The World Is at Fault

The World Must Solve the Problem

Image of Hamas from Britannica

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By William A. Thomas

We are approaching fourteen months since Hamas led an attack against Israel on October 7^th, 2023. A ceasefire is now here, at least partially – and “peace”?

Results of this conflict are somewhat predictable based upon the history of this region. The relative peace that existed before the heinous October 7 Hamas attacks was shattered, and Israel responded! The conflict expanded beyond Gaza despite efforts to contain it. The death toll inevitably and significantly rose given an enemy that has purposefully superimposed themselves within a highly concentrated population located in a dense urban environment. Death and destruction, instability, and human grief were the outcome, which are the outcomes of all conflicts.

In response to this conflict, Western societies have displayed disheartening schisms of thought, and magical thinking with an almost Hollywood perception of war that defies logic, human nature, and physics. Conflict is ugly, imprecise, time consuming, and indiscriminate. What is also ugly is the blind ideology of elements of western societies that seem anti-Israel if not anti-Semitic and confer some form of righteous existence and ambivalence to non-elected, military terror groups that mandate the destruction of Israel and impose a brutal reign on their supplicants. Montreal based Hamas terror supporters or New York “Queers for Palestine” be damned.

Is anyone really surprised by the current state of affairs? The crisis in Gaza is an outcome of a failed ongoing process as the world has watched, pointed fingers, and always looked at someone else to solve the problems and achieve peace. The world enjoys half measures, decrees, and platitudes – these are easy and cheap. Yet none of these initiatives have resulted in ongoing peace in the region. Israel knows this and this is why Israel is undeterred in its efforts to crush their enemies (this time Hamas) and create a perception of a secure environment. Any truce achieved though, is only a reprieve until the next outbreak of hostilities.

The world is at fault for this situation and the world must solve the problem.

Note that I do not blame Israelis, and I do not blame Palestinians for this most current situation. I blame the world and more specifically the major power brokers who over the decades have funded each side, and which has resulted in only entrenched escalating attack-counterattack response scenarios and conflict, but no final peace. The world has stood by and allowed Gaza to fester under non-democratic unitary control for well over 18 years. Nor will the world acknowledge the real cancer to the peace process over the last two decades – Iran. We need to soberly acknowledge Iran as the real catalyst of this anarchy.

Seventy plus years of Israel fighting for survival, where they have had to resort to walled and armed borders and the most active air defense system in the world. Where thousands of rockets are pointed at them and also fired at them on a regular frequency. Where else in the world has the everyday existence in a working, functioning democracy been subjected to this type of threat and ongoing active attack? Canada? Germany? France? The United States? Where else would it be tolerated? Yet, Israel persists and will continue to exist. Israel has learned through the past 70 years that compromise for peace, never equates to their long-term security.

As for the Palestinians in Gaza, my heart goes out to a people who are in a position where their self determination as a people has been hijacked by high stakes political poker, where each and all sides seem determined to fund partial solutions that only maintain the status quo, or a position of hate. Average everyday Palestinians are used as a human “iron dome,” where Hamas has attacked with relative impunity for years with the full knowledge that Israeli counterattacks will result in an inevitable loss of life, playing to their stove piped propaganda and fundraising objectives. Furthermore, average everyday Palestinians are duped and used as an aid cause, where funds are siphoned off to fund Hamas military infrastructure, missing the opportunity for the creation of a successful Palestinian community in Gaza.

Israel has told the world that Hamas is an existential threat to Israel. This was fully demonstrated during the 7 October attack, although one could easily make the argument that this was previously demonstrated through the various past suicide bombing campaigns, rocket attacks, or their stated political aims! Are we learning impaired, naïve, or just plain intellectually lazy?

Hamas is a terrorist group and following 7 October, Israel has not rested or waivered in its aim to destroy Hamas. And in all fairness Hamas should be destroyed. Following this aim, Israel has systematically pursued Hamas and attacked them in Gaza, suffering significant losses. Predictably, with a population of over two million and half of them children, the invasion of Gaza created a level of collateral damage for Palestinians that is staggering and that will guarantee instability for decades to come. This war has yielded death, destruction, and hatred that will produce many disaffected people with no future and will result in a breeding ground for radicalism. The loss of military personnel and the loss of hostages will harden Israeli sentiment that the damage and cost of the conflict was, and is, necessary. With every lost child we harden the hearts of these peoples – Israelis and Palestinians.

