October 2023 began with all the omens of a Middle East conflict once again, when Hamas launched a series of rocket attacks on Israel and Israel responded in its typical fashion. Everyone in media wondered how Israel could be caught so off-guard and about the failure of its world-renowned intelligence. This only adds to the current turmoil in Israel, in my view. After a series of inconclusive elections and long-drawn out negotiations to form a government, protests over Netanyahu’s controversial judicial reforms, corruption cases against him, and the extreme right-wing coalition government he has been forced to form, the Hamas attack was the proverbial last straw. Whether we consider Hamas to be a terrorist organisation or not, the attack was certainly a terror attack on Israel and ought to be condemned.
Several international relations and strategic experts have offered their explanation of what this attack could mean for the region and its wider implications for the entire world. US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, told the media that he thought the reason for the attack might be the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia that had begun, with Hamas acting as the proxy for Iran, wanting to stymie and abort the effort. This does seem like a plausible explanation for the timing of it, but I think it is also an act of sheer desperation and frustration at having to tolerate years of a blockaded life in Gaza. Last year and this year, there have been several such attacks by both Palestinians and Israelis according to Human Rights Watch and Netanyahu’s government ought to have anticipated it and been better prepared for it.
As always, Israel’s response has been to use force disproportionately, and this time Netanyahu has declared war on Gaza and Hamas. Western leaders, starting with US President Biden, UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and France’s President Macron have all visited Tel Aviv to meet with Netanyahu and express their solidarity and support for Israel. The US has even sent its aircraft carriers and military reinforcements to the eastern Mediterranean, and the UK too has sent its forces, in case there is an escalation of this conflict into a larger regional war. This is the extremely strong and powerful American Jewish lobby at work.
However, nobody asked for the bloodbath and the violent shelling to stop, until the UN finally called for a temporary ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid and supplies to go through to Gaza. President Biden is reported to have asked the Israeli government to exercise more restraint in its response, but I think if anyone can stop this war right now, it is the US. Netanyahu wants to eliminate Hamas or at least its leadership, and has launched a ground offensive along with a full-scale attack by air and by sea. By agreeing with Netanyahu’s wishes, and offering to start peace talks after Hamas leadership has been taken out, the US has granted Netanyahu license to continue with his war on Gaza, putting the lives of millions of ordinary Gazans at risk.
Israel has also conducted this war from the start by ordering Gazans around. First by asking Gazans in northern Gaza to evacuate within 24 hours and move south, so that Israelis could respond to shelling and rocket fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon, another proxy for Iran. This, when the UN kept saying it is impossible for millions of people to evacuate at 24 hours’ notice and warned of a humanitarian catastrophe. Next, Israel said it would not allow any food, water, medicines and fuel to enter Gaza. Thankfully, the UN ceasefire was agreed to. Then, Israel asked for hospitals in Gaza to be evacuated, as they are likely to be next in the line of attack; with thousands dead and many more injured, the hospitals are overflowing with ordinary Gazans, many of whom are even seeking shelter there.
Many are rightly asking, therefore, if Israel is not committing war crimes already and crimes against humanity in this most recent war. Unsurprisingly, Israel is not a member of the ICC (International Criminal Court) since its greatest ally and backer, the US, is likewise, not a member of the ICC. In any case, Israel with its creeping occupation of Palestinian territory and settlement building over decades, in complete violation of all international laws, shows it has little or no respect for international laws and conventions. Over the years, it has also managed to isolate itself from the international community over this issue.
Media reports suggest that Iran and Qatar are engaged in several diplomacy efforts but there are few details if any. One media report seemed to suggest that Hamas is willing to release the 230 hostages it has taken since the war began, if over 6000 Palestinians held as prisoners in Israel are set free. One is not sure if Netanyahu and his men are even listening, hell-bent as they are on destroying Hamas. Every sensible person knows that even if Hamas’ leadership is eliminated, or if the entire organization is destroyed, there will soon be another, equally militant force in its place.
Which ought to focus our minds on the main and most critical issue. Getting back to talks over the two-state solution all over again. And considering that western powers have tried and done their best over past decades at finding a solution and failed, I have a new and perhaps radical alternative to offer. To bring all the countries in the region, from Turkey in the north and Egypt in the south to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran and Iraq in the east to negotiate with Israel and Palestine and find a way to break this stalemate in the region and come up with a viable, two-state solution.
I suggest keeping the west and the rest of the international community out of it, not least because they are the cause of the problem in the Middle East, as I have written before on my blog. The problem goes back to carving up of the Middle East after the Ottomans were defeated, and Balfour’s Declaration of allowing Israel to realise its dream of Zion, but not acknowledging the wishes of people whose land was to be forcibly occupied.
If we have to find a realistic solution to the age-old problem, we need to recognize the problem upfront and accept that all past attempts were poor and ham-handed at actually finding a lasting two-state solution. It is also my view that richer countries in the Middle East need to do their bit to help the region grow economically, and there needs to be greater cooperation among them. The UN ought to bring these countries together and facilitate the discussions and negotiations, but not actively broker them. Neither should any other country not a participant in the peace talks broker any agreement. Israel ought to negotiate on its own at the table, with no US or any western power there to back it, or support it.
For a country that has had its own independent state since 1948, and has unlawfully crept up its occupation of another people’s land, surely Israel is old and mature enough to negotiate on its own strengths, without holding on to US’ apron strings. The advantage of having Middle East countries negotiate – most of who are predominantly Islamic – is that being active participants in the peace process, they will also collectively own the solution. They will have no one else to blame for anything that goes wrong with the decision, which will be their own. And finally, Palestine will have to learn to unite its factions and speak with a united voice and aspiration for their own country. Unfortunately, its leadership is enfeebled and tired on the one hand, and extremely militant on the other. Cooler Palestinian heads will have to prevail and must think through all of what it will take to be an independent country for the longer term, along with their Arab and non-Arab brethren.
I have always wished to continue to be a friend of Israel, but increasingly find it hard to turn a blind eye to its unilateral decisions violating international law and its unfair power and land-grab tactics. I suspect most of the world and especially objectively minded people find themselves on the same side of the argument. It is time to ask ourselves how long the world must continue to atone for all the injustices perpetrated on the Jews throughout history, by now allowing Israel to take its revenge through similar means on another people. And no, by calling out Israel on its actions in the Middle East, I don’t become anti-Semitic; this has become another psychological weapon to beat us with, because it is so politically incorrect to say anything against Israel, for the same reasons I mention above.
Two wrongs of history don’t make anything right. Nor do they cancel each other out in the books of how we will all be judged.
This needn’t be a stalemate or a larger regional war. Obliterating Hamas can wait. The US ought to do its bit by stopping the war at once. So a fresh start at peace talks can begin. With only countries from the region at the high table.
The animated owl gif that forms the featured image and title of the Owleye column is by animatedimages.org and I am thankful to them.
Peripatetic Perch 