The Empty Beds installation in Jerusalem "symbolizes the Israeli hostages held in Gaza since October 7, when Hamas terrorists staged an assault on Israeli border communities and an outdoor music rave, killing 1400 people, wounding thousands and kidnapping hundreds." An estimated 8000-plus Palestinians have been killed in Israel's subsequent retaliation. Photo Copyright © 2023 by Debbie Hill/UPI.
IN A CRUMBLING WORLD already reeling from the Russian assault on Ukraine, we now have the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and the Israeli bombardment in Gaza, and the likely widening of that conflict throughout the Middle East.
Let me say at the outset that the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) statement issued on October 9 on the Hamas attack, in which that terrorist organization deliberately targeted and brutally killed civilians, including women, children and even babies, was woefully inadequate.
It said CARICOM “abhors the attacks in Israel and the counter-attacks in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.”
What a wishy-washy statement!
CARICOM drew a false equivalency between, on the one hand, the deliberate murderous savagery of Hamas that involved the slaughter of innocent civilians and, on the other, Israel’s military response in which civilians were inevitably but not systematically killed. We must distinguish between acts of terrorism, in which civilians are deliberately targeted in order to induce fear and panic, from acts of war, in which civilians are collateral damage—however reprehensible the latter may be.
Yes, we all agree on the necessity of a “comprehensive peace, security and tranquility between Israel and Palestine.”
And yes, we all agree that Netanyahu, with the inclusion of ultra-religious, far-right extremist parties in his coalition, has exacerbated the problem by abandoning the peace process and the two-state solution; facilitating settlements in the occupied territories; calling for the annexation of the West Bank; and ignoring the Palestinians’ legitimate desire for a homeland of their own.
By the way, the much touted “intelligence failure” of October 9 was more of a political failure. Netanyahu, who has led the country since 2009, save for one-year between 2021 and 2022, was distracted by his own political/personal agenda. He has been preoccupied with the widely unpopular attempt to reduce the power and independence of Israel’s Supreme Court, a move seemingly aimed at stopping his indictment for corruption and removing a potential obstacle to a formal annexation of the West Bank. The domestic turmoil and deep divisions that the proposed judicial overhaul has created in Israel are almost certainly among the reasons Hamas decided to attack when they did.
Hamas, funded by Iran, has at most twenty percent support among the Palestinians in Gaza.
Hamas ousted the Fatah party of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) from Gaza in 2007. They have not held an election since then. While the PNA recognizes the state of Israel and is committed to a peaceful negotiation of an independent state of Palestine, Hamas is formally committed to the destruction of Israel and the expulsion of all Jews from Palestine.
Hamas, like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is a terrorist organization dedicated to the killing of Jews.
Yet, in the darkness that shrouds Palestine, I see a glimmer of light.
Five elements to a peaceful solution must fall into place, bearing in mind that before this situation gets better it’s going to get a lot worse.
First, Israel has to destroy Hamas with minimal damage to the almost two million Palestinians who live in Gaza. That is a tall order, because the Israeli political far-right fails to see the distinction between Hamas and the people of Gaza. Maintaining a blockade of Gaza for sixteen years has not brought Hamas to its knees. Rather, Hamas’ control over Gaza, sustained by internal repression, has only tightened. Innocent civilians on both sides of the border have paid a high price for this failure. The destruction of Hamas is unlikely to be achieved by military means without massive civilian casualties. Hamas has to be brought to account by targeted intelligence activities and political means. The latter is made easier by the fact that most Arab states of the region despise Hamas and would be glad to see its demise.
Second, Israel has to abandon Netanyahu and his policies of dispossession and annexation.
Third, Israel has to commit to enter into negotiations for an independent Palestinian state existing next to Israel in peace and security. It would help if such negotiations were supervised by an international group of states acceptable to both Israel and the Palestinians.
Fourth, the oil-producing states of the Middle East, along with the rest of the international community, have to commit financing to an independent state of Palestine.
Fifth, the brutal theocracy running Iran and fomenting hatred has to be overthrown by its people, or it has to be isolated within the region.
I believe that this outbreak of murderous madness can lead ultimately to a just and lasting peace between the Jewish and Palestinian brothers and sisters of the Holy Land.
The 1973 Yom Kippur War, in which Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel, proved to be a watershed moment not only in the Arab-Israeli conflict but also for the politics of Israel.
This present war might very well be the same. It’s certainly a wake-up call.
The status quo is not acceptable.
A version of this article first appeared in the Sunday Sun of October 15, 2023. Peter Laurie is a former head of the Barbados Foreign Service and the author of several books, most recently the novel The House that Disappeared.