And who is the winner in this whole conflagration? Iran. Despite world sanctions and frozen assets of over 100 billion, Iran continues as the chief exporter and creator of instability and hate in this region. Through its proxies, which includes Hamas, it achieves its intent. It is a regime that is solely bent on the destruction of Israel, and it does not care how many people in Gaza, the West bank, Lebanon, Syria, or anywhere else, need to be killed off to win at their chess game. The Palestinian peoples are just pawns to this regime. No peace is the Iranian regime end state and the most recent overtures by countries like Saudi Arabia for a stable Middle East are anathema to their aims. The predictable and yet necessary ground attack by Israel into Gaza will cement Iranian strategic objectives of sowing hatred and harvesting radicalism.

So, what is the way forward? Can peace be achieved? I think it is possible, but the world must take the fence post out of their collective backside and really make a concerted effort to achieve the aims of both Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza. I say in Gaza (as a start), but also with a view to starting other real collective agreements that achieve peace in this region. If we can make peace in Gaza work, there is hope for peace in all regions. So here it goes, simple but not easy…

1st – The world commits to the removal of Hamas from Gaza as well as any other terrorist factions that are aligned with Iran and that do not recognize the right of the existence of Israel. This does not have to be by force as necessary, but it does have to be policed and actioned in an ongoing fashion that provides real security for Israel. If this can be initially brokered by religiously aligned neighbouring countries as part of a military alliance under a United Nations mandate, so much the better. The long term and guaranteed real impact must be NO more rocket attacks, NO more suicide bombings, and NO more ground incursions into Israel from Gaza. With no more attacks and military buildup, there is no more requirement for Israeli counterstrikes.

2^nd – (Tied to 1) The world commits to establish Gaza as an independent Palestinian state. Not Gaza and the West Bank, just Gaza at this time and as a focal point. This would include the establishment of a substantive and ongoing military and United Nations presence to monitor all aspects of the society and the security of a fledgling democracy. And why not. Who says that there cannot be more than one Palestinian state?

3^rd – To provide a real future for this fledgling democracy the world commits to a substantial rebuild of this society. This will require a massive recalibration and buildout of infrastructure and would include the establishment of infrastructure that is under their own control. The provision of these resources must be under active international oversight.

As I said, simple but not easy!

Israel has heard this story before and has seen aid intended for Palestinians be converted into weapons, training, and infrastructure (tunnels) to further attacks against Israel. Why would Israel trust this process unless it saw real commitment by the world. The world must commit to skilled and capable troops on the ground and a commitment to dismantle all military threats to Israel out of Gaza. Otherwise, it is just all talk and platitudes, that provides no concrete security to Israel and no substantive way forward for Palestinians in Gaza. Put up or shut up.

This is not a small undertaking. It will mean initially, sizable professional ground troops and capability, including specialized engineering capability to dismantle the tunnels and infrastructure of Hamas, disarm militants, remove rubble and unexploded ordinance, and reengineer an urban society for the future. It will mean oversight on elections, healthcare, schools, policing, etc. It will mean real substantive funds to support the creation of business and industry and create a future for the people there. This will take time but if peace is to be achieved and the cycle of violence broken, I think two decades of peace should do it. That is what I believe is the minimum commitment necessary. Two decades of troops on the ground.

Beyond troops, what I have already indicated is that money will be required. Of course, a lasting peace will be worth the money but who initially should pay? Iran should. And I know that the world policy is to not harvest frozen assets from sanctioned countries, but in this case, maybe that policy should change. 100 billion in frozen assets can do a lot for peace and security, and the rebuild of Gaza. And if this use of frozen asset money sets a precedent, it could be a good precedent. Maybe one that could be leveraged over the frozen assets of Russia?

In conclusion, if the world wants peace in the Middle East this could be a blueprint for a way forward. But it will take real action and not just words to secure the beliefs of both Israelis and Palestinians. And it will take a sincere commitment of troops, resources, and sanctions against bad actors to get the job done.

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Thanks for reading. For more from this author, read DEI: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?

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