Hira Bahadur Thapa

SINCE May 10, the violence in the Palestinian Occupied Territories has erupted threatening the peace and stability in the Middle East, which has been a troubled region for decades. The current turmoil in the area dates back to the founding of Israel in 1948, when war broke out between the Palestinians and the Israelis contesting the sovereignty of the territories. That territorial dispute and the issue of occupation have bedeviled the on and off negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians at the behest of the US, the leading power broker in the Middle East. The thorny issues of final status of sovereignty over the occupied territories and the question of Palestinian refugees’ return to their homeland have become elusive.

Casualties
The situation worsened as scuffles broke out between the Palestinians and the Israeli police when the latter attacked around and into AL Aqsa mosque, the third most sacred Muslim site. Situated in the holy city of Jerusalem the above mosque has a lot of religious sensitivities. The Palestinians were provoked by the Israeli action in the holy site during the month of Ramadan, when Muslims hold daily prayers with fasting. The missile attacks by Hamas targeting Israel to oppose latter’s occupation of Palestinian territories triggered the Israeli bombardment of Gaza resulting in hundreds of casualties and mostly the children.
Jerusalem is home to three different religious faiths. All Jews, Muslims and Christians in order to display reverence to their faith visit the place. East Jerusalem is predominantly Muslims. Palestinians regard this part to be the future capital of their independent state, should the vision of two independent states existing side by side come to fruition. Israel considers Jerusalem as its capital. It has hardened its position on this issue with the decision of President Trump to move US embassy to that city recognising the same as Israel’s capital amidst international disapproval. Jerusalem was divided during the time of founding of Israel. In 1967 Arab-Israel war, East Jerusalem was captured and annexed finally in 1980 by Israel.
Following annexation Israel has encouraged Jewish settlers to move in the city of Jerusalem. The current crisis was provoked by an order to evict six Palestinian families from their East Jerusalem homes to make room for Israeli settlers. It has also been the pattern in the West Bank, an Arab territory occupied by Israel since 1967 war, putting its Palestinian residents effectively under Israeli control. These Palestinians are deprived of any representation in the government. They do not enjoy rights with the Israeli settlers.
In Gaza, the situation is callous for the Palestinians. Hamas, a militant faction, is fighting the Israelis on behalf of the Palestinians. The attacks and counter-attacks by Hamas and Israel cannot be justified in view of civilian casualties on both sides. This is why the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has warned that there is likelihood of conducting investigations to ascertain if both Hamas and Israeli government could be held accountable to crimes punishable under the court.
Uniquely this time the hostilities have assumed the form of communal violence. The inter-communal clashes between Jews and the Palestinians within proper Israel are the harrowing aspect of ongoing violence. Lod is one of the few cities in Israel where mixed communities of Arabs and Jews have been residing for decades peacefully. In the wake of President Trump-brokered Arab-Israel Abraham Accords, the feeling was predominant that the Palestinians were so abject and defeated that Israel could simply ignore their demands, however legitimate they might be. They talked of peace for peace instead of land for peace while sidelining Palestinian’s grievances. Their miscalculation is bitterly exposed in current Middle East crisis.
But in reality, the three Arab nations which struck Abraham Accords with Israel signaling their desire to normalise their relations were motivated by some parochial interests. The United Arab Emirates was encouraged by American willingness to unblock the arms deal, which had remained suspended. The suspension was removed soon after the Abraham Accords. Morocco got President Trump to support its annexation of Western Sahara that played the crucial role in the diplomatic deal between it and Israel. Sudan, another Arab nation to join the normalisation drive was persuaded by the decision of the US administration to remove the country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The unfolding of the Middle East crisis underscores the fact that the international community cannot ignore the plight of the Palestinians. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict bears many things. In some ways, it is a cycle, from 1948 through today, of Israeli efforts to impose a vision of one state. Eviction of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in the occupied East Jerusalem testifies that policy. Decades of occupation and annexation of the territories have reinforced the fear of the Palestinians that unless settlement of Jews in their territories is halted there would be no place left to establish their independent state in future.

Justice
While de-escalation initiatives are taken by Egypt and Qatar, the role of President Biden, to whom the Arab-Israel conflict has reemerged as his first foreign policy crisis, will certainly be decisive. The release of a mild statement from White House urging for ceasefire in the conflict has not brought any change on the ground. Its resistance to UN Security Council’s demand for immediate cease-fire has tested its credibility.
It is unbecoming of President Biden who has publicly declared that America is back in assuming the leadership of global affairs. Without justice to the Palestinians, there is no resolution to the Arab-Israel conflict. For justice to the Palestinians and also securing Israel’s security, there has to be a process for peace to be worked out through permanent settlement of the problem.

(Thapa was Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister in 2008-09. Thapahira17@gmail.com)