Ordinary people can live peacefully but aggressive leaders supported by big powers stand in the way

While the attention of the world has shifted to Lebanon in the wake of highly destructive and horrible attacks by Israel one after the other, the key to peace still remains in Gaza and if a permanent ceasefire can be secured in Gaza, other parts of the peace framework are likely to fall into place to a considerable extent.

Although the Israel-Palestine conflict has been very widely debated, what has been generally in place as a base for resolving the conflict is actually only a loose framework of several versions of the two state solution to which rather weak commitments have been expressed from time to time but which does not appear to have the support of the more powerful sections of the two sides which really matter –Israel and Palestine.

Solutions of prolonged conflicts ultimately emerge when some conditions of growing trust are visible on both sides. However in the case of Palestine and Israel mutual trust has been most rudely shattered in recent times.

First there was the horrible attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023. After this came the highly disproportionate response by Israel which has been called plausible genocide by the International Court of justice. Terrible tortures of Palestinian prisoners and detainees have been documented by the United Nations and other human rights organizations having high credibility, including Israeli ones.

However, the very fact that Israel based human rights organizations have also raised their voice against injustice suffered by Palestinians raises hope that there are still people who stand for justice based peace on both sides although it is the more aggressive elements who get headlines most of the time.

It is only by gradually giving more space to voices of peace based justice on both sides, encouraging and helping them, that the international community can advance the prospects of peace. Immediate ceasefire is certainly the need of the hour, but this must be followed by longer-term steps for peace, along with large-scale reconstruction and rehabilitation work in Gaza. 

Those who have worked hard to draw attention to the horrible attacks and killings as well as depriving the people of Gaza of food and even water, or who have come to the frontlines to oppose these, deserve the thanks of all those people who are committed to justice and peace.

However it should be clear while opposing Israel’s extreme aggression that the path ahead has to be based on peace with justice, not revenge or neglect of the needs of the ordinary people of Israel. Whatever the exact solution that is arrived at in terms of peace with justice, ultimately it has to be based on ways in which the ordinary people of Israel and Palestine can continue to live in peace with each other. Such conditions have to be created in which this is possible; the international community cannot ignore this responsibility and run away from such responsibility.

While the need for long overdue justice to the cause of Palestinians is obvious, it is nevertheless troubling to see that some of the discourse on the subject appears to neglect that there are important voices of peace and justice in Israel also. These have been ignored to a large extent, making their task even more difficult.

Historically there have been several such important voices, even people who have been prepared to risk their own life for the sake of peace and justice. It is hard to believe, and in fact it is not possible, that such voices no longer exist.

What is a very troubling reality is that over a long period of disinformation and disorientation, many of the younger generation in Israel have been brought up in ways that spread deep insensitivity towards the sufferings of Palestinians. At the same time, many of the elderly people have seen no reason for reconsidering their earlier strong prejudices and even fanaticism.  This combined with insecurity and suicide bombings of the past is what is responsible for creating a society that has widespread insensitivity towards the enormous sufferings of the Palestinians.

This must change. For any future of peace such widespread attitudes must change. This is why it is so important to listen to the important voices for peace that still exist within Israel.

For Palestinians and those who support their cause also it is very important to have a more firm commitment to peace with justice. Partly it is the failure of the international community that the many emerging voices of peace with justice could not be strengthened adequately within the Palestinians.

In fact the more aggressive forces on both sides feed on the aggression of each other to increase their own support base, reducing the chances of peace. It is significant that the highly aggressive regime in control in Israel assassinated the senior negotiator considered the more moderate voice of Hamas (Ismail Haniyeh), a supporter of negotiated settlement, on 31 July, paving the way for the most aggressive leader of Hamas to get the top position, thereby greatly reducing the chances of ceasefire. Reduced chance of ceasefire is something which is to the liking of the most aggressive forces and persons on both sides. 

It should also be more widely recognized that the October 7 attack by Hamas and any related organizations was wrong and unjustified. It has become the cause, the starting point, of the most extreme distress suffered by the Palestinians in the form of the highly disproportionate response of Israel, which could have been anticipated. If it could have been easily foreseen by anyone familiar with the current reality of the region, why did Hamas launch the October 7 attack, knowing the implications for the ordinary Palestinians?

To come back to our main assertion, it should be remembered by those who want to help the Palestinians that the path of blind anger and revenge will never achieve good results. It is much more important and desirable to reach a consensus on a path of justice based peace and then to remain firmly on this path, taking also the support of the voices of justice based peace that exist in Europe, the USA,  Israel and elsewhere.

For the international community and for the United Nations, for all people in the world who stand for peace with justice, it is a matter of the deepest regret that in the case of the most prolonged and debated conflict, peace appears to be so highly distant as seen in the real situation today. All concerned must realize past mistakes and the inadequacy of past efforts. To give up hope in the context of such a widely debated conflict would amount almost to giving up hope for world peace. This should not happen. Peace must win. Hope must remain.  

Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Planet in Peril, Earth without Borders and A Day in 2071.