The barbaric attack by Hamas on Israel deserves unconditional condemnation, without "ifs" and "buts". The massacres, rapes and abductions of civilians from villages, kibbutzim and music festivals were a pogrom - and confirmation that Hamas's real goal is the destruction of the state of Israel and all Israelis. However, the situation requires historical context; not as some kind of justification, but for a clearer idea of where to go next.
First of all, one should bear in mind the absolute despair that characterizes the lives of most Palestinians. Think back to the wave of isolated suicide attacks on the streets of Jerusalem about a decade ago. An ordinary Palestinian would approach a Jewish man or woman, pull out a knife and stab the victim, fully aware that he was committing murder. There was no message in these "terrorist" acts, no cry "Free Palestine!", nor was there any larger organization behind them. These were individual acts of violent desperation.
Things took a turn for the worse when Benjamin Netanyahu formed a new government with far-right, pro-settler parties that openly advocate the annexation of Palestinian territories in the West Bank. The new Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, describes his beliefs as follows: "My right, my wife's right, my children's right to move freely [in the West Bank] is more important than the rights of the Arabs." forbidden to serve in the army due to his association with extremist anti-Arab parties that were designated as terrorist organizations after the massacre of Arabs in Hebron in 1994.
Long proud of its status as the only democracy in the Middle East, Israel is turning into a theocratic state under Netanyahu's current government. The current government's list of "fundamental principles" states: "The Jewish people have an exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the Land of Israel." The government will promote and develop the settlement of all parts of the land of Israel - the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan and Judea and Samaria."
Given such a pledge, it is absurd to blame the Palestinians for refusing to negotiate with Israel. The official program of the current government takes negotiations off the table.
Some conspiracy theorists will argue that the Netanyahu government must have known that some sort of attack was in the offing, since it has vast surveillance and intelligence-gathering capabilities in Gaza. But while the attack certainly serves the interests of the Israeli hardliners now in power, it also undermines Netanyahu's guarantees of perfect security.
In any case, it is not difficult to see that both sides - both Hamas and Israel's ultra-nationalist government - are against any peace option. Each of them is dedicated to fighting to the death.
The Hamas attack came at a time of great conflict within Israel, thanks to the Netanyahu government's efforts to destroy the judiciary. The country is thus divided between nationalist fundamentalists, who want to abolish democratic institutions, and the civil society movement, which is aware of this threat, but is reluctant to enter into an alliance with the more moderate Palestinians.
Now the threatening constitutional crisis is suspended; a government of national unity is announced. It's an old story: deep and seemingly existential internal divisions suddenly overcome, thanks to a common external enemy.
Must there be an external enemy to achieve peace and unity at home? How to break this vicious circle?
The way forward, notes former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, is the fight against Hamas and at the same time an opening for Palestinians who are not anti-Semitic and who are ready for negotiations. Contrary to the claims of Israeli ultranationalists, these people do exist. On September 10, more than a hundred Palestinian academics and intellectuals signed an open letter firmly rejecting "any attempt to downplay, misrepresent, or justify anti-Semitism, Nazi crimes against humanity, and historical revisionism in relation to the Holocaust."
Once we see that not all Israelis are fanatical nationalists and not all Palestinians are fanatical anti-Semites, we can begin to recognize the desperation and confusion that fuel the outpourings of evil. We can begin to understand the uncanny similarity between Palestinians, deprived of a homeland, and Jews, whose history is marked by the same experience.
A similar homology applies to the term "terrorism". At the time of the Jewish struggle against the British army in Palestine, the term "terrorist" had a positive connotation. In the late 1940s, an American newspaper published an ad titled “Letter to Palestinian Terrorists,” in which Hollywood screenwriter Ben Hecht wrote: “My brave friends. You may not believe what I am writing to you, because the air is currently very polluted. […] The Jews of America are for you."
Behind all the current polemics about who is considered a terrorist, there is a mass of Palestinian Arabs who have been living in limbo for decades. Who are they and what country is theirs? Are they residents of the "occupied territory", the "West Bank", "Judea and Samaria" or ... the state of Palestine, recognized by 139 countries, non-members with observer status in the United Nations since 2012? Israel, which controls the specific territory, treats the Palestinians as temporary settlers, as an obstacle to the establishment of a "normal" state with Jews as the only real inhabitants. Palestinians are treated solely as a problem. The State of Israel has never reached out to them, offered hope or accepted their positive role in the state in which they live.
Hamas and Israeli hardliners are two sides of the same coin. The choice is not reduced to one or another hard-line faction, but between fundamentalists and all those who still believe in the possibility of peaceful coexistence. There can be no compromise with Palestinian and Israeli extremists: they must be fought against, with the full defense of Palestinian rights, which goes hand in hand with an unwavering commitment to the fight against anti-Semitism.
As utopian as it sounds, these two struggles are of the same kind. We can and should unconditionally support Israel's right to defend itself against terrorist attacks. But we must also sympathize unconditionally with the truly desperate and hopeless conditions facing the Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied territories. Those who think there is a "contradiction" in this position are practically preventing a solution.
(Project Syndicate; Peščanik.net; translation: M. Jovanović)
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