On Thursday, November 30, Palestinian Authority (PA) was recognized as a non-member observer state in United Nation (UN), by overwhelming votes. Out of the 193-member assembly, 138 countries supported the PA bid. Nine, including the United States and Israel, opposed the resolution. There were 41 abstentions.
It was indeed a great diplomatic achievement and a way forward towards resolution of political conflict. The two participants of conflicts, without having set unanimous strategy, ensuring durable peace, might not establish protracted peace. Let's hunt the underlying agents sparking the conflicts and probable measures that could lead to a sustainable peace.
The conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is about the right to self- determination, statehood and territory. It is also about national, religious and cultural identity. For more than 65 years there have been conflicts between Palestinian nationalism and the Jewish national movement: Zionism. The six day war in 1967 resulted in the Israeli army occupying territories in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights and separating Palestinian communities living there. Israeli settlements were and are built and the Palestinians endured and are enduring violence and discrimination.
The Israeli- Palestinian conflict has lead to massive violations of human rights and humanitarian law, as well as a culture of fear, abuse, oppression and repeated violent attacks. Several peace agreements and diplomatic attempts have not been able to resolve the conflict. Years of abuse, oppression, powerlessness and despair have caused some Palestinians to participate in direct violence, as they see this as the only effective method of resistance. However, the use of direct violence against