"And in this respect, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a tragedy, a clash between one very powerful, very convincing, very painful claim over this land and another no less powerful, no less convincing claim"

Amos Oz recognizes a fundamental truth at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: it is defined by two deeply rooted, legitimate, and emotionally charged claims to the same land. He does not reduce the struggle to simple binaries of right versus wrong or aggressor versus victim. Instead, he highlights the parallel intensity and authenticity with which both peoples, Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs, view their historical connection, loss, and rights to the land that lies between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

The “tragedy” lies in the collision of these equally compelling narratives. For Jews, the land represents the ancient homeland, a site of longing and suffering culminating in the return after centuries of exile and unimaginable trauma, most notably the Holocaust. The establishment of Israel is intimately connected for many Jews with survival, identity, and historical justice. For Palestinians, however, the same land is their ancestral home, the site where their families have lived for generations. For them, the displacement, loss of property and status, and continuing occupation embody a profound historical injustice, a catastrophe known as the Nakba.

Neither claim is “less powerful” or “less convincing.” Both are built on deeply felt pain, loss, and hope. Both communities have invested their identities and futures in their vision of justice, security, and belonging tied to the same territory. Oz’s observation acknowledges the near-impossibility of resolving such a conflict through force or argument. Instead, it calls for empathy and moral imagination, a willingness to recognize the authenticity and depth of the opposing claim. The conflict’s enduring, tragic nature lies in the inability so far to reconcile these claims or find a way for both peoples to coexist without one’s fulfillment coming at the expense of the other’s despair. Oz’s insight invites reflection not just on politics, but on shared humanity, pain, and the difficult possibilities of coexistence.