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Although it has been almost 15 years, I still can pinpoint the moment that I fully understood the importance of history (beyond the typical “you need to take ‘x’ classes to graduate” that every high school student dreads hearing). The social studies class that was required during my sophomore year of high school was World History. Unlike most history courses, the progression of the course was not based on timeline but on areas of the world. So we had a unit on China, India, the Middle East, etc… While most of our big projects incorporated current events (at least what was current in the 2007-2008 school year), it was not until I was required to write a paper on the Israeli-Palestine conflict that I fully understood how history affects the present.
The Assignment That Changed Everything
The assignment was to choose a side and write a persuasive essay defending your choice. I had to present both sides of the story and convince my audience that my side was right. I don’t remember what side I took or the grade I got (not that it actually matters at this point). But the lesson I learned from this assignment impacted my life significantly and set me on the path to becoming the Snarky History Nerd! That lesson was that every single thing that happens on earth is influenced by history. And without the history, you cannot fully understand the motivations behind all those involved.
Don’t Worry; I Can See the Eye Rolls at that Dramatic Statement.
Because on the surface, the Israeli-Palestine Conflict traces back to the second World World. So what the fuck does history have to do with anything? Especially Medieval History! Well, once you delve a little deeper, you can start to see the connections very clearly. The creation of Israel was to provide the Jewish victims of the Holocaust a safe haven away from Europe. Why away from Europe (aside from the obvious mass murder that had just taken place under the Nazis)? Because the Holocaust was not a stand-alone moment of persecution against Jewish people. For centuries, the European Jewish people suffered through the Spanish Inquisition, pogroms, forced expulsion, forced confinement (aka ghettos) and all sorts of horrible abuse. Ever been to the “Jewish Quarter” in a European city? Yeah, that is the nice way of saying, “this is where we forced the Jewish population to live aka ghettos when we weren’t murdering them or kicking them out.” As you can imagine, after the Holocaust, many Jewish victims wanted to get the fuck out of Europe. And in true European fashion, they stole land that did not belong to them and sent the Jewish people there.
If I go into colonization and the Crusades (which I consider an attempt at colonization), this post will never end. Because the Europeans did way too much fucked up shit all over the world. So, on the Palestinian side, I will focus on the fall of the Ottoman Empire (because of course we can’t talk about Europe and the Middle East and not talk about the Crusades). First, after the Ottoman Empire fell at the end of World War I, the European Allies divided up the Middle East based on the resources that they wanted and generally fucked over the people who live there. Most of the conflicts in the Middle East today can be traced back in some way to this decision. But that is a conversation for another day. So when the European Allies decided to do it again thirty years later, lets just say, no one was happy about it.
Will All of My Posts Connect Directly to Current Events?
Probably not. Honestly, I would spend waaaaayyy too much time on a soap box and this blog would be more serious and less snarky. Plus, this blog is meant to give you a break from the craziness that surrounds us a daily basis by providing historical stories and information in sardonic manner. But I thought it was important to start out this blog by illuminating why this shit matters!