Finding it hard to talk about Gaza this week?
This is a hard week. Part of what makes it challenging might be conversations with family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues and fellow church members. How to walk in solidarity and elevate Palestinian Christian voices in these tense times?
One strategy may be to talk about context. Yes, October 7 was a day of terrible violence that sent shockwaves through Israel and the Jewish community around the world. But it might be interesting to also consider: what came before?
The following paragraphs are adapted from two recent emails circulated by Friends of Sabeel North America (FOS-NA) and written by its Executive Director, Jonathan Kuttab. We hope this information will serve as a good resource for you, as you continue to join us in calling for an immediate ceasefire and advocating for a just peace.
On October 6, Gaza, a small area about 35 kilometers long and between 8 and 12 kilometers wide, was packed with 2.3 million Palestinians, two-thirds of whom were refugees and survivors of the 1948 Nakba. Israel was imposing a severe siege on the whole strip (with cooperation from Egypt on the southern border), whereby no people or goods could enter or leave the strip without Israeli approval.
Israel had managed to continue the occupation of Gaza after it withdrew its settlers in 2005, without being physically “on the ground,” except for occasional forays. It controlled the area from the air, sea, and by managing all entrances. This situation mirrored the West Bank, where Israel is still the occupier, but where it has subcontracted internal affairs of the major city centers to the Palestinian Authority, under severe restriction. So too had Israel “subcontracted” internal control of Gaza to Hamas while maintaining external control, frequently invading the area with bombardment and “mowing the lawn” operations.
On October 6, Israel continued to dominate the Gaza strip, with its currency, population register, customs controls, and regime of restrictions. Postal, communications, internet, and fuel services were also strictly under Israel’s control. It doled out permits for all services into and out of Gaza including fuel, medical supplies, entry and export of food materials, and all other needed goods and services through a system of extortionist Israeli middlemen.
The short list of goods that Israel permitted to enter Gaza excluded not only “dual function goods” that could serve military as well as civilian uses (such as steel bars and cement), but also innocuous materials such as glass, chocolate, all but one form of pasta and spaghetti, etc. Often the list showed caprice and nastiness, and it seemed to have no logic behind it other than Israel's desire to assert power and control. Fishing, which the Oslo Agreement allowed up to 20 kilometers out, was also strictly restricted, usually to 11 or 5 kilometers, and it was often banned altogether.
The de-development of the Gaza strip was so severe that most of its residents were dependent on relief and supplies from UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency), whose supplies were also carefully monitored and often delayed or restricted at Israel’s whim. It was commonly known that Gaza was the world’s largest open-air prison, and in 2012 the United Nations announced that Gaza would be unlivable by 2020.
As if all this was not enough, Netanyahu was continuously tightening the noose, placing more and more restrictions on Gaza, such as limiting the availability of electricity to a few hours a day through controlling the amount of fuel allowed into its one electricity company.
On October 7, I thought naively that the horrible events of that day may offer an opening for direct negotiations between Hamas and Israel, where parties could exchange hostages and prisoners and begin a genuine conversation about a lasting, just peace. I also thought that the utter collapse of the High-Tech Wall and of Israel’s “security doctrine” could lead to a re-evaluation of militarism and a move towards diplomacy, and reconciliation. I was very wrong. Instead, we saw a doubling down on military solutions, a determination to use power and more power, a rejection of all calls for ceasefire, de-escalation, and negotiations, a shrinking of the Israeli “peace camp,” and a grim, vengeful determination to use overwhelming force and force alone. The principles established by Israel on October 8 are now the principles that guide it in Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank, and perhaps also Iran and elsewhere.
The saddest thing about the current situation is that all parties are now thinking only in military terms. No one is thinking of “what makes for peace,” but only about how to inflict greater pain, loss and destruction on the other side.
Those of us who care about justice and peace, who care about Palestinians, Israelis, Lebanese, and other human beings need to break out of the paradigm being imposed on us by one interpretation of October 7, and return to basic principles: Justice, fairness, human rights, international law, and seeking that which makes for peace, rather than war. We must find a way, with a commitment to active nonviolence, to maintain our hope in a better future for all, rather than despair, despondency, and surrender to the dark logic of violence and hatred.
Jonathan Kuttab,
FOSNA Executive Director