Tag: Occupied Territories

Peace

A wall without a future: Israelis and Palestinians live in two different worlds

Editor

By Fr. Paul Lansu
Senior Policy Advisor, Pax Christi International

The border wall between Israel and the West Bank is among the most forbidding and hostile in the world. Viewed from up close, whichever side you find yourself on, it rears up from the ground, overwhelming and dominating you. It is dispiriting, intimidating, oppressive, and otherworldly. On each side of the wall lives a different people. It is a monument to one of the world’s most intractable disputes.

I have been following the Israeli – Palestinian conflict since 1981. The conflict became increasingly complicated and, above all, unworthy. However, I could never believe that from 2002 on (during the Second Intifada) a wall would be built by Israel between the two communities. Since then I have been able to follow the construction of the wall, which has recently been completed and built on Palestinian territory. The divisions between Israel and Palestine are well established. You have to cross checkpoints in order to get in the other community, if you are allowed to do so. I regret that some visitors of the Holy Land look at the wall as “conflict tourists.”

Gaza and nonviolence resistance

The situation in Gaza can explode any minute. The Gazans are left behind and have to deal with their own suffering. The circumstances can have repercussions outside of the Gaza Strip. Gaza is not only a humanitarian problem (the water is unclean; more than 60 % of the youth is unemployed; only three hours electricity a day). It is politically a hot potato. No solution has been found between Hamas and Fatah to transfer all authority over Gaza back to Ramallah.

Israel built a security barrier on the border with Gaza, begun in 1994; it is nearly 40 miles long. In addition, a 152-mile-long fence along the Egyptian-Israeli border was completed in 2013 and has halted illegal immigration from a variety of African countries (Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia). In 2016, Israel announced a plan to build an underground wall, more than a hundred feet deep, to prevent armed groups from emerging from tunnels to attack Israeli border towns. In Israel, the protection of the citizens comes first.

The Israeli blockade against the Strip is cruel, inhumane and a violation of civilizational standards. When can Palestinians return to their human dignity and their right to self-determination? The political problem is that Hamas controls everything in Gaza, dominating all aspects of life. They established a network of social welfare and educational systems around the local mosques that endeared the movement’s leaders to the people. There seems no political space for alternatives. Since 2008, I have visited Gaza several times. Complicated to get in! You need a permit from the Israeli authorities to enter Gaza. The small territory is isolated from the rest of the world by fences and barriers. It is an open prison! The small Christian community, numbering perhaps fewer than three thousand people, feels under pressure, and many are trying to leave.

Gaza is home to almost two million Palestinians, the majority of whom are long-term refugees (a further 3.25 million Palestinians live in the West Bank). Hamas has run Gaza since the elections in 2007. Hamas is a radical ideological movement that is deeply anti-Israel. Israel, the USA and the EU among others designate the group as a terrorist organisation. The question is: do you talk with Hamas or not? Some say “yes” you have to maintain contacts, talk, and others certainly say “no”: you never talk to a terrorist association.

On 30 March 2018, a “March of Return” started as a Gazan civil society initiative expressing people’s desire to live with dignity and with hope of a better future. The plan was to hold every Friday a peace march until the 15th of May, Nakba Day. The weekly demonstrations along the Israeli-Gaza border have increased their intensity in numbers, locations and frequency. Despite the nonviolent character of the March, IDF snipers have killed more than 240 (young) Palestinians. Critics said the Israeli forces sometimes opened fire even when two crucial conditions of international law for using lethal force were absent: the targeted individual posed a danger and the threat was immediate. The Gazans asked for the end of the Israeli-Egyptian siege on Gaza. It is about putting an end to the totally unacceptable cage that Gaza has become over the past 10 years.

West Bank

Palestine has de facto two separate entities. The distance between them is not the issue. If all sides could agree, the 25 miles of intervening Israeli territory could be overcome with a highway bridge or tunnel. However, the two regions remain separated not just by geography, but also by politics and ideology. Fatah officially accepts the concept of “two states for two peoples”. They expect the same policy from the other partner Israel. Hamas rejects, at least formally, any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea. All parties in the conflict should recognize each other’s existence.

