Alexander the Great conquered the world. Rome imposed pax Romana. Russia cut the window on Europe. British empire spawned continents. Napoleon liberated Europe. Europeans pioneered America. Jews restored their ancient state.
The verbs convey the sense of approval. The described campaigns are great and admired. But all of them were conducted against the wishes of local people, often at the cost of their lives. That’s the ethics of history in a nutshell: strangers’ lives can be sacrificed for the aim one considers high.
Suffering of Palestinians is as unimportant as the suffering of ancient Persians conquered by Alexander. History doesn’t remember dead masses, but great events only. Jews’ lenient treatment of the Palestinian aborigines will fall into historical oblivion; think of your school course of history, does it mention any ruler for his kindness? Israel’s only chance of entering the history is becoming the Great Israel. Regardless of her enemies’ lives.
