Thankfully, the war in Gaza is over – for now. Since both sides have declared “unilateral” ceasefires and there is no actual agreement, the situation is unstable, but there is actually some hope, and at least people aren’t facing the imminent danger of violent death.
This is probably a good time to write something calm about my own view of the situation. Socialists have a duty to take action against unnecessary war; but protests against the policies of the Israeli government are often seen as anti-Israel or even anti-Semitic – and there is no doubt that there are anti-Semites out there who want to take advantage of them. For this reason we must be vary careful to make two things clear: that we are protesting only against Israeli government policies, not against Israel per se; and that we do not consider Israel in some way exceptionally bad. I’m always uncomfortable when people chant slogans like “Israel is a terror state”, because this implies that there is something in the nature of Israel which makes it “terrorist”. This idea must be rejected. If Israel’s military has committed terrorist acts, then so has the military of Britain, the USA, Russia, Indonesia and in fact virtually every state in the world at on time or another.
Having said that, we can get on to opposing the specific war. The response of the Israeli government to Hamas terrorism was grossly disproportionate; civilians were targetted and infrastructure destroyed; people who had nothing to do with Hamas were maimed and killed. Israeli people cannot be expected to endure rocket attacks by terrorists who want to destroy their country, but the very worst way to fight terrorism is by bombing someone else’s country indiscriminately. Apart from the terrible death and destruction, this merely makes people so desperate and hopeless that a few of them join the terrorists. And although it’s a cliche, I really don’t see any moral difference between killing civilians with a Qassam rocket and killing civilians with a Merkava tank. The government of Israel has sunk to Hamas’ level, and it has done so with an arsenal far bigger and more destructive than any terrorist group’s.
There is also the underlying issue of the continued occupation of the West Bank and blockade of Gaza by the Israel Defence Forces. I am, as the above should make clear, one of those ho always insists that Israel is a country like any other, the Israeli people have an unquestionable right to their own state and to deny that the Israeli people should have the same rights as any other nation is wrong and dangerous. But the Palestinian people have the same rights. Their right to their own state is being denied by military occupation, and this is the major problem in Israel-Palestine. I know that Hamas denies the right of Israel to exist; I know that the surrounding Arab states have a history of denying Israel’s right to exist; but the Israeli govermnet has the power to bring a Palestinian state into beng by withdrawing its forces from the West Bank and ending the blockade of Gaza, and it should do so. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
The Israeli people are understandably concerned about security, but so are the Palestinian people, and with more immediate day-to-day reason. Here, the geography of Israel-Palestine plays a major role in the insecurity and instability of the situation. It’s surprising that people often discuss the situation without realising how small the area they’re discussing is. From the Mediterranean at Tel Aviv to the nearest town in the West Bank is nine miles. The Gaza Strip is only five miles wide. Israelis and Palestinians live cheek-by-jowl, and while there is hostility people living in such close proximity understandably have a tendency to look over their shoulder. In such a situation, as long as there is not a sustainable peace, not just between Israel and Palestine but across the region, there will be permanent hostility and occasional wars. Terrorism, extremism, war, occupation and blockade are all major obstacles to reaching a sustainable peace. More than this, occupation and blockade are unjust and undemocratic. The government of Israel must withdraw from the West Bank and lift the blockade of Gaza, as much for its own good as for that of the Palestinian people.
Socialists have, as I said, a duty to oppose unnecessary war. We also have a duty of international solidarity with all peoples against those who oppress and misgovern them. The peoples of Palestine, Israel and the neighbouring countries, their labour movements and their peace movements, are the only hope for peace in the region. A quotation my friend Sacha has highlighted says it all: “The despots of all countries are our enemies; the workers of all countries are our friends”.
