Ongoing clashes between Palestine and Israel have been reduced to a mere cycle of violence, but the issue is far more complex than that. Almost every year, there’s an eruption of violence in that region of the Middle East. During those violent episodes, the casualties are often labelled collateral damage as militant groups fire at one another.
Violence in that region is not generally surprising. But the recent clashes have truly been a surprise in the most abominable way.
The fact that civilians are attacking one another is terrifying and unsettling for both sides. People often see these events as a by-product of animosity between the ruling political groups. Although that reality plays a part in the initiation of such gruesome events, we need to look at this very intricate conflict through a humanitarian lens.
Electricity, water, and even medical care are insufficient in Palestinian regions due to various restrictions imposed by Israeli forces. The Gaza Strip faces frequent power outages for long periods of time. Imagine being a surgeon operating on a wounded Palestinian with a candle being your only source of light. Imagine being a child on life support when the power goes out. Imagine a mother giving birth at a checkpoint.
Palestinian regions, such as the West Bank, have been divided into separate districts by Israeli checkpoints restricting the mobility of Palestinians. They cannot travel from one city to another without being questioned, interrogated, and humiliated. Numerous checkpoints force Palestinians to travel on foot because of roads being limited to Israeli settlers only.
Palestinians look at the Al-Aqsa Mosque as an unchanged artifact from pre-colonial Jerusalem. However, Israeli forces have restricted Palestinians from entering the holy mosque. The mosque is also often a focal point of brawls and bloodbaths between Israeli Defence Forces and Palestinian citizens. The recent increase in banning Palestinians from entering the holy mosque is what triggered this year’s episode of violence.
The ongoing oppression of Palestinians is what pressures them to lash out and resort to violence to gain their basic human rights. Despite the fact that violence has not always been the answer, when one is alienated in his or her homeland, it stirs fear and anger within them. When their homes are destroyed in order to build settlements, their sense of security is abolished. When their children are killed in front of their eyes, they become desensitized. And when they are dehumanized, they resort to dehumanization.
I don’t think the attacks on the Israeli settlers were to purposely inflict harm on these people as much as it was an act of retaliation and making a statement. They wanted to be heard and to capture the world’s attention. However, when people are forced to resort to these actions to create discourse, that’s when we know there’s something much more complex than people killing one another.
I hope these events don’t increase animosity between both sides, but rather pressure Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to reach a solution. But until the lines between occupier and occupied are blurred, and a Palestinian becomes the equal of an Israeli settler, peace is unlikely to prevail.
