By Jonathan Kuttab
By all counts, the latest flareup of fighting in Gaza was totally strategically inconsequential for Israel, except for the death and destruction it left behind. It is truly tragic that much of the world, including those interested in Israel/Palestine, is only concerned about Gaza when there is actual fighting and deaths involved, but that as soon as a particular round of fighting subsides, it fades into oblivion. While much attention is rightfully spent on the situation in Jerusalem and the West Bank, it is unconscionable how routine and forgotten Gaza has become. Israel even refers to those bouts (15 now since the “withdrawal/redeployment” took place in 2005) as “mowing the lawn” as if the inhabitants of Gaza are nothing but a pesky nuisance, persistent weeds who must be cut down repeatedly.
It bears remembering that Gaza is a narrow strip of land, only 20 miles long and 5-8 miles wide, that is home to 2.365 million children of God, two thirds of whom are refugees, living in poverty and overcrowded conditions, under a full siege from all sides. Gaza is an open-air prison, where the Israeli jailors control (with Egyptian complicity) every person and item who enters or leaves the Strip, including determining how much fuel (for electricity and sewage treatment), building materials, and foodstuffs are allowed in or out. The statistics about its economy, described as a deliberate and systematic de-development, with unemployment over 50%, electricity available 4-6 hours daily, and potable water at less than 97% of its available water supply, are utterly depressing. Yet, we only think of Gaza when, out of their utter desperation and, usually, as a response to some Israeli provocation, they shoot some of their home-made, futile rockets into Israel, which leads to a punishing response by a sophisticated Israeli army. That army monitors them 24/7 with drones, planes, and satellites, and a sophisticated Roeh-Yoreh (“To see, To shoot”) system of automated machine guns. This Roeh-Yoreh system surrounds Gaza’s borders, and carves out, even within its already cramped quarters, a killing field of shifting and expanding “free fire zone” that Gazans use for agriculture at their own peril. The inhabitants of the Strip live in a state of continuous, unsettling trauma with no end in sight. Even the future and outcome of the Strip is not discussed by those concerned with Israel/Palestine. Periods of normalcy and “quiet” simply mean that Israel continues unchallenged its violent siege and routine shootings at Gazan citizens or boats as it chooses.
One of the reasons it has been possible to maintain this isolation and indifference is that since the election of Hamas in 2007, after the Palestinian Authority refused to turn over power and after Hamas wrested power from them in Gaza, the world has turned its back on the entire Gaza strip. The Palestinian Authority has since joined the rest of the world in demonizing and isolating Hamas, as well as the entire population of Gaza. Today, Israel, the United States, and much of Europe considers Hamas to be a terrorist organization and have made it illegal for anyone to have any dealings with them. Only the PA, however incompetent, corrupt, and unrepresentative it is, is considered the permissible interlocutor and spokesperson for the Palestinians.
Now, I am absolutely no friend of or apologist for Hamas, but they do represent a sizable portion of the Palestinian population. They won the last elections held over 15 years ago, largely because the electorate was fed up with the corruption of Fatah. Hamas are the current rulers of Gaza, providing a wide variety of social, educational, municipal, and health services. The policy of ignoring, demonizing, and boycotting them does not advance the cause of peace for any side. For many years, Israel employed the same policy of boycott and demonization with regard to the PLO, but eventually Israel had to deal with the PLO and begin a process of negotiations. Regardless of how that policy turned out in the end, it was clear to one and all that demonizing and ignoring the PLO was not a useful policy. After all, you make peace with your enemies, not your friends.
Therefore, in order to even begin a peace process, we need to end the policy of demonizing Hamas and begin the perhaps painful process of reengaging with them, bringing them into some sort of dialogue. I suspect we will all be surprised by how ready Hamas and many of its supporters are to engage in the pursuit of a new policy and seek a better future for the people of Gaza, who are, after all, part of the Palestinian people. If Israel chooses to continue its policy of “managing” the problem, rather than ending the occupation, then it is up to people of good conscience everywhere to act courageously to end the demonization of Hamas. This will probably require, as in the case of the PLO, some courageous politicians, church people, and civil society activists to engage in civil disobedience and risk violating the law by starting discreet, yet also public contacts with Hamas, aimed at bringing them into the peace negotiations. That is what a truly prophetic and courageous peace activism demands.
In the meanwhile, the inhuman siege of Gaza must end. With reasonable security precautions, goods and persons must be allowed to move freely into and out of Gaza. The siege must also be forcibly broken through deliberate peaceful flotillas—attempting to break the siege by sea, by sailing boats into the coastal areas with food, medicine, and supplies. Israeli, Egyptian, and even Palestinian officials must be hounded at every opportunity with demands for action to lift the unjust siege for humanitarian purposes. Only thus can we begin to address the question of Gaza and prevent the situation from staying “normal,” just awaiting the next round of Israeli attacks on that defenseless population.
