 7 - Teresa Pirola

5
Shifting Views of Israel and Palestine
“ I had published this article in Eureka Street in 2019, and Eureka Street decided to republish it nine weeks after the October 7 massacre in
2023. The article made sense in its original 2019 context, but in my view it does not adequately respond to the events of the October 7 assault by Hamas or the existential threats facing Israel at the end of 2023. I include it here, however, for its insights into the complexities of the broader conflict and its references to constructive Israeli-
Palestinian peace initiatives, pre–October”7. A number of Israelis who were murdered or
5 May 2019, 16 November 2023
abducted on October 7 had been strongly engaged in these peace initiatives.
I am on a study tour of Israel and the Palestinian Territories. It is my eighth visit in 12 years, and each time I come away with less clarity and more questions about the tensions that plague this tiny land.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is multidimensional, has deep roots and no easy answers. Who is the oppressor? Who is oppressed? It all depends upon the lens you look through at any given moment. And our view is continually shifting as we make our way from East and West Jerusalem to Bethlehem,
32