Mohammed Al-Dura was a twelve-year-old child who was caught and killed during firefight between Palestinian snipers and the Israel Defense Force (IDF).
Mohammed and his father took shelter behind a concrete barrel, out of the line of fire from the IDF position. Mohammed was shot in his father’s arms. There are two possible explanations to this story: one, which is supporting the Palestinian side and on the other side supporting the Israeli side.
The Palestinians were saying that the child was shot by the IDF, while the Israeli defended themselves, saying that that an IDF soldier could have not possibly shot the child from their position. Many people believe that Mohammed al-Dura was murdered by his fellow Palestinians. On the other hand, Palestinians used this event to start a negative propaganda against the Israeli militia, showing that they have no respect for Palestinian civilians. This event is related to history in the sense that we always have to questions where the facts are coming from. In fact, in this case, if we take one of the two sides, Israeli or Palestinian, the facts and their explanation change. So, when an historians looks at the source of a fact he needs to look at the source or the person in her / his society.
It is also important for an historian to be aware of other cultures and other ways of life, to accept that people might not share their views or beliefs. Even if historians try to make themselves as much objective as possible there still will be some external factors, so they have to try not to take any side when they analyze an event or a fact. For example, if a journalist had to write about Mohammed Al-Dura and he / she was pro-Israeli, he / she might not show some facts that are anti-Israeli.
The Term Paper on Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
Since the establishment of Israel in 1948, there has been constant fighting between Israelis and Arabs. The Israelis have the right to live peacefully in Israel, but there is a conflict because the Palestinians feel that Israel is their land. During recent years the conflict in the Middle East had been exploded on to our television screens. Day after day images of violence and suffering have ...
