In this talk, Rob argued that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has a religious component that has not been sufficiently examined or appreciated. On the Israeli side are religious Zionists, who, despite their small numbers in Israeli society, have been the impetus behind the settlement movement in the West Bank which they view as part of the land promised to the Jews by God in the Bible and must therefore be added to the state of Israel. On the Palestinian side is Hamas, which grew out of the Muslim Brotherhood, and wishes to reclaim all of historic Palestine. Most notably, Hamas would like to claim Jerusalem for Palestinians and also all land once ruled by Muslims for Islam. However, the religious dimension of the conflict is not just about these extreme groups. Israeli and Palestinian thinking have also been shaped by what one might call an “underdog narrative” in the Bible and the Quran that sees God’s people as perpetually fighting the forces of evil and triumphing at the end of history. It can be argued that even secular Israelis and Palestinians have been unwittingly influenced by this narrative.
In the ensuing discussion, there was a lively discussion about the extent to which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is religious in nature. Some participants claimed that the conflict is really about nationalism, not religion. Rob, however, insisted that while nationalism is certainly a component of the conflict, religion is central as well. Religion and nationalism are so closely related that one cannot easily separate the two, but one must do so in order to have a true understanding of the conflict.
