One terribly heartbreaking story is the unjustified killing of an 18-year-old Palestinian, Mahmoud al-Saad Jenin. Mahmoud lived in a refugee camp with his family in the city of Jenin, which is the West Bank. He was at the final stages of his maturity and was almost an adult.

His father worked hard to make sure Mahmoud and his three sisters got an education as a way out of despair and hopefully a brighter future. 

One day, on the way to class, Mahmoud encountered Israeli soldiers who were raiding Jenin in jeeps. He decided to turn around and return home as a safer option instead of risking his own life. 

Unfortunately, Mahmoud did not make it home.

Instead, he was shot by an Israeli soldier in the stomach because of his ethnicity and identity as a Palestinian, a very convenient killing of a child whose capital offense was walking to school.

Mahmoud was suffering in agonizing pain, crying for help from his friends. They thought he was joking. Eventually, they reacted and took him to the hospital. At the hospital, a video shows friends and family weeping as they hover over his lifeless body. A man even kissed him while wrapped in a shroud.

During the funeral, Mahmoud was remembered for his golden heart and a symbol of hope for the Palestinians. He was wrapped in a Palestinian flag with his school backpack at his feet in his coffin.

He’s not the only one.

In 2022, Israeli forces killed more than 170 Palestinians and 30 children. In January 2023, the forces had already killed 29 Palestintians, five of them being children. According to the UN, 2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinians since 2006. Yet, these empirics don’t include deaths in Israeli territory as well as unconfirmed deaths.

The Israeli-Palestine conflict has been active for almost a century. Every single year we see more and more deaths on each side as a result of the conflict. However, it is important to understand that empirically the majority of deaths are Palestinians.

To put things into perspective, Israel's stance on this conflict is that they have religious and legal authority on Jerusalem and that they feel threatened due to “Palestinian terrorist groups.” Yet, Israel has one of the most complex defense systems in the world and the gap between these “terrorist groups” and Israel in terms of technology and military is considerably large.

Palestinian perspective mainly revolves around the claim that Israel is a settler colonial state, and its establishment led to hundreds of thousands of people displaced, which is a massive crime against humanity.

Secondly, they argue that Israel is committing one of the worst human rights crimes in the present, apartheid. This claim is one that I personally agree with; however, the subject of this article is to look at this problem through the lens of Confucius.

Confucius was born during the Period of the Warring States where many powerful warlords located in China fought to gain total control of the region. It was a period of extravagant violence, war, and death.

The famous scholar was dedicated to providing a genuine solution and resolution to this deadly violence. To him, it was Confucianism.

Confucianism has two main parts that could be separated into five sub-parts individually: the five relationships and its five core values.

To put things into context, the five relationships each including a superior and inferior tt are so central to this philosophy have a clear and definite connection to this conflict. As the main argument from the Palestinian perspective is the claim of apartheid, Palestine could also be considered as the inferior group in a Confucian relationship.

 Confucius said in the Analects, "The superior man understands righteousness; the inferior man understands profit." (4:16) Confucianism had a pessimistic view on the inferior sides of relationships as seen in this quote just as how Israel views Palestinians through the apartheid claim.

The second connection is filial piety. Confucius also said in the Analects, "Filial piety nowadays means to be able to support one's parents. But we support even dogs and horses. If there is not feeling of reverence, wherein lies the difference? (2:7)

Mahmoud’s death is an excellent example of filial piety in this conflict. The reactions among Palestinians to these deaths including Mahmoud’s show a sense of loyalty, tribute, and family, which are all values of filial piety even if it is not directed to elders.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY (MLA Format)

Tahhan, Zena Al. “Israel Raids: Why Are so Many Palestinians Being Killed?” Israel-Palestine Conflict News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 26 Jan. 2023, aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/26/why-israeli-raids-killed-many-palestinians-this-year-explainer. 

Allen, Lori A. “It Is Becoming Harder to Deny That Israel Is an Apartheid State.” Crimes Against Humanity | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 4 May 2021, aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/5/4/it-is-becoming-harder-to-deny-that-israel-is-an-apartheid-state. 

Bishara, Marwan. “Israel's Apartheid and the Myth of the Democratic Jewish State.” Opinions | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 8 Feb. 2022, aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/2/8/israels-apartheid-and-the-myth-of-the-democratic-jewish-state. 

Mitrovica, Andrew. “Just Another Dead Palestinian.” Israel-Palestine Conflict | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 25 Nov. 2022, aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/11/25/just-another-dead-palestinian. 

Al Jazeera. “Israel Imposing 'Apartheid' on Palestinians: Amnesty.” Israel-Palestine Conflict News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 1 Feb. 2022, aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/1/israel-carrying-out-apartheid-against-palestinians-amnesty. 

Bishara, Marwan. “Why Israel Hates the Palestinians so Much.” Israel-Palestine Conflict | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 8 Aug. 2022, aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/8/8/why-israel-hates-the-palestinians-so-much. 

Hawari, Yara. “Israelis Are Not Demonstrating for Democracy.” Opinions | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 16 Jan. 2023, aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/1/16/israelis-are-not-demonstrating-for-democracy. 

“Confucian Thought.pdf.” Google Drive, Google, drive.google.com/file/d/1dnbkx354Z56eFWB8G0UmUN1KiCLqlebV/view.  (THE ANALECTS)