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| Israel and Palestine – glimmers of sanity amid the tragic killings | Israel and Palestine – glimmers of sanity amid the tragic killings |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| There was a time, not long ago, when the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians occupied centre stage in the Middle East's theatre of pain. This seemingly endless confrontation has spanned the lifetimes of generations of antagonists and supporters. It encapsulates, in one overcrowded space, all the issues of race, religion, national identity, history, terror and territory that bedevil the region as a whole. Its spreading poison infected neighbouring countries such as Lebanon and Syria. It inflamed international opinion, provoking campaigns and boycotts. The intractability of the conflict defied the best peacemaking efforts of a string of presidents, prime ministers and diplomats, from Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton to, more recently, Tony Blair and John Kerry. Yet throughout, Israel and Palestine appeared destined to remain, both together and apart, as pre-eminent, cautionary and infinitely potent symbols of the recurrent failure of humankind, in uncounted conflicts across the world, to overcome entrenched differences and live together without recourse to violence. | There was a time, not long ago, when the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians occupied centre stage in the Middle East's theatre of pain. This seemingly endless confrontation has spanned the lifetimes of generations of antagonists and supporters. It encapsulates, in one overcrowded space, all the issues of race, religion, national identity, history, terror and territory that bedevil the region as a whole. Its spreading poison infected neighbouring countries such as Lebanon and Syria. It inflamed international opinion, provoking campaigns and boycotts. The intractability of the conflict defied the best peacemaking efforts of a string of presidents, prime ministers and diplomats, from Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton to, more recently, Tony Blair and John Kerry. Yet throughout, Israel and Palestine appeared destined to remain, both together and apart, as pre-eminent, cautionary and infinitely potent symbols of the recurrent failure of humankind, in uncounted conflicts across the world, to overcome entrenched differences and live together without recourse to violence. |
| But times change, even in a Middle East where memories are long and old grievances never really die. Three factors have conspired in recent years to push Israel-Palestine not exactly off the agenda, but to one side. One is the so-called Arab spring that, beginning in Tunisia in 2010, spawned street-level, pro-democracy movements that shook and in several cases destroyed autocratic regimes across the Arab world. Another is the destabilising willingness, now thankfully on the wane, of western powers to intervene directly and indirectly, and sometimes militarily, in Arab countries in the name of democracy and strategic self-interest. The third factor eclipsing Israel-Palestine is the widening sectarian schism between Sunni and Shia Muslims. Its most obvious expression may be found in ongoing proxy wars between Shia Iran and its Arab allies and their Sunni rivals in the Gulf, led by Saudi Arabia. | But times change, even in a Middle East where memories are long and old grievances never really die. Three factors have conspired in recent years to push Israel-Palestine not exactly off the agenda, but to one side. One is the so-called Arab spring that, beginning in Tunisia in 2010, spawned street-level, pro-democracy movements that shook and in several cases destroyed autocratic regimes across the Arab world. Another is the destabilising willingness, now thankfully on the wane, of western powers to intervene directly and indirectly, and sometimes militarily, in Arab countries in the name of democracy and strategic self-interest. The third factor eclipsing Israel-Palestine is the widening sectarian schism between Sunni and Shia Muslims. Its most obvious expression may be found in ongoing proxy wars between Shia Iran and its Arab allies and their Sunni rivals in the Gulf, led by Saudi Arabia. |
| The unusually horrific murders of four young men in Hebron and Jerusalem – shocking criminal acts that dominated public attention in and beyond the region and have drawn almost universal condemnation – have thus gone a long way to reminding a distracted international community that Israel-Palestine remains an extremely dangerous, potentially explosive, and globally significant conflict that is ignored, or sidelined, at one's peril. Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach, the Israeli teenagers who disappeared near Hebron last month and whose bodies were discovered on Monday, were ordinary kids. So, too, was Mohamed Abu Khudeir, the Palestinian youth abducted and killed on Wednesday in what many believe was a revenge killing. Yet it was this very ordinariness that helped make their murders so utterly repulsive – and alarming. | The unusually horrific murders of four young men in Hebron and Jerusalem – shocking criminal acts that dominated public attention in and beyond the region and have drawn almost universal condemnation – have thus gone a long way to reminding a distracted international community that Israel-Palestine remains an extremely dangerous, potentially explosive, and globally significant conflict that is ignored, or sidelined, at one's peril. Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach, the Israeli teenagers who disappeared near Hebron last month and whose bodies were discovered on Monday, were ordinary kids. So, too, was Mohamed Abu Khudeir, the Palestinian youth abducted and killed on Wednesday in what many believe was a revenge killing. Yet it was this very ordinariness that helped make their murders so utterly repulsive – and alarming. |
| Is this really what we have come to? Are these two communities, Israeli and Arab, Jew and Muslim, so irreversibly opposed, so very far apart, so united in their mutual, unquenchable enmity and so lost to decency that the deliberate, premeditated, random killing of children has somehow become acceptable? Reassuringly, the answer, from the vast majority of people on both sides of the divide, appears to be a resounding "no". But there should be no mistake. The extremists who allegedly committed these crimes exploited the vacuum created by the ongoing failure to forge a lasting peace. These killers live and thrive in the shadow of both sides' political impotence and the world's neglect. For the sake of the four boys, and ordinary Israelis and Palestinians alike, it is these dark places, these breeding holes of hatred, that must now be swept clean. For murder so foul, there must be no hiding place. And for the continuing impasse over a two-state solution, there must be zero tolerance. | Is this really what we have come to? Are these two communities, Israeli and Arab, Jew and Muslim, so irreversibly opposed, so very far apart, so united in their mutual, unquenchable enmity and so lost to decency that the deliberate, premeditated, random killing of children has somehow become acceptable? Reassuringly, the answer, from the vast majority of people on both sides of the divide, appears to be a resounding "no". But there should be no mistake. The extremists who allegedly committed these crimes exploited the vacuum created by the ongoing failure to forge a lasting peace. These killers live and thrive in the shadow of both sides' political impotence and the world's neglect. For the sake of the four boys, and ordinary Israelis and Palestinians alike, it is these dark places, these breeding holes of hatred, that must now be swept clean. For murder so foul, there must be no hiding place. And for the continuing impasse over a two-state solution, there must be zero tolerance. |
