I came across an article by Ori Nir, who is described as a man of peace from Jerusalem. There are people who speak of peace in that region. Many aspects keep peace away, but I feel the more one talks of it, or writes about it, there will be hope and eventually peace some day.
There is a reason which Nir says makes this incursion by Israel quite different from all others. (It seems to answer my wondering as to who is David and who is Goliath).
Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and drew a huge allied support from its Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood counterpart,which was overthrown by the Egyptian Army. Hamas also lost support from Iran when it sided with the Brotherhood against Bashar Assad in Syria. Alongside this there is a brewing opposition to Hamas rule and corruption within Gaza.
In the meanwhile attacking Israel, the resultant military reaction and international attention seems to be a strategy for the Hamas to exist.
There has been an outcry to the Israeli actions and international attention diverted to support the people of Gaza, which is understandable. Peace talks by Egypt have been boycotted and I think Israel believes in arriving at peace, or calm as thy call it, through military action to seek and destroy the tunnels and the Hamas leadership. Collateral civilian casualties in the action will have a negative effect on Hamas.
Peace proponents like Nir and the Israeli General’s son Miko Paled, and I am sure there are many many more, need to be brought to the fore through every possible media to talk about peace, long lasting peace.
There will eventually be a ceasefire and end to hostilities, which will be a natural outcome given the asymmetrical nature of the opposing forces. I can not say that the future happiness of the Palestinians will be in the hands of Israelis, perhaps because of an element of Zionism, a sense of superiority and military pride they hold to deny justice to the Palestinian people. Any concession on the part of Palestinians to accept Israel for the injustices of the past will always remain the burden of any governing body within Palestine.
Having a strong government with leadership to form Palestine as a state will rest on a democratic process to bring in leadership that is not reliant upon an opposition to Israel, but a need to establish the safety of its own people. There is a possibility, according to Nir, if legal order is restored in Gaza by bringing back the Palestinian Authority which was ousted by the Hamas in 2007, next the reinstating the US trained Palestinian forces that did a great job in restoring peace and order on the West Bank and last but not the least to hold free and fair elections.
Elections are the only way to bring back moderate factions, even ones like Fatah.
Israel despite its military prowess, is insecure and is adamant about the Oslo II agreements, which restricts Palestinian life in a rather repressive way:
This Agreement, (of 1995) also known as the Taba Agreement, called for Israeli withdrawals from various Palestinian areas and expanded Palestinian self-rule. It divided the West Bank and Gaza into three areas, controlled by either Israel, the Palestinians, or Palestinian civil authority with Israeli military control. Oslo II also allowed Palestinian election, which took place in 1996. Among other provisions, the Agreement also provided “safe passage” to Palestinians travelling between Gaza and the West Bank, although Israel was also allowed to legally close crossing points into Israel if deemed necessary.
Peace is illusive for the moment, the tone of the engagement is seen in the meaning of the words of Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu and Ismail Haniyah. Israel has defined its mission as the de-construction of the terror outfits within Gaza. The Hamas on the other hand will not budge from what it considers fair demands of its people.
