The Quo Vadis facing Gaza

Photo by Chuttersnap on Unsplash

Source: Pax Christi Scotland

Oliver McTernan is a Conflict Resolution and Mediation Expert working with Forward Thinking, a demand-driven, independent charity working to resolve conflict through inclusive dialogue.

We are eight days into a very fragile ceasefire, which facilitated the release of the twenty Israeli hostages and some of the dead in exchange for nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners. The ceasefire and exchanges have offered some relief for both the hostages and their families, and over two million people in Gaza, who for the past two years have been living through a hellish nightmare.

The questions on everyone's mind that I have spoken with, and especially in Gaza, are 'Will the ceasefire hold' and 'Where will it lead us?' It would be a very unwise person, given the present circumstances, to attempt to answer directly either of those questions.

The fact that there has been no change in the language used by Prime Minister Netanyahu should be a cause for concern. He still speaks of his intent to oversee the 'total demise of Hamas' and the need to 'finish the war'.

Equally concerning is the fact that President Trump's '20-point Plan' lacks any reference to international law and the rule-based order that grew out of horrors of the second World War. The plan, as it stands now, is in effect a 'unilateral ultimatum'. It is not the product of an inclusive process of negotiations as was the Good Friday Agreement.

When Kier Stammer declared recently that 'drawing on our own experience in Northern Ireland we stand ready to play a key role in the decommissioning of Hamas weapons and capability' he would be wise to remember the essential difference in the current process. Sein Fein/IRA were being offered a path to power sharing. Hamas are being offered a path to isolation ad exile.

The Trump plan overlooks the fact that in international law Gaza is an integral part occupied Palestinian territories. The plan fails to acknowledge the basic human right of the Palestinian people to determine their own future. It also fails to recognize that as the occupying power, Israel has clear legal obligations toward the Gazan population. The humane treatment of civilians, the provision for their basic need of food, medical supplies, and public heath are the responsibly of an occupying power. Collective punishments or reprisals are also strictly forbidden.

It is in Israel's own interest to be reminded of their legal obligations in this respect. It is also important for the international community to be reminded that there are no short cuts to a durable peace. By overlooking or refusing to address the issue at the heart of this 77-year-old conflict, namely, the ongoing occupation of the internationally recognised Palestinian territories of Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem, we risk papering over foundational cracks. It will only be a matter of time for the cracks to reappear and the 77-year-old cycle of violence resumes.

Trump and Netanyahu are self confessed believers in the doctrine of 'Peace through Strength'. Their framing of the proposed peace plan fits firmly within this mindset. Military actions in some circumstances can achieve a temporary stability, but history has proven it is not sustainable. Alexander the Great, the Knights Templar, and Neapolitan are among many others, who learnt this lesson the hard way when they tried to rule Gaza and failed. The history of Gaza is a living witness to the fact that a lasting durable peace can never be achieved through military dominance or enforced submission.

True peace, according to the Hebrew prophets is not merely the absence of war, but the presence of right relationships between people, with God, and within society. A lasting peace, they teach us, requires essentially making space for the other.

It was almost sixty years ago that Pope Paul VI, captured the insights of the prophets when he wrote, "Peace is the fruit of anxious daily care to see that each person lives in justice as God intends" (Populorum Progressio). The lesson is simple. To dominate another will never secure peace.

The ceasefire, fragile as it is, offers an opportunity to lay the foundations of a durable agreement and to break the endless cycle of violence we have witnessed for far too long. But I fear Israel will never enjoy the security and peace that it rightly desires until it ends its occupation of the Palestinian territories and allows the Palestinian people true agency over their own lives. This will require a shift in the present mindset that equates security with dominance and not equality.