In any conflict, knowing who strikes the first blow doesn’t necessarily tell us much. In nearly every instance, it is necessary to dig deeper and uncover the backstory behind it. Only then is it possible to assign responsibility for the clash to one or another side and envision what a peaceful resolution might look like.

In the case of the current violence between the Palestinians and the Israelis, a New York Times reporter uncovers the backstory to that conflict. And in my reading of it, the guilty party for this new cycle of violence, irrespective of who struck the first blow, is Netanyahu and the Israeli government and the only way to prevent its reoccurrence is to address the underlying causes of this conflict: the systematic and sustained opposition of the Israeli government to the formation of a sustainable, territorially contiguous, and independent Palestinian state, living side by side and in peace with the state of Israel.

In an article in the NYT, Anshel Pfeffer, an Israeli political commentator and biographer of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, is quoted as saying,

“Netanyahu didn’t invent the tensions between Jews and Arabs. They’ve been here since before Israel was founded. But over his long years in power, he’s stoked and exploited these tensions for political gain time and again and has now miserably failed as a leader to put out the fires when it boiled over.”

One has to wonder how much of the present outbreak of violence between the Palestinians and the Israelis is explained by the political ambitions and election maneuvering of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in his effort to hold onto power.

While not getting into the details of this new outbreak of violence between the Israel and Palestinian people, I want to make this observation: the whole notion of equivalency in this conflict between the Palestinians and the Israeli government is a dangerous falsehood that conceals the actual dynamics and lines of resolution of this violent (and reoccurring) clash.

Look at the realities: The balance of military and economic power is overwhelmingly on the Israeli side; the Palestinians have nowhere near the fire power or economic resources. A long suffering and colonized people – the Palestinians – are fighting for their independent and long denied statehood against a powerful, imperial and expansionist state whose mission is to prevent the realization of that fundamental right by all means at its disposal. Palestinian land is occupied and Israel is the occupier. Finally, the casualty lists are long and the destruction is immense on the Palestinian side, while on the other side the loss of life and damage is minimal.

In short, this isn’t a conflict between two equal adversaries with equally just claims. Don’t buy into that notion. It’s fool’s gold, meant to conceal the real dynamics in this struggle as well as forestall the only solution that stands a chance of bringing peace to both peoples in this decades long conflict – an independent, contiguous, and viable Palestinian state living side by side and in peace with its Israeli neighbor.

Addendum: Trevor Noah says it much better than I do.