Only with the end of the terror machine can peace come to the whole of Palestine.
Among the methods of protection that fringe groups disseminating hate and violence adopt is to cloak themselves as the mainstream voice. Forget the fog of war, what has been witnessed since the 7 October terror attack on Israel by Hamas is the fog of infowar, which appears to have been prepared with the same deliberation and effectiveness as the actual 7 October terror attack itself. Aware that the overwhelming majority of the population of Gaza are not supporters of Hamas, the Palestinian Authority put aside its distaste for that organisation and its methods and has called for an immediate cessation of hostilities that would in effect block Israel’s counteroffensive to the terror attack. Should any resident of Gaza dare to express his or her opposition to Hamas, immediate imprisonment would be the kindest form of punishment that the organisation would carry out on the critic. This is why all such opposition is not just muted, but almost totally absent in public. Dictatorships are brutal in suppressing dissenters, and such a process has been ongoing in Gaza since Hamas seized control of the territory from the PA in 2007.
What comes as a surprise is that it took a tragedy on the scale of the 7 October attack to awaken the Israeli Cabinet to the danger of the Jewish state living side by side with Gaza, a small and teeming slice of territory controlled by Hamas. This is an organisation that has made no secret of its determination to eliminate Israel from the map, and in the process, much of the Jewish population as well. Even a cursory reading of its founding charter demonstrates that fact. Cloaking itself as the only authentic representative of the Palestinian people, Hamas has long planned to seize control of the West Bank in the manner it had Gaza. Carrying out and surviving a terror attack on the magnitude of 7 October 2023 was regarded by its leadership as the ticket to success where winning over the bulk of the population in the West Bank was concerned. This is a territory where groups of Hamas supporters have been multiplying, especially during the past few years, in fact ever since Benjamin Netanyahu began to lead the most far-right government that Israel had ever seen. Many of his ministers are open about their contempt for a Two-State solution, believing that they would succeed in driving the Palestinians from their land to the safety of other Arab states. Settlements that were to prove a strategic disaster for Israel where security was concerned began to sprout up on the West Bank, with encouragement from Prime Minister Netanyahu. Such actions have generated a toxic atmosphere between the PA and the Israeli government that has been taken advantage of by Hamas and its external backers. Most Israelis understood this, which is among the reasons why they had been protesting in such large numbers against the Netanyahu government before the terror attack came. When a majority of the Jewish population in Israel have just weeks ago demonstrated their opposition to Netanyahu, the infowar effort by backers of Hamas to portray them as being his admirers and accomplices is mendacious. Hamas and its overt and covert backers are seeking to portray the IDF and its current hostilities against Hamas as a war on Muslim Palestinians by Israeli Jews, thereby trying to convert the ongoing operation to neutralise the military wing of Hamas into a religious war. Were they to succeed in creating such a perception, the repercussions across the world would be disastrous, and to all communities.
Whether it be those who seek to remove the Arab community from Palestine or those who seek to remove the Jewish community in Israel, both belong to fringe groups that thrive on hate. Both need to be marginalised, especially where state policy is concerned. In the meantime, the reality of the existence of Israel has to be acknowledged within the region. Countries and territories where the rulers have not simply refused to accept this reality but have encouraged violent means to weaken and subsequently eliminate the Jewish state have presided over populations that are far below their potential in terms of income and welfare. Gaza is an example of such a correlation. The territory’s 2.3 million residents are almost entirely dependent on outside charity for their sustenance, whereas with a regime focused on peace rather than war, Gaza would have been a hub of global commerce in the manner that Dubai and Abu Dhabi have become. Terror organisations thrive on popular misery, and very often succeed in finding a scapegoat to affix the blame for the suffering inflicted as a consequence of the violence and fear that accompanies daily life in the enclaves they control.
The human tragedy that is playing out in Israel and Gaza ought to serve as a warning to both, the fringe in Israel that seeks to drive Palestinians out of the West Bank, and groups apart from Hamas in the region that harbour designs of unleashing violence on the Jewish state. Given the passions aroused through the effects on the civilian population in Gaza of the Israeli aerial bombardment, it would be futile to seek any expansion of the Abraham Accords until the war is over and passions have cooled. However, signing the Abraham Accords by a few of the Arab states was the correct course of action from the viewpoint of the interests of their people, and their example needs to be followed by others. Demanding that the right-wing fringe groups presently over-represented in the Netanyahu government accept the reality of a Two-State solution mandates an equal acceptance by the other side of the right of Israel to exist as the homeland of the Jewish people. Both peoples need to come together and meet in the middle, else the region will continue to witness bouts of violence, such as has been taking place since the 7 October terror attack on Israel. Far-sighted rulers such as those in charge of the UAE and Saudi Arabia are working on plans for their people that involve a complete re-ordering of the economic underpinnings of the GCC. During the days when the country adopted a permissive attitude towards Israel, Lebanon was on a fast track to prosperity, a journey reversed once the country fell under the influence of groups that refuse to acknowledge the reality that Israel is in the region to stay.
Only with the end of the terror machine can peace come to the whole of Palestine. For this to happen, the PA needs to be given not just the facade of statehood but the reality of genuine independence, in exchange for ensuring that Israel is not menaced. Once such a situation comes about, India needs to set up health and educational facilities in Palestine, as well as in other parts of the region. India and West Asia are characterised by a youthful population. Young Indians need to study and work together with young people in the Middle East to jointly ensure a better future for both. India is a natural partner for the Arab states, in the way that Israel has the potential to be, which indeed was the factor that was key to the signing of the Abraham Accords.