Israeli or Palestinian?

UNPRECEDENTED

The word unprecedented, with adjectives like audacious and horrific, has been used on numerous occasions to describe the brutality of the attack by Hamas, largely on innocent Israeli civilians. What is also unprecedented about this attack is the abject failure of Israeli intelligence, regarded by many as the best in the world, to see this coming. Israeli officials have described this as their 9/11, this comparison is false because unlike 9/11 which saw the use of civilian aircraft full of passengers being used as missiles was genuinely, unimaginable, this type of attack though slim was entirely feasible. What we all saw coming, as a direct consequence of the attack was the Israeli response, an all-out war on Hamas in the form resulting in the collective punishment of all Palestinians, whether militants or innocent civilians and turning the “Strip” into a place that has just been hit by a 7.5 earthquake.

Israel has stopped supplying electricity to Gaza, the water and sewage systems are close to breaking down. In addition, the blockade announced by the Israeli Government has stopped food and urgent medical supplies from reaching the numerous casualties of the bombing, underpinning the strategy of collective punishment. As they run out of the essentials to survive, they also run out of something equally as important, which is hope, hope for them, their children, and their children’s children. All this, as Netanyahu put all of the blame at the feet of Hamas. Let’s be honest, at the very least the Hamas military leadership knew the consequences of their incursion on for the people they control, yes control.

The Gaza Strip is 40km long and 10 km wide totalling 410 sq km with a population of over 2.2 million living in what can be only described as an internment camp or an open-air prison, just the sort of place you breed the next generation of militants. Despite Israel pulling out of Gaza as if it were some sort of progressive political gesture, there remains a naval and air blockade and a place where 75% of the people rely on humanitarian aid.   Let me also be clear although I have empathy for the suffering of the Palestinian people and their right to an independent state, no one can condone the murder of those young Israelis at the music festival and the massacre of families at the Kfar Aza, Kibbutz. Now, whatever modicum of hope I had for the two-state solution agreed upon in the Oslo Accords, the simple reality is when Rabin was assassinated the two states’ vision died with him.

The international community will stand back for the time being and let Israel vent its anger largely on innocent families, their homes and the infrastructure of the Strip. There is no doubt that the IDF is preparing for a bloody ground offensive to destroy Hamas and free the hostages. This ground offensive will be managed under a rapidly formed government of national unity, whose goal will be the destruction of Hamas.  Call me a cynic but, this new coalition to me, seems more like an attempt by Netanyahu, Ben Gvir and his nativist far right to regain their political street cred and hope the Israeli electorate can see past the abject failure of the previous iteration of, the bad and the ugly. Whatever happens in the ground offensive, it will be as close to a reoccupation as you can imagine, reversing the withdrawal from Gaza instigated by Sharon in 2005.

Biden, Sunak and even Starmer make the valid point that Israel has the right to defend itself. However, they lose this validity when they close their eyes to the days of collective punishment being rained down across Gaza by the Israeli Government, when that will cease, who knows. Our esteemed Foreign Secretary James (not so) Cleverly has travelled to Israel to show the support of the UK government, in truth he has come for a cynical pre-election photo op.

The question is why now, one reason is that would suit Iran, the backers of Hamas, to scupper the final piece of the Abraham Accords, that is to ensure that the Saudis don’t embrace a new strategy relationship with Israel which would have completed the anti-Iranian coalition of Sunni States, US and Israel, job done for the moment at least. The price of this is over 3000 Palestinians and Israelis killed in two days. Whatever other reason Hamas had; it cannot justify the cost of this many innocent lives.

There is blood on many hands around this continuing tragedy, a tragedy that my father explained to me when I was 14.

1. The failure of Western governments to push both parties, particularly Israelis more rapidly towards a genuine two-state solution.
2. The fact that there is no single democratic voice for the Palestinian people is a tragedy. This can be seen in the Palestinian Authority, described by Amnesty International as a corrupt organisation, that heavily restricts freedom of expression, association, and assembly. Its current leader Mahmoud Abbas has called off several elections to stop a Hamas victory. Would that be a victory for the Palestinian people? Hamas embrace a form of ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam, a sort of Taliban misogyny lightish who want to see the inhalation of Israel. As long as the Palestinian people remain divided this plays right into the narrative that “we can’t have a bunch of people on our borders that want to eliminate us”.
3. Middle Eastern Arab nations have started building diplomatic relations with Israel, abandoning their Sunni Brothers for, technology to create their surveillance states, improve economic ties and build an anti-Iranian coalition.
4. The failure of Israeli governments to take risks to create the environment for a two-state solution. Risks, what risks, to a country with the best armed military machine in the Middle East, the only one to have a nuclear deterrent and one that has the unwavering support of the US and many European countries. Also, to have on its borders a new state that would be devoid of any real military infrastructure acknowledges Israel’s right to exist and the chance to see the blossoming of the only Arab democracy in the Middle East, this must be a prize that Israeli society thinks is worth working towards.

Finally, what is also unprecedented is the blatant attempt by Netanyahu and his henchmen under the guise of judicial review to undermine democracy and turn Israel into a one-party state. During that process, he has achieved something unique, not just splitting Israeli society but the military.  Netanyahu administration continues unashamedly to enforce an apartheid strategy to appease the crazies of the settler movement, by encroaching further and further into the West Bank, thus changing the reality on the ground. Netanyahu also advised Gazans to move to Egypt to avoid the deadly consequences of airstrikes. Mustafa Barghouti fairly noted that getting rid of 2.2 million Gazans, would leave Israel free to annex Gaza, ethnically cleansed. Just to note that Yigal Amir the person who killed Rabin did this because he disagreed with the principle of land for peace, he believed the whole of the Westbank was sacred land only to be settled on by Jews.

The power to change this horrible continuing tragedy only lies in the hands of the people, both Israeli and Palestinian. Western nations can no longer stand back and make banal comments such as this current tragedy makes finding peace and a two-state solution more difficult, as if they had a plan before this. What saddens me deeply, is that my father and I jumped for joy at the news of the signing of the Oslo Accords, today I am surrounded by gloom, asking myself, is this tragedy set to continue for another generation or two?

Suneil Sharma

12^th October 2023