By Tony Magliano –
Hamas brutally, and immorally attacked Israel, killing many innocent Israelis. No excuse can justify this! And no excuse can justify Israel’s counterattacks brutally, immorally killing many innocent Gazans!
As I write, Israel is preparing to execute a massive military attack on Gaza. This will surely inflict tremendous additional suffering upon countless innocent civilians – especially the children – and cause thousands upon thousands of additional deaths.
As we all know, the situation is already desperate.
Several years ago, I interviewed Bishop William Shomali, Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem and Palestine, who shared with me the ongoing injustices imposed upon Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank by the Israeli government. And sadly, it is safe to say that the situation is the same, if not worse today.
Bishop Shomali explained to me that among the serious hardships facing Palestinians is the Israeli imposed restrictions on movement. For example, he noted that Palestinians living in Bethlehem or Ramallah need to obtain a permit to go just six miles to Jerusalem. And permits are only given during principle feasts.
He said the ongoing illegal building of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is an extremely serious roadblock to a peaceful solution.
According to Amnesty International “Swimming pools, well-watered lawns and large irrigated farms in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories stand in stark contrast next to Palestinian villages whose inhabitants struggle to meet their essential domestic water needs. … In many places Palestinians receive water only one day per week or every few weeks, in some areas not for months at a time.”
Bishop Shomali told me that “Gaza is the worst case! It’s an open-air prison.” With the blockade, Israel completely controls who and what comes and goes in Gaza.
Bishop Shomali said that Hamas’ tunnel building in preparation for war against Israel and their numerous attacks against Israelis is also morally wrong. The many violent Israeli injustices against Palestinians, and Hamas’ violent attacks upon Israelis, is a vicious cycle that can only be broken with peace, he said.
To correct these injustices, Bishop Shomali said Israel needs to participate in good-faith negotiations toward the two-state solution: the establishment of an independent viable Palestinian nation coexisting peacefully with a fully recognized state of Israel.
He emphasized the two-state solution continues to be firmly supported by the Holy See (see: http://bit.ly/2yiABHl).
Regrettably, there is virtually no U.S. or Israeli support for the two-state solution.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. warned, “Violence begets violence; hate begets hate; and toughness begets a greater toughness. It is all a descending spiral, and the end is destruction — for everybody. Along the way of life, someone must have enough sense and morality to cut off the chain of hate.”
The U.S. gives Israel more than $3 billion dollars in military aid every year (see: https://bit.ly/3PZBE8F). And thus, potentially has significant influence with the Israeli government.
Please contact President Biden (see: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/) urging him to “have enough sense and morality to cut off the chain of hate” by putting full diplomatic pressure on Israel to stop its massive military attacks upon so many innocent Gazans, and to negotiate with Hamas for a quick cease fire to make possible food, water, and medical supply routes into all suffering areas, and safe corridors for all civilians – especially the children – to exit Gaza. And as a sign of good faith, urge Biden to clearly signal a strong commitment – with concrete steps outlined – toward the establishment of two independent, safe, viable states: Palestine and Israel. And please sign and circulate these petitions (click links: https://bit.ly/400N8xc, https://bit.ly/45DRPOA, https://bit.ly/3QjziTn).
And pray! Let us storm Heaven with personal prayers, group prayers, petitions in the Prayer of the Faithful during Mass – for peace between Israel and Hamas and all Palestinians. And for peace throughout the entire world.
And please make a generous donation to Catholic Relief Services’ committed efforts to aid the victims of the hellish Israel-Hamas war (see: https://bit.ly/3FHfmnz).
Pope Francis said, “Humanitarian law must be respected, above all in Gaza, where it’s urgent and necessary to guarantee humanitarian corridors and to protect the entire population. Brothers and sisters, there are already so many dead. Please, don’t shed innocent blood, not in the Holy Land, or in Ukraine, or in any other place!”
“Enough” the pope said. “Wars are always a defeat, always!”
Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated Catholic social justice and peace columnist. He is available to speak at diocesan or parish gatherings. Tony can be reached at [email protected].
The situation in Gaza and in Israel is indeed extremely nerve-racking and deplorable, to say the least, considering the reported kidnap of around 250 young women, children, old persons and even people with infirmities.
The brash remarks by Israeli PM and his team will only exacerbate the situation and aggravate the lives of reported 250 Israeli hostages (videos shown today on India Today TV). Such razor’s edge matters should be dealt with discreetly without being overly explicit about the military action to be taken. However, in today’s world everything crystallizes into business and war-like situation (India-China) and wars like the Ukraine-Russia war, are hugely profit-making businesses for nations which encash their advanced technology by manufacturing advanced weaponry of mass destruction in the name passing on cutting-edge technology and thus make poor and developing nations lose sight of economic & social development (constant indebtedness).
The irony of the whole mayhem is Hamas were promoted and bolstered by Israel to clip the wings of Yasser Arafat (first president of the Palestinian Authority and ironically also joint awardee of 1994 Nobel Prize for Peace along with Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres of Israel) just as Al Qaeda and its leader Bin Laden were created by the US to oust Russia from Afghanistan. The whole world knows of the ignominious exit of the US from Vietnam and Afghanistan.
Most importantly Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. As mentioned above, Hamas were promoted by Israel to usurp the power of negotiation from Yasser Arafat and has now turned out to be a Frankenstein. To conflate the Palestinians with Hamas only prolongs part of the misunderstanding at the very heart of this crisis. The United States and India too are committed to the Palestinian people’s right to dignity, to self-determination.
For peace and the two-nation theory (Israel and Palestine) a reality to become a reality, both the US and Israel have to play a leading role to bring Palestinians (and not Hamas) on the dialogue table, in the presence of Saudi Arabia which is preparing for long-term economic and other involvement with Israel. The current `war’ has also cast a shadow on the G20 resolution adopted at Delhi for an the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) in which Israel is a very important stakeholder.