The root causes of the deteriorating situations between Jewish and Palestinian Israelis, and between Israelis and Palestinian – in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem – is the continuation of the occupation and the unresolved issue of recognizing the right of self-determination for the two peoples living between the River and the Sea. For more than 100 years we have been killing each other over exclusive claims for territorial expression of our separate identities.
We (Israelis and Palestinians) have repeatedly proven our willingness to fight, to die and to kill for a piece of land that we can call our own. Since 1936, the “solution” proposed to the conflict has been partition – two states for two peoples. In all of the proposed partition solutions, the two states would each have a significant minority within its borders of the other identity group.
There is no other way to partition. If there will be two states, they will not be homogeneous and “ethnically pure.”
The world is not made that way anymore. It is also wrong and unjust.
Ethnic cleansing is wrong and not only leaves a stain on those who do it, it leaves an indelible mark that will never disappear on those who are forced to leave their homes.
Just look at the Jewish people who continue to tell their story of exile from thousands of years ago. One population group here cannot replace another – not in Silwan, not in Sheikh Jarrah, nowhere. If it is done, it will provoke more violence and more pain.
We really have to understand that the bottom line for all of us is that no one is going to leave. Jewish Israelis and Palestinians are here in equal numbers on this land and neither side is going to surrender, raise a white flag, compromise their identity or refuse their claim for legitimacy and justice. The argument of who was here first, who’s connection to the land is deeper, who has God’s promise, who did what to who – all of this is futile and will not accord anyone with a solution or justice.
Palestinian nationalism is here. Israeli Jewish nationalism is here. Religion is stronger than ever and the voices of religion in their extreme version include a drive to violence of the worst kind.
Judaism, Islam and Christianity all preach love, but in the reality of our religions here in the Holy Land in 2021, the voices of hate ring much louder than the prayers for peace.
Fear and hatred are on the rise, the physical barriers that separate us are being reenforced by even higher psychological barriers that will destroy us. Those barriers are being constructed all around us driving wedges between us in the most destructive ways.
We just ended another round in this war whose outcome was known from the start. Both sides claimed their victory. But it is a very hollow victory. Nothing is resolved and only human suffering is increased.
BOTH SIDES lost this war and will continue to lose until fundamental changes are made in the way that we look at each other and at this land that we all claim to love as our own. We need to think about a future which is not based on mutual deterrence but rather on the mutual desire to treat each other with respect and dignity. We need to invest our genius, creativity and vibrancy, so clearly a part of both Israeli and Palestinian societies in building and development, and not in more sophisticated weapons of destruction.
One of the outcomes of the war – whether or not by design – is that the Palestinian Authority and its head, Mahmoud Abbas, have never been weaker and Hamas and its leaders have never been stronger.
More importantly, the Palestinian people have never been more united. The successful division (divide and conquer) of the Palestinian people into five separated groups (the so-called Israeli Arabs, Palestinians in East Jerusalem, Palestinians in the West Bank, Palestinians in Gaza and the Palestinian diaspora) was ended by the war in Gaza and the creation of a common sense of fate of all of the Palestinian communities – inside of the mixed cities in the 1948 lands, in the West Bank, in Jerusalem and especially at al-Aqsa.
I have heard from many Palestinians that the primary lesson that they have learned is that they only gain respect and attention when they are strong and show force. Even US President Biden was drawn in directly to order Israel to cease its fire.
Now, it seems the world is paying attention. Many Palestinians sense that the ceasefire will be short-lived because no agreements were made to fundamentally change the situation on the ground – in any of the areas under Israel’s control where Palestinians live.
According to polls in Israel, many Israelis feel that the ceasefire came too soon. They do not see the horrendous destruction in Gaza, and they are focused on their own misery – living under the inhuman conditions of being bombed from Gaza with thousands of rockets. And nothing will really change until the issue of the Israeli soldier’s bodies and the two living Israeli civilians are brought back to Israel. This will not happen without an agreed upon deal involving the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israel. All of the muscle flexing in Israel demanding that the four Israelis, living and dead, be returned immediately without any kind of negotiations or a deal will not change the reality that they are not coming home unless there is a deal between Israel and Hamas.
Our governments are too cowardly, our leaders without imagination and vision, they will not do what is genuinely necessary – to engage, to talk, to work together, to dream and plan for the best possible ways to share this land. We are trapped in political systems that have stalemated our societies and have divided us from within. This is the truth in Israel and in Palestine.
We, the people who live on this land have to speak out to each other, above the heads of those who rule us. I speak for myself and I say that I am always willing to speak to anyone who is willing to speak to me – even my worst enemy. Will you join me?
The writer is a political and social entrepreneur who has dedicated his life to the State of Israel and to peace between Israel and her neighbors. His latest book In Pursuit of Peace in Israel and Palestine was published by Vanderbilt University Press.