On Gaza, Israel and the Dream of a Lasting Peace

I am at a loss.

Hundreds of children in Gaza and Israel have died since the fighting began and countless more will die if it continues.

These are not Hamas fighters or IDF soldiers. They’re toddlers with runny noses and sticky hands, kids who check under the bed for monsters and fall asleep sucking on their thumbs. 

What price are we willing to pay to stop them from dying? 

What are we willing to surrender so that the kids who survive this war don’t grow up to become combatants in the next one? 

How do we create lasting peace so that these children can grow up in a safe, loving environment where they can speak their language and live in their culture?

Before I go any further, let me say this clearly: I am appalled at the explosion of violence that Hamas unleashed on Israel last week. And I pray for the families whose loved ones are among the hostages being held in Gaza right now. Saying that doesn’t negate the legitimate struggle for Palestinian statehood and the atrocities suffered by civilians during the occupation.

Right now, the loudest (and most prominent) voices in the West are calling for an escalation of this violence or — worse — spreading disinformation that puts civilians on both sides at risk. In the U.S., conservative columnist David Frum wrote yesterday that Gaza should only get humanitarian aid after Hamas is destroyed. In practical terms, that means thousands more civilians will die and more young men will be recruited into the ranks of an extremist group.

Yesterday, the IDF warned 1.1 million Palestinians that they had 24 hours to move to the southern part of the Gaza strip before the tanks start rolling in.

This is an impossible task. These people are sick and wounded, they’ve had access to potable water and electricity cut off, most of the roads that could take them south have been destroyed and they’re surrounded by walls.

For some patients at hospitals in northern Gaza, leaving would be a death sentence. And reports indicate that there are roughly 50,000 pregnant women who don’t have access to clean water and medical supplies. The IDF moving in on Gaza all but guarantees those women and babies lives will be put at risk. Many will die before they get to take their first breath in this world.

And just as Hamas has claimed that there are no innocent Israelis — that to merely be born in the Jewish state is to participate in the subjugation of Palestinians — Israeli president Isaac Herzog said Friday that all Palestinians are responsible for last week’s massacres.

Making matters worse, Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government depends on an alliance with right wing extremists who want to expand illegal settlementsin Palestinian lands and lay waste to Israel’s judicial independence.

None of this gives me hope for a peaceful resolution.

And again, let’s be clear: Hamas committed atrocities. At least 1,300 Israelis are dead and 150 have been taken hostage. Hamas advocates for the destruction of the Jewish state. Hamas has vowed to retaliate against air strikes by publicly executing Israeli hostages. I cannot fathom what their families are going through right now.

But to answer Hamas war crimes with IDF war crimes only means more children will die and more civilians who want nothing to do with this war will die. Just a few hours ago, we learned that an Israeli artillery attack killed a journalist and wounded six others in southern Lebanon. This will continue happening unless a ceasefire is brokered.

If there’s one glimmer of hope here, it’s that the majority of Israelis and Palestinians wanted peace before last week’s outbreak of violence. A poll conducted in July found 63 per cent of Gazans were in favour of Hamas keeping the ceasefire with Israel. Some 50 per cent of respondents want Hamas to stop calling for the destruction of Israel and accept a Jewish state based on the 1967 borders. These may not seem like groundbreaking numbers but they represent progress and war will only impede that.

In the West, we’ve seen a rise in both antisemitism and Islamophobic attacks since the 2016 election of Donald Trump.

Mass shootings and van attacks — carried out by white Christian men —have targeted Muslims and Jews alike. Many of the same MAGA maniacs calling on President Netanyahu to carpet bomb Gaza are also part of the profoundly antisemitic Qanon conspiracy movement. In Montreal last month, a neo-Nazi was sentenced to 15 months in prison for willfully promoting hate against the Jewish people.

Meanwhile, support for civilian victims on both sides of the conflict is being conflated with support for the IDF and Hamas. And much of that scapegoating is being done by politicians who know better.

But we’ve also seen signs of progress.

In Quebec, resistance to the Bill 21 religious symbols ban brought Jewish and Muslim communities together in an effort to defend each other’s right to freedom of conscience. That same solidarity was on display after the Quebec City mosque shooting and throughout tragedies experienced across the religious divide.

Of course, this must all sound incredibly naive as bombs reign over Israel and Gaza. But there is always hope and there is always the possibility of peace.

So again, I ask these three questions:

* What price are we willing to pay to stop children from dying? 

* What are we willing to surrender so that the kids who survive this war don’t grow up to become combatants in the next one? 

* How do we create lasting peace so that these children can grow up in a safe, loving environment where they can speak their language and live in their culture?

If the West can mobilize billions in aid to fight Russia, it has the resources to build the framework for a better future in Israel.

Right now, I can think only of how we get to a ceasefire and lasting peace.

And I invite you to do the same.

With love,

Chris

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EDITOR’S NOTE
 

To our Jewish and Muslim readers,

Please know that our thoughts are with you in this time. If you’re organizing events that promote peace, help get refugees humanitarian aid or if you just need a hug and a warm, plate of food, you can reach me at heytitocurtis@gmail.com.

Even if our politics are different, even if our aims may not be the same, we are neighbours and that means something. I will always fight for my neighbours and their children as if they were my own.

On a separate note, I will be taking a week or two off of writing. Things were getting heavy long before this war broke out and I don’t like where my head is at these days. Sometimes, it feels like I’ve been going nonstop for three years and if I keep pushing, I’ll collapse.

So I want to take some time to be with my daughter and Marie-Pier.