Where can they go from here?

I don't have the answers, but I think some can be found in the Book of Mormon and Latter-day Saint history. I have no illusions that either group will look in either place.

Sahar Qumsiyeh's insights and experiences are helpful in trying to sort fiction from fact. She's a Palestinian who joined the Church and now teaches at BYU-Idaho.

Sahar Qumsiyeh: Pray for everyone in the Holy Land, whether they be Israeli or Palestinian

A Palestinian Latter-day Saint's view on the Israel-Hamas war | Episode 308

The Nation of Israel and the Israelis

The Jews have suffered much, throughout time and across cultures. The Holocaust was simply the latest and most extreme event connected to their suffering. Make no mistake, it was horrific.

It's not surprising that much of the world felt justified in facilitating the Jews's return to their ancestral homeland to recover and heal from their ordeal.

Those who already occupied the land resisted. Israelis didn't respond well. 

Palestine and the Palestinians

Palestinians are hostages in their own land and denied basic rights many of us take for granted. They haven't responded well, either, in general.

They lost their lands, their homes, their belongings, and their rights.

Palestinians seem to sanction violence against Israel and Israelis because of what the Palestinians have suffered at their hands. This is how the world seems to interpret it.

In condemning the violence by some Palestinians, especially Hamas, the world condemns all the Palestinians.

Lessons From the Book of Mormon 

Many peoples of the Book of Mormon had to leave their ancestral lands or were driven off. Some later went back to try and reoccupy them. Some were kidnapped, enslaved, and treated horrifically. Some were able to escape.

Some responded to their trials better than others.

• The People of Alma (Mosiah 17-Mosiah 24)

I think the closest parallel to the Palestinians was the people of Alma.

The people of Alma established what they thought would be their own homes and lands after having to leave their original homes because of persecution. Only, they were enslaved and abused by occupiers.

The people were told by Heavenly Father to submit to their burdens and they would be made light and they were. They were also told that they would be led to freedom and they were.

They were led to freedom by Heavenly Father, leaving everything that they built and was theirs, behind. They merged with another civilization that embraced them.

• The People of Ammon (Alma 23-Alma 27)

After changing their religion and giving up their hatred of their traditional, ancestral, enemy, the people of Ammon had to leave their homes because their lives were in danger from their own people. They submitted to the killing without resistance and much of the killing stopped.

However, living among their own people was untenable and their lives were continually endangered. They were embraced by another people and civilization and enabled to live freely among them after leaving their lands, homes, and presumably much of their belongings behind.

• The People of Limhi (Mosiah 7-22)

These people went back to try and reoccupy their former lands. They succeeded, for a time, but were then enslaved.

Trying to throw off their oppressors with violence did not work. It caused horrendous bloodshed and loss of life. Ultimately, they had to simply leave and merge with their former people.

• The Latter-day Saints (Peace and Violence ...)

We were driven off our lands and from our homes many times losing everything we had. We were tortured, raped and killed. We suffered extreme persecution. Much of this occurred without retaliation. 

This happened in the United States which supposedly valued freedom, the rule of law, and everything that goes along with that. We suffered and no one cared.

Heavenly Father told us to work within the law for redress.

There are multiple legal affidavits and historical records of people that document what they endured to little or no effect.

On reflection, these records do establish what did occur even though no legal remedy was ever applied. They are now part of an indisputable historical public record.

You won't find Latter-day Saints demanding the return of our lands or repatriation of our belongings. You won't find us condemning our persecutors or seeking to persecute or prosecute them in any way.

Why?

The answer is complex but it boils down to "vengeance is mine; and I will repay sayeth the Lord". See also: Mormon 3:15, Mormon 8:40-41, and D&C 29:17.

In addition, preoccupation with what we lost would have prevented us from building something now.

It would have taken all our time and energy.

No one can deny we have recovered from our early persecutions. Healing and thriving didn't hinge on having our lands, homes, and belongings returned to us.

We don't bear lifelong animosity towards Missourians or our other persecutors. The actual perps are long since dead as are the actual victims. We are merely descendants.

Restitution?

I doubt those who actually took homes from the Palestinians are the same ones occupying them now. To take them away from the present occupants would be just as much of an injustice now as it was then.

I don't believe it is possible to restore to the Palestinians what they have lost. It is possible to assist and empower them to build something now.

The Violence/Revenge Problem

Here in the West, we separate combatants into soldiers and civilians. This doesn't work for the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Everyone, male or female, is a current soldier, reserve soldier, or potential soldier because every Israeli citizen serves in the military and has military duty.

Revenge and an inclination to return violence with violence are problematic. If you shoot at people, they shoot back. Violence breeds more violence.

The only way to stop it is if one person or group decides to not retaliate in kind.

This is not to say that the Latter-day Saints didn't resort to violence. It was somewhat rare but it always backfired, badly. The Mountain Meadows Massacre continues to haunt us and will probably continue to reverberate throughout the ages.

In addition, even in a just war, sadistic killers and other evil people will use it as an excuse to perpetrate their own evil acts. Conflicts attract these types of people. It allows their evil side to be expressed.

One side or the other will be held responsible for these evil acts by sadistic individuals even though they are ancillary to the conflict itself. Unfortunately, their sadistic, horrendous acts inflame passions further.

Revenge breeds more revenge. It's like Tevye said, "the whole world will be blind and toothless."

