The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Understanding the Oppression and Struggle for Peace in the Middle East

2023-10-28 19:07:44

Lhe Middle East is once once more witnessing a complex and heartbreaking conflict between the Palestinian people and the State of Israel. The situation is currently reaching its climax with an intensification of hostilities between Hamas and the Israeli army. Since the offensive led by Hamas in Israeli territory on October 7, which left 1,400 dead, the IDF has been bombing Gaza without respite. And without restraint, with what seems to be the consent of the international community, particularly the West. Israel, which wants to put an end to Hamas once and for all, now has carte blanche to kill.

Without it moving anyone. Apart from the Arab countries which remain mobilized to try to achieve de-escalation. Efforts in vain for the moment. Because Israel’s blind vengeance is causing more and more deaths every day: nearly 5,000 Palestinians were killed, the majority civilians, in this unspeakable tragedy. Among them are many innocent children and women who are paying the heaviest price in this deadly conflict. While some countries are calling for a hypothetical ceasefire, Israel, on the contrary, is intensifying the bombings on Gaza, plunging this territory into chaos and the population into a situation of immeasurable distress.

Gaza, this narrow strip of land already burdened by the extreme density of its population, is today reduced to a sad hell on earth. The noise of Israeli strikes transformed the streets into piles of rubble and homes into smoking ruins, leaving a population destitute, without shelter or resources. The UN itself, guardian of the most basic humanitarian principles, has launched a heartbreaking appeal for international solidarity, pleading for a massive influx of humanitarian aid, which is arriving in trickles. It was only last Saturday that a first convoy of 20 trucks was able to be transported, which is very far from the needs of the 2.4 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip.

The United States and Israel, however, assured that there would be “a continuous flow”. In a show of solidarity, King Mohammed VI ordered, on October 23, the sending of emergency humanitarian aid to the Palestinian populations. This aid includes significant quantities of food, medical products and water. However, the aid reaching Gazans, who are undergoing a total siege depriving them of water, electricity and food, is very paltry.

According to the UN, 200 trucks are needed every day to meet the needs of the civilian population. Around a hundred entered each day before the conflict broke out. Peace is slipping away This escalation of violence seriously compromises the chances of peace between Palestine and Israel. But attributing primary responsibility to Hamas, as the West is doing at the moment, is very simplistic. The Israeli government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has indeed contributed significantly to the deterioration of the current situation. The settlement policy pursued by Israel poses as one of the main obstacles to peace. Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are not only illegal under international law, but also violate the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people.

Benjamin Netanyahu, having made settlement a cornerstone of his policy, bears a heavy responsibility for what is happening now, with Palestinians seeing themselves increasingly deprived of their land due to the unrestricted expansion of settlements. settlement. Which, inevitably, fuels tensions, even hatred towards Israel. Last February, the French writer and economist Jacques Attali had already sounded the alarm. In an article published on the Jewish Tribune.info, he underlined that “the current government, by provoking and martyring the Palestinians, can only lead to a cycle of violence of which Israel will be the main victim.

Morally, we cannot remain a great country when all the youth only know their neighbors at the point of a gun, when a government treats others like sub-humans, and in any case like sub-citizens.” Time has obviously proven him right. Netanyahu’s perverse political game has not only divided Israeli society, but also contributed to undermining the chances for peace in the Middle East by exacerbating tensions and hostilities in the region.

The imperative for a two-state solution

For the Palestinian and Israeli people to live in peace, it is imperative that Israel accepts the creation of an independent Palestinian state, in accordance with international law. Only a two-state solution, guaranteeing security and basic rights for both sides, can offer hope of stability to a region that has been marked by suffering and conflict for generations.

This is a constant which has always been defended by King Mohammed VI, president of the Al Quds Committee. A constant which was reiterated at the “Peace Summit” held last Saturday in Cairo. Indeed, among the five messages addressed to the international community by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad, Nasser Bourita, appears “the imperative to launch a real peace process which leads to the two-state solution, a Palestinian state within the borders of June 4, 1967, with Al Quds-East as its capital, living side by side with the State of Israel. Resolving this complex and deep-rooted conflict is essential to achieving lasting peace in the Middle East. But this requires courageous actions and sincere political will from all parties concerned.

How Israel oppresses the Palestinian people

The oppression of the Palestinian people takes many forms, including:

• The Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem, is a source of major concern. Palestinians live under Israeli military control, which results in travel restrictions, impediments to access to resources and limits their economic activities.

• Since 1967, Israel has pursued a program of colonization of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which results in the construction of illegal colonies of Israeli settlers on Palestinian land. This colonization, in flagrant violation of international law, contributes to the fragmentation of Palestine, whose inhabitants believe that these colonies encroach on their territory and prevent them from establishing an independent state.

• Israel has imposed a maritime, land and air blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007, which has major consequences on the population. This blockade has a devastating impact on the economy, health and education of the inhabitants of Gaza.

• Palestinians are subject to checkpoints, movement restrictions and a separation wall in the West Bank, which limits their mobility and access to resources.

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