My objective in writing this book is to clarify the current situation, illuminate the causes, and explore potential solutions. I intend to distill the role of religion and describe how it is being used to foment friction and pull people further apart. As an atheist or agnostic, it’s easy to shrug the conflict off as a faraway dispute between tribes that are held back by their beliefs and traditions. While there’s some truth to that, reality is much more nuanced. The myriad facets layered successively throughout the tortured history of the conflict can be traced to religious origins. Warmongering, terror, breach of international law, disregard of signed agreements, indifference to moral values, fanaticism, and other phenomena can all be attributed to the fiery religiosity so prevalent in the region.
Let’s get one thing off the table: religious belief is not the only cause of this violent confrontation. Religion consists of a collection of stories that people believe in, but the stories themselves don’t kill. Believers do. While it’s sometimes possible to draw a straight line from fervent belief to a specific atrocity, the situation is usually more involved.
Political spin is a powerful force, and religious intransigence is fertile ground for coercive control. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, spiritual ideas are often turned into a violent reality by those who have political or religious authority. Religious sentiments are the gift that keeps giving for these figureheads, who abuse people’s firmly held convictions to consolidate power. Any act that doesn’t align with an interpretation of the texts they sanctify can be portrayed as an infraction perpetrated by godless infidels. In turn, it can be milked by unscrupulous leaders looking to realize their designs.
Years of studying the conflict have convinced me that it is not only a territorial dispute. The geographic aspect, while thorny, is often used as a false flag to disguise the underlying causes, which stem from the region’s prevailing religiosity. While usually harmless, religious beliefs turn precarious when leveraged by irresponsible leaders. Using faith to push a political agenda is among the most potent tools available to those who govern others. Its manipulative use by self-serving demagogues hurts the entire population. At the same time, religious personalities dabble in politics to advance their divisive goals. These dynamics undermine peace efforts and devastate the lives of people in the region and beyond. Leaders on both sides have an interest in perpetuating the notion that the conflict is a zero-sum affair. This convenient argument enables them to put their personal interests above everything else. It exposes their disregard for the suffering of others and their penchant for pursuing ever greater power, regardless of the human toll.