Can Israel and Palestine Reach Peace After So Many Wars?

The pursuit of peace is the only way to reach the objective and should not be considered a goal in itself. Nothing should be sought that cannot be achieved through peace. If achieving liberty and justice is the aim, then violence will only serve to undermine those aspirations. In other words, emancipation and justice can only be birthed from peace. In this regard, the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and people must come to an immediate stop, and Palestinian use of terrorism as a tactic of resistance must likewise be abandoned immediately.

It is crucial to provide a clear context in light of recent occurrences. A dishonest pretext may be perfectly justified by separating a sentence from its context. Similar to this, removing a truth from its context gives teachers the chance to spread harmful rumors. Martin Buber, a Jewish philosopher, sent a lengthy letter to Mahatma Gandhi in 1936 on Zionism and the Jewish people’s right to return to and reside in their historic homeland.

Unfortunately and regrettably, the Mahatma was killed not long after receiving the letter, thus he never had the opportunity to reply. Gandhi sometimes said that Jews should practice ahimsa and allow the Nazis to slay them rather than using violence to protect themselves. Gandhi didn’t write about the “satanic fury” the terrible Nazis unleashed on Jews until after he had lived through the horrific atrocities of the holocaust for a number of years. Gandhi remained a treasured mentor and inspiration for Buber. The Jewish State of Israel was founded on what colonial powers, from Rome to the Ottomans and British, had referred to as Palestine, five years after the end of World War II and the massacre of six million Jews. The country of Moses, the Prophets, and Christ was variably referred to as Canaan, the Kingdom of Judea, and the Kingdom of Israel in both the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) and the Christian Bible (the New Testament).

Throughout the whole war and thereafter, Buber had maintained that, rather than creating an ethnic Jewish state, Palestine as a whole should be transformed into a combined secular and democratic binational republic of Jews and Arabs. The division of Palestine into two states—one Jewish and one Arab—was accepted by a United Nations resolution in 1947 since at the time few Jews or Arabs agreed with that viewpoint.

The relationship between India and Pakistan served as a blueprint for how to approach the practical resolution of two diverse and intransigent national claims. When the UN partition decision was first accepted by the Jewish administration, the Arab side rejected it, and war broke out. The armistice lines remained in place until 1967 after the conclusion of the 1948 “war of independence,” or “the nakbha,” as it is known to Palestinians. Many Palestinians were forced to flee their homes as a consequence of the conflict, and many are still doing so today.

Can there finally be peace between Israel and the Palestinians after so many wars? Many Arab and Muslim countries have already established diplomatic relations with Israel, and more seem to be moving in that direction. The Palestine Liberation Organization’s leader, Yasser Arafat, who was acknowledged by the UN as the only legal representative of the Palestinian People, signed a peace pact with Israel in 1996. The PLO acknowledged Israel as a state. A majority of Israelis and Palestinians at the time supported and rejoiced in the idea of a Palestinian state coexisting with Israel. The PLO, however, faced opposition from a fresh Palestinian radical Islamist group following Arafat’s death. That marked the beginning of Hamas and their annexation of the Gaza Strip from the PLO. The founding charter of Hamas states that as Palestine is a Muslim country, no Jewish state can or will be permitted to develop there. Since refusing to ratify the PLO’s peace accord with Israel, Hamas has persisted in carrying out armed assaults and other terrorist activities. The major source of power for the Hamas leadership in Gaza is the backing of other radical Muslim nations, particularly Iran.

It is incorrect to interpret the terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, as a continuation of the conflict between the Palestinian people and the state of Israel. This is because the scope of Hamas’s terrorist incursion into Israel marked a significant departure from historical patterns of conflict and resistance.

The dream of the Palestinian people for independence appears farther away every day, and they have every reason to be disillusioned, furious, and hurting. Although there is a right to resist, there is no such right to rape women, kidnap elderly women, murder a mother, father, and their three young children, open fire on a throng of concertgoers who are dancing, or hold infants as hostages.

There is no justification for the slaughter of 1,000 citizens in public places and cities. Instead of the Palestinian, there was the ISIS war machine. It goes without saying that Israel’s harsh suppression of Palestinians in the occupied territories is abhorrent, but after October 7, the moral comparison has been broken.

Mahatma Gandhi taught us that committing a crime against humanity should never be seen as a form of resistance. Whatever the cause, whatever the complaints against another nation, party, or institution, we must always and forever distinguish between a particular cause and the methods it employs. The manner of combat determines whether the combatant is right or wrong, whether the combatant is a genuine resistor or a practicing Fascist. After October 7, Hamas’ ongoing existence is a win for fascism worldwide, and it is terrible.

We must assist the defeat of Hamas, its funders, and its supplies if we are to advance the cause of peace, which is two states for two peoples. On the other side of the border, the right-wing, fundamentalist, and messianic Israeli government must be overthrown as soon as possible by those of us who long for peace and democracy.

Terrorism and national emancipation are incompatible opposites. Those fighting for revolution must preserve revolutionary principles both during the battle and after they have won. The preferred tool of fascism and false religious extremism is terrorism. In a nutshell, terrorism is the sworn adversary of revolution, decolonization, and national freedom.

We must categorically denounce and detest the most recent wave of terrorist killings and kidnappings of civilians perpetrated by Hamas against the people of southern Israel if we are to support the Palestinian people’s right to a sovereign nation of their own and our desire for that nation to be established alongside the sovereign nation of Israel. May there be peace now and always.