How to solve the endless cycle of Gaza war

Khandoker Asef Safa Kabir :

When the pandemic ended, we optimistically envisioned that we would wake up in a more humane world, a world where people around the world are not confined in their narrow realms of blind self-interest.

However, the recent violence in the Middle East and other parts of the world made me rethink.

The war in Ukraine, the attack on Israel and Gaza, and the unmitigated plights of the people of Palestine once again shocked us to the core.

And while we binge-watch our gruesome dose of violence on our biased TV channels, just like a favourite Netflix show, and bet on the outcome like a high-stake NFL match, we seldom ask the most quintessential questions: Why do such things happen in our world? Where does it have its roots? And most importantly: What is the long-term solution? In most cases, we don’t ask those questions.

As we are too busy asking more alluring questions, such as,’how much did ‘Barbie’ earn so far? ‘and ‘why did Elon Musk rename Twitter?’

The civilized world unequivocally opposed the attack on the civilians of Israel. Women and children were brutally killed, homes were burnt down, innocent civilians indiscriminately lost their lives. This is truly horrific.

Nevertheless, what Israeli’s endured on October 7 the people of occupied Palestine have endured for decades. Why do such atrocities occur? The answer is we live in a world full of double standards.

We witness countless news of Palestinians being killed, beaten, imprisoned, blockaded, incarcerated, intimidated, humiliated, shot at, bombed at everyday, and the Western media and world leaders seldom seem to pay any attention in response.

It is as though, the lives of some people in our world don’t necessarily matter, and don’t necessarily have the status of a ‘human life’.

The life of a stateless Palestinian, or a poor South Asian migrant worker, or a destitute African refugee quite negligible compared to the life of an Israeli, a British, or an American.

Unfortunately, economically and politically, disadvantageous people have been dehumanized in all possible ways in our unjust world.

As the strength of money, weapons, capitalism, and neo-colonialism cast their bleak shadows on our basic human values, we observe all moral considerations are being trampled by insensitive, inequitable global policies.

We painfully observe even the nations that are supposed to be Palestine’s closest allies, remain shamefully silent, when Israeli right-wing leaders quite insensitively approve illegal settlements, or make people in the Gaza strip live under incredible hardship by imposing an inhuman blockade for years.

We forget to protest whenPalestinians lose their right to worship at their sacred religious site, or when pictures of bombed and mutilated Palestinian babies appear relentlessly onsocial media.

We seldom see much attention or discussion about such occurrences on the global media.

Consequently, after we witness the resultant deaths and destructions, the world leaders cogently denounce terrorism, and defiantly declare a war against terrorism.

They conveniently forget to ask themselves what makes someone turn into a terrorist, and what makes someone turn into a suicide bomber.

History shows that when some people remain stateless for generations; when some people live in a confined territory, where food, water and medicines are cruelly controlled by those who occupied their land; when some people are denied the right to access proper education, sanitation, and healthcare; when someone lose their entire family in an airstrike; they willsometimes inevitably resort to violence.

Now, as we witness destructive animosity and antipathy brewing in the Middle East, we must courageously ask ourselves what sort of environment foster hatred and animosity.

If we create a world where a group of forgotten people unjustifiably live in the acute darkness of oblivion, and right beside them their oppressors live a life of unlimited abundance, assurance, and opulence, then we can never build a world free from lethal hatred and violence.

Can such violence be avoided in the future? Yes, it surely can be, but for that we need a massive shift in our mindset, as well as in our global policies.

The Western media is rather more interested in fulfilling its own strategic goals.

Likewise, Western political leaders are more interested in fulfilling their own political agenda at the expense of adopting a more nuanced, humane, and neutral stance that can create a stable global political atmosphere, where everyone is ‘obliged’ to respect each other’s rights.

The problem is most Western political leaders and major Western political parties are generally not guided by a strong moral conscience.

Instead of being guided by what’s ethically right, their timid policies are rather shaped by who vote for them, and most importantly who their major donors are.

Many of the problems we see in our world today are rooted in this lack of moral conscience that characterizes some of these key policy makers of our world.

In war, we can take sides for our own convenience, but we shouldn’t forget that at the end of the day it affects all of us negatively.

The sight of a dead Israeli child is as psychologically debilitating as the sight of a dead Palestinian child.

It doesn’t really matter if a mutilated cadaver at a battlefield is black, brown, or white. It reminds us of how badly we all failed to create a world free of conflicts.

The same pain that an Israeli felt after losing a family member will be felt by thousands of people in Gaza who will lose everything in this brutal war.

At the end, this will do nothing but boost the recruiting capacity of the so-called terrorist organizations around the world.

So, what is the long-term solution? As many have pointed out in the past, it would be unwise to seek a military solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The long-term solution is political and diplomatic in nature.

No nation in the world wants its citizens to live under continuous oppression or security threats. Just as no one is born as a terrorist, most people by nature don’t enjoy killing innocent civilians.

A peaceful two-state solution seems impossible now as there are political elements on both sides that oppose it.

However, proactive public pressure on both sides and truly neutral global and regional interventions can eventually make a two-state solution possible.

However, it must also be noted that a two-state solution must be fair and equitable for all parties involved.

Such a solution where two fully independent, dignified nations peacefully coexist can finally bring an end to this violence for good.

However, to achieve that goal, global and regional leaders must play their unbiased parts.

Two different religions or nations can peacefully coexist side by side in any part of the world. All we need is a realization that my neighbour is as human as I am.

The author, a former Lecturer of the School of Business and Economics of North South University, Dhaka, is currently teaching International Business at Amberson College, Canada.