| There is hope among the charred and disfigured corpses. In some ways, last week's story, so far at least, has been about what did not happen, not what did. At one time, an atrocity of the kind committed against the three Israeli teenagers would have brought swift, lethal and probably disproportionate Israel retribution, amounting to collective punishment. Reports from Jerusalem concerning the several emergency cabinet meetings chaired by Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, suggest this is what was urged upon him by more rightwing colleagues. To his credit, Netanyahu resisted, even amid the vast emotional outpourings of a grieving nation. His government has now told Hamas, the Palestinian faction it holds responsible for the murders, that it has no interest in a broader fight. Hamas has reportedly reciprocated. | There is hope among the charred and disfigured corpses. In some ways, last week's story, so far at least, has been about what did not happen, not what did. At one time, an atrocity of the kind committed against the three Israeli teenagers would have brought swift, lethal and probably disproportionate Israel retribution, amounting to collective punishment. Reports from Jerusalem concerning the several emergency cabinet meetings chaired by Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, suggest this is what was urged upon him by more rightwing colleagues. To his credit, Netanyahu resisted, even amid the vast emotional outpourings of a grieving nation. His government has now told Hamas, the Palestinian faction it holds responsible for the murders, that it has no interest in a broader fight. Hamas has reportedly reciprocated. |
| For his part, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has also so far shown a similarly commendable restraint. Despite the shaming behaviour of a few who justified the murders of the Israelis, despite the ugly social media posts by some Israeli soldiers calling for revenge, and despite subsequent, understandable Palestinian rage over Abu Khudeir's murder, Abbas has refused to be railroaded. Like Netanyahu, he condemned all four killings as despicable and loathsome. Like Netanyahu, Abbas knows that the relative stability and calm in Israel and the West Bank over recent months, notwithstanding the collapse of the American-led peace process, is their most valuable joint achievement. Neither man sees a percentage in a return to violent confrontation. So they must keep their nerve in the tense weeks ahead. The so far low-level street demonstrations, stone-throwing, tear-gassing, Gaza air raids, troop call-ups and rocket attacks preceding Abu Khudeir's funeral must not be allowed to escalate into a new, full-scale intifada-style revolt. This common ground should be used to lay the foundations for a new push for a wider peaceful accommodation. | For his part, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has also so far shown a similarly commendable restraint. Despite the shaming behaviour of a few who justified the murders of the Israelis, despite the ugly social media posts by some Israeli soldiers calling for revenge, and despite subsequent, understandable Palestinian rage over Abu Khudeir's murder, Abbas has refused to be railroaded. Like Netanyahu, he condemned all four killings as despicable and loathsome. Like Netanyahu, Abbas knows that the relative stability and calm in Israel and the West Bank over recent months, notwithstanding the collapse of the American-led peace process, is their most valuable joint achievement. Neither man sees a percentage in a return to violent confrontation. So they must keep their nerve in the tense weeks ahead. The so far low-level street demonstrations, stone-throwing, tear-gassing, Gaza air raids, troop call-ups and rocket attacks preceding Abu Khudeir's funeral must not be allowed to escalate into a new, full-scale intifada-style revolt. This common ground should be used to lay the foundations for a new push for a wider peaceful accommodation. |
| The bigger shifts in the regional environment may yet assist this process. According to one Israeli minister, a priority for Netanyahu in considering Israel's response to the murders was not to derail the west's nuclear talks with Iran, which reach a climax on 20 July. Defanging Iran, as Israel sees it, remains a top national strategic priority. And if a nuclear deal with Tehran helps deflate the region-wide Sunni-Shia conflict, so much the better. Likewise, given the volatile situation in Iraq, both Abbas and Netanyahu have an interest in avoiding more incendiary mayhem that would strengthen extremists on both sides. They both know, too, that a weakened US president, sick of Middle East imbroglios, will not necessarily ride to their rescue, should matters get out of hand. Ending the Israel-Palestine conflict remains a vital international priority. But as last week showed, homemade solutions, shared values and mature statesmanship offer the surest escape from horror. | The bigger shifts in the regional environment may yet assist this process. According to one Israeli minister, a priority for Netanyahu in considering Israel's response to the murders was not to derail the west's nuclear talks with Iran, which reach a climax on 20 July. Defanging Iran, as Israel sees it, remains a top national strategic priority. And if a nuclear deal with Tehran helps deflate the region-wide Sunni-Shia conflict, so much the better. Likewise, given the volatile situation in Iraq, both Abbas and Netanyahu have an interest in avoiding more incendiary mayhem that would strengthen extremists on both sides. They both know, too, that a weakened US president, sick of Middle East imbroglios, will not necessarily ride to their rescue, should matters get out of hand. Ending the Israel-Palestine conflict remains a vital international priority. But as last week showed, homemade solutions, shared values and mature statesmanship offer the surest escape from horror. |
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