This is a generation given to fast-changing entertainment. Videos, reels, web series, and memes that come out of it are the latest fad. One needs to be in touch with the latest web series released on OTT platforms to be able to understand the memes. By far, it is the most creative realm of jokes.
Many songs and films as well as web series dialogues and scenes are known to be used as a template for the memes. One of these families of memes was based on a song called 'Jerusalem' sung by Alpha Blondy in 1986. I happened to watch the video to relish the meme's version of it but happened to discover a completely new aspect of it.
From what I could make out of the song was the promotion of unity in Israel. The picturization was apt, covering the daily lives of people residing there. Seeing the Jewish men and women portrayed in the video, I remembered the documentaries and books I'd read on holocaust survivors.
This led me to search about the recent Israel-Palestine conflict making the headlines. As I had not read in detail about it earlier, I asked my father about the history of this conflict, a thing which comes easily to him. The conflict has its history based on two major events- the Israeli-Arab War of 1948 and 1967.
Israel gained independence from colonial rule on 14 May 1948. This led to the formation of the state of Israel. Jews, many of whom were the holocaust survivors of the Third Reich, settled on the land that was claimed by the Arabs. Israeli-Arab War of 1948 is allegedly known to start due to Nakba- ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
United Nation had passed a resolution after the region gained independence from the British empire. It divided the former Palestinian mandate into two states- Jewish and Arab. And it was decided that areas surrounding Jerusalem which had religious importance were to be under international rule governed by the UN.
The five Arab nations did not accept this resolution and invaded Israel which resulted in the war of 1948. The Arabs fought intending to block the resolution and prevent the formation of the Jewish state, whereas, Jews retaliated to gain control over the allotted territory as per the UN's resolution. Israel was attacked by the Palestinians and other adjoining Arabs from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
In 1949, Israel succeded in reaching some armistice agreements separately with neighbouring states of Egypt, Lebanon, Transjordan and Syria. Israel gained some territory that was formerly granted to Palestinian Arabs under the UN's resolution while Egypt and Jordan retained control over Gaza Strip and the West Bank respectively. These armistice lines were held until the year of 1967.
Following the Suez War of 1956, the US pressed Israel to withdraw its forces from the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Egypt had purchased arms from the Soviet arms which threatened Israel. Attacks from guerrilla organizations of neighboring states led to the second war.
The war of 1967 lasted from 5 June to 10 June. Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. It occupied the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. Arab states denied the UN's resolution stating full withdrawal in exchange for acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of all States in the Middle East.
And since then, the conflict has been going on endlessly. The 'Jerusalem' song is so relatable in the current time to promote peace. The relation between the horrors of the holocaust and that of the common people being harassed due to the fight between Israel and Palestine forces, latter governed by the Hamas in the Gaza Strip is distorted.
Holocaust memories fresh on my mind by recent readings had a daunting impression when I saw the photographs from everyday life of people in Gaza. They are trapped in the political miseries of the two fighting wolves. An in-depth study on the situation of the people there revealed that they are primarily dependent upon the leftover farms and labour in the refugee camps as a source of livelihood.
The modern history of political unrest has suspended the population of the West Bank and Gaza in timeless hopelessness. A kind of hopelessness that ceased their whole purpose of living as everything is uncertain and generations over generations have passed on in the same misery. The world is prospering in front of their hungry eyes, leaving the people in an endless tunnel of darkness. All this taking place at the holy place called Jerusalem, the confluence of three faiths is a deplorable irony.