Pictured above (courtesy of Shulamit Magnus), the protesters’ banner reads: “It’s time for a government of Recovery.” The following hard-hitting analysis was originally sent as an email blast from Canadian Friends of Peace Now. Its author, Gabriella Goliger, is CFPN’s national chair, and is joining us today as a TTN contributing writer.
Under renewed IDF assaults on Hamas, Gaza civilians are dying in droves. Those who survive must contend with ever greater devastation of their surroundings and deprivation of their basic needs. Yes, Israel is also killing Hamas fighters, but the “collateral damage,” the cost to ordinary children, women and men is enormous.
The declared purpose of the military action is to pressure Hamas to free the remaining hostages. But the hostages’ families are pleading for negotiations instead of bombs. They say the fighting puts their loved ones in gravest danger and is a sign of government indifference to their fate.
The Agenda of Fanatics
What is the real agenda? The fanatics in Netanyahu’s coalition — particularly Bezalel Smotrich and the recently returned Itamar Ben-Gvir, both of whom wield disproportionate leverage over the government — are not shy to declare their aims. They plan the re-establishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza, along with exile of its Palestinian population. Netanyahu gives every indication he’s going along, emboldened by Trump’s musings about rebuilding Gaza as a US-owned and Palestinian-free Middle Eastern Riviera.
On March 23, Israel’s Security Cabinet decided to establish a new administration in the Defense Ministry tasked with enabling Gaza residents to “voluntarily” leave the Gaza Strip. Peace Now points out that “when life in a certain place is made impossible by bombing and siege, it is impossible to claim that the departure is ‘voluntary.’” Also, where are the Gazans to go? According to news reports, Israeli and US officials are exploring options such as Sudan, Somalia and Somaliland — all poor and unstable countries already. In short, it is a grotesque agenda.
Meanwhile, a similar land-grabbing-displacement and bullying agenda is underway in the West Bank. Settlements continue to expand. New ones are created or legalized. Aided and abetted by the Israeli military, settler gangs harass and attack Palestinian residents. The aim is to terrorize Palestinians into abandoning their land. Peace Now painstakingly documents and publicizes this insidious activity, occurring day after day and designed to crush hopes for a two-state solution.
All this is happening as the Netanyahu coalition works to undermine Israeli democracy. The coalition has just passed legislation that would put the process of judicial appointments under the control of politicians, thus weakening checks and balances. Also, Netanyahu has fired the head of the Shin Bet and is trying to oust Israel’s attorney general, neither deemed sufficiently loyal to the “boss.”
Resistance on Both Sides of the Divide
The good news is that masses of Israelis are protesting their government’s actions. The pro-democracy demos are melding with large demonstrations to save the hostages. Peace Now joins these voices of outrage, not just for the sake of the hostages and Israel’s democracy, but also for the sake of Israel’s security and its soul. Because what long-term security can be born of policies to violently dispossess another people? What national soul can survive an ethos of thuggery and fraud?
In Gaza, some residents are braving the danger of brutal reprisals to speak out against the war and Hamas’ iron rule. It is a grassroots movement that appears to be growing.
People on both sides of the divide must open their hearts and minds to the humanity of the other. Seven million Israelis and seven million Palestinians reside between the “river and the sea.” They must find their way to living side by side in peace and security through territorial compromise. We in the Diaspora must support the moderates and peace seekers in every way possible. For the sake of our own souls.