It has to stop somewhere.

Safety and Security

Defense is not revenge.

How can Israel exist if terrorists intent on killing its citizens and obliterating Israel's existence continue to live within its borders? Answer: It can't. Terrorists have to go, one way or the other.

No country or organization can exist if saboteurs are among its ranks. I've said this before.

From a recent Times of Israel editorial:

Nor do I trust European sympathy for Israel that is based on the Holocaust. That support is unstable; today it is applied to dead Jews, tomorrow to dead Palestinians.

The support I seek is based on the understanding that Israel faces a genocidal regime on its southern border, that that regime must be destroyed not only for our sake but for the sake of the region, and that the only way to destroy a terrorist infrastructure embedded in a civilian population is the way the IDF is proceeding.

It would be somewhat similar to Native Americans, existing on Reservations to start lobbing rockets at Americans outside the Reservation, booby-trapping children's backpacks in public parks, staging intentional and simultaneous attacks on people going about their civilian business and so forth. What would we as a country do? Chances are, we would react the same way Israel is reacting.

Captain Moroni (Alma 43-Alma 63)

Captain Moroni was one of the most brilliant and righteous military commanders to have ever existed. He would probably have treated Hamas as he did the Lamanites under Zerehemnah and Amalickiah.

When it was clear to the Lamanites that the Nephites under Captain Moroni were prevailing, he stopped the battle and told the Lamanites he wouldn't kill them if they would surrender their weapons of war and take an oath that they would stop trying to kill the Nephites. (Obviously, this occurred amongst people who valued oaths.)

Zerehemnah surrendered his weapons of war but refused to take an oath. Moroni gave him back his weapons and said okay we'll have to end this the hard way.

The killing resumed and the Nephites prevailed.

Captain Moroni wouldn't kill any soldier who was willing to surrender his weapons and take an oath to not do it again. He allowed them to depart home, in peace. Astonishing.

However, and this goes back to my comment on sabotage, Captain Moroni put to death those who refused to come to the defense of their country. After securing the civil authority to do so, this was also extended to civilians who engaged in treason.

Gadianton Robbers (See Guide to the Scriptures)

After 9/11, President Gordon B. Hinckley likened terrorists, especially terrorist organizations, to the Gadianton Robbers of the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon speaks of the Gadianton robbers, a vicious, oath-bound, and secret organization bent on evil and destruction.

Also:

The terrible forces of evil must be confronted and held accountable for their actions. This is not a matter of Christian against Muslim. I am pleased that food is being dropped to the hungry people of a targeted nation. We value our Muslim neighbors across the world and hope that those who live by the tenets of their faith will not suffer. I ask particularly that our own people do not become a party in any way to the persecution of the innocent. Rather, let us be friendly and helpful, protective and supportive. It is the terrorist organizations that must be ferreted out and brought down.

Conclusion

The Jews deserve homes as do the Palestinians. If one or both are intent on killing each other then no resolution is possible.

Individuals in both groups seem to embrace two views:

• Views that people deserve to die based on their identity, an "accident of birth."
• Views that violence is justified now and in the future because of what has happened in the past.

I wouldn't want to live or associate with people who embrace these views because of what it would suggest about their future behavior.

They wouldn't be safe to associate with on any level.

As much as I would like to assist victims and/or refugees, I wouldn't want to empower them if they are intent on killing some group of people. I wouldn't want to empower any people who support groups that are intent on killing some other group of people.

I wouldn't want to allow people into my country who espouse these views, regardless of their ethnic, cultural, or religious identity.

It's just as disturbing to me to hear Palestinians condemn Israelis to death because they are Israelis as it is to hear Israelis vowing revenge on all Palestinians for the attacks from Gaza on Hamas. In recent days, I've heard both views expressed.

Defense is not revenge. It can be separated. Unfortunately, with Hamas deeply embedded in Gaza, innocent people will become "collateral damage". They will die.

From the editorial again:

We are not engaged with the Palestinians in a competition for victimhood. The Palestinians will always win that competition, and rightly so. In opting for power, the Jewish people opted out of the victimhood competition. There is a price to pay for the loss of innocence. We have no choice but to own it.

Also:   

The challenge for outsiders to this conflict is to sympathize with the innocents suffering on both sides, without obscuring the difference between Israel and Hamas.

Notice this final section is labeled a "Conclusion". I didn't, and couldn't, label it a "Solution."

Addendum: The Middle East Crisis

Instead of accessing news sources which can be problematic, I suggest the CRS.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) publishes reports for Members of Congress, both parties. There are the most objective, non-partisan information source, I’ve ever encountered, and beautifully written.

This is the information Congress uses to make decisions. As an intern in Congress, I first learned to appreciate the value of these materials.

Traditionally available only to Members of Congress, they are now available to regular folks at CRS Reports.

My dream job would have been to be a research analyst and topic specialist at the CRS. It is housed in the Library of Congress.

The Palestinians: Background and U.S. Relations Updated October 27, 2022

Israel: Background and U.S. Relations Updated July 1, 2022

Israel: Major Issues and U.S. Relations Updated September 27, 2023

Israel and Hamas: Major Conflict After Surprise Attacks October 10, 2023

Israel and Hamas October 2023 Conflict: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Updated October 20, 2023

If you want news sources, read both of these: The Times of Israel and Al Jazeera.