Names And The Conflict In Palestine

Names might be a powerful factor in the current conflict between Israel and Gaza. To see how important names can be let's first review the antagonism between Britain's two royal brothers.

This is something that I haven't seen pointed out about the split between the two royal brothers. It concerns their names, William and Harry.

"Harry" is usually short for "Harold". Harry's real first name is "Henry" but his brother gave him the nickname of "Harold", according to the Wikipedia article on Prince Harry. Prince Harry's official title is the Duke of Sussex.

Let's not forget what a powerful force history and names can be. History dictates that these two brothers should not get along with each other.

Sussex is where the Battle of Hastings took place, in 1066 nearly a thousand years ago. This pivotal battle in English history was between forces led by Harold Godwinson against William the Conqueror. It was Harry against William, and William emerged victorious.

Isn't it expecting too much for two brothers that are part of the organization that represents the history of the country to get along with names like these? Is this why William gave his brother the nickname of "Harold"? 

The two brothers reportedly once had a physical altercation. Of course, they were reenacting the Battle of Hastings. History demanded it.

Harry reportedly emphasized that he had outranked his older brother in the military. This was so important because of the historic battle of Harold against William.

Giving the two brothers the names of these historic enemies, and giving one the title of Duke of the place where their battle happened, virtually ensured that this modern split would happen.

Now let's go back to Israel. As anyone who has read the Old Testament knows, the Philistines were the scourge of Israel for about two hundred years. They lived along the coast, right where Gaza is now located. Palestine is actually named for the Philistines, although the modern Palestinians are not related to them.

The Philistines had five cities, in fact Gaza was the name of one of their cities. The other four were Ekron, Ashdod, Ashkelon and, Gath. These four cities are still there, at least in name, and are all in Israel. Of course we should expect that there will be conflict. Gaza is trying to get it's other four cities back.

For Canadian readers we saw how important names are in "Names And Canadian Politics", April 2022.

LOCAL REPETITION OF HISTORY

Sometimes world history is repeated on a local level. Niagara Falls NY has seen an amazing example of how history is repeated.

Possibility the best-known historical work is "The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire". I haven't read it but it is about the final days of the Roman Empire.

The Como Restaurant was the focal point of the local Italian community for nearly a century. But two Roman arches were put up, one at each end of the street. This invoked historical forces and the gradual decline, and final closing, of the Como was a mirror image of that of the Roman Empire.