Behind the great security barrier live 2.5 million Palestinians. Life in West Bank is hard, but easier than in Gaza. The health care is of a low standard and that is why thousands are treated in Israeli hospitals. Work permits are hard to obtain. Palestine is hardly an open society. The Palestinian leadership is in a deep crisis. The political leadership and the political apparatus urgently need renewal, rejuvenation and transparency. Palestine will remain a house divided.

Political process

There is no real political peace process between Israel and Palestine. It has been tried several times already: Oslo in 1993; Camp David in 2000; Taba in 2001; the Arab Peace Initiative in 2002; the Roadmap for peace in 2003; Annapolis in 2007-2008; and the efforts of former US Secretary of State John Kerry in 2014-2015. All attempts have failed because of a lack of political will. The involvement of the international community is essential and that is lacking as well. It needs more vigour and teeth to bring pressure.

Israel has no real desire to unify the Palestinian people and to negotiate a peace treaty with them that would cost Israel the need to withdraw from territory in the West Bank and allow Palestinians in Gaza to enjoy a normal life of freedom and a chance of hope for a better future.

Political life in Israel

It is expected that in 2019 new national elections will take place in Israel. Israeli governments are always formed by coalitions. All Israelis want their country to be strong, stable, democratic, safe and at peace with its neighbours. The sense of unity is high among the Israelis (especially when war comes) although major differences occur on the relations between the state and the role of religion as well as on the position of the Israeli Arab citizens (a fifth of the population). Israel keeps conquering land from the Palestinians illegally. The issue of the settlements divides Israeli public opinion; the wisdom, legality and morality of their existence are always fiercely debated. Gaps between different groups in Israel are widening and poverty is growing. Differences within society also affect the political sphere. Most in the secular category see themselves as Israeli first and Jewish second. Most Orthodox sees themselves as Jewish first and then Israeli. Religious political parties are almost components in coalition governments. Religious parties tend to dominate matters of education and religion. In recent years, the political and democratic space for NGOs, journalists and writers has shrunk.

Conclusion

Walls are containing the violence. Walls should be temporary. That temporality is long gone. For that to happen an agreement will be needed not only between the two sides, but also within them. New leaders should be chosen who would invest in building bridges, not walls. Books, not weapons. Morality, not corruption. To ever renew negotiations between Israel and Palestine, it is necessary to believe that there are partners for peace on the other side.

Many believe that the only viable way of finding a way out is the Two-State Solution fulfilling the aspirations for peaceful coexistence among Israelis and Palestinians. This option must be repeated on a regular basis what the Holy See for instance is doing.

Peace

Deep concern about Jewish Nation-State Law

Editor

By Fr. Paul Lansu
Senior Policy Advisor, Pax Christi International

Recent historic events such as the 70th anniversary of the state of Israel as well as the 70 years of “catastrophe” (or Nakba) for the Palestinians of mid-May 2018, have politically put nothing in motion. On the contrary, the divisions between Israelis and Palestinians are deeper than ever. The two communities have been further polarized and their political leaders have not been able to take any initiative at all to find a possible solution to the decades-long conflict. The international community looks at it but does not undertake anything significant. The divisions are structural, fundamental and marked by the occupation of the Palestinian territory for more than 50 years. Moreover, the divisions between the Palestinian factions (Hamas/Gaza and Fatah/West Bank) are further enflamed and politically abused. Recent political developments in Israel make dialogue between Israel and Palestine almost impossible.

Basic Nation State Law

The latest drastic decision is the “Basic Nation State Law” taken by the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. That law was adopted by the Knesset 62 in favour, 55 against and 2 abstentions on 19 July 2018. The law defines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. It has been met with worldwide criticism, including from within the Jewish diaspora.

This new legislation is of great concern and violates democratic principles such as the equality of all citizens. Civil rights should be equal rights. The law fails to provide any constitutional guarantees for the rights of the indigenous and other minorities living in the country. Arabic citizens of Israel, constituting 20%, are flagrantly excluded from the law – such as Arabic/Palestinian Muslims and Christians, Druze, Bedouin residents, etc. We are talking about 1.5 million citizens of Israel who identify themselves as Arab Israeli.

The measure ignores an entire segment of the population as if its members and citizens never existed. It seems non-Jewish people are no longer welcome in Israel. And what then is the position of the many inhabitants in Israel who belong to the Jewish people but do not profess the Jewish religion? The law discriminates among peoples, which means that the dignity of each individual citizen is not respected. The political impact of Jewish religion on Israeli society is more than ever now a reality.

Defining the character of Israel as an exclusively Jewish state weakens the democratic ethos which is supposed to be a key element of Israeli society. The Jewish identity in Israel is increasingly characterised by the Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox communities, for whom ethnic and religious pluralism in “their land” is intolerable. That will result in further fragmentation of their society.

Law encourages further settlement building

The Arabic language has been downgraded from a second official language to a language with “a special status”. The law also declares that the State views the development of Jewish settlements as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment and consolidation of such settlements. This strengthens the hand of settlement groups seeking to seize properties from Palestinians and from Christian church properties as well. The existence and further development of settlements in the Occupied Territories is against international law and in contradiction of all related United Nations resolutions. The further intended construction of Jewish settlements is a bridge too far.

Judaism, Islam and Christianity exist in the Holy Land

What will be the impact of the Basic Law for the other religions, including Islam and Christianity? Together with Judaism these two religions form the profile and identity of the Holy Land. One cannot do without the other. They exist and form one important section of the country that is inspired by these three religions. That means that the Holy Land and all the holy places are part of the three religious traditions and cultures. Jerusalem, as holy and eternal city of the three religions, must be shared. It cannot be the exclusive possession of one faith over against the others, or of one people over against the others. We keep talking of Jerusalem as a city of three religions and two peoples.

Law is exclusive rather than inclusive

The main conclusion is that the Basic Law is rather exclusive than inclusive. It strengthens the institutionalization of racism and dispels hopes of equality. Any state with large minorities ought to recognize the collective rights of minorities and guarantee the preservation of their collective identity, including their religious, ethnic and social traditions. Freedom of religion and religious identity, which are supposed to be guaranteed for all Israeli citizens, is at stake.

Critical opinions are not welcome

In today’s Israel, any criticism of Israeli governmental decisions is labeled as anti-Israeli. Critics are prevented from entering Israel, regardless of their nationality and religion, including Jews. Both Israeli citizens inside the country and Jews and non-Israelis from outside who make critical and constructive remarks against certain measures of this Israeli government are considered anti-Zionist and especially anti-Semitic. We all know someone, a colleague or a friend, who is not allowed to enter the country of Israel because of critical remarks about government policy. This is the tactic of enforcing silence! We all should refuse to surrender the right to speak or fall into the collective complacency of silence. A critical look at political decision-making only benefits the quality of a democracy.

Break the spiral of silence!

As matters now stand, it is the Israeli state that dominates the entire land – exploiting it as its own, and privileging the Israeli Jewish citizens. It seems that Israel does whatever it wants in the West Bank and in Gaza, and they get away with it. Israel no longer even says “sorry” for certain negative impacts of measures taken on Palestinian citizens. Financial support to the Palestinian Authority has been reduced, bringing it dangerously close to bankruptcy. The UNRWA, the UN agency which takes care of the Palestinian refugees, feels the financial crisis. The result is less care and facilities for citizens, in particularly the refugees. The unbearable consequences are that almost no one in Israel, or around the world, lifts a finger or shows sign of even caring.

Without inside and outside pressure allied with fresh thinking, we are unlikely to get any closer towards finding an equitable way to share the land for both Israelis as well as Palestinians.

We all need to keep the struggle high in achieving peace between the state of Israel and the Palestinian people in their independent state, as well as between Israel and the Arab and Muslim world. There is no real choice or alternative for the State of Israel to reach peace with Palestinians and its broader neighbourhood as to integrate into the geographical and political region in which it is located. The mission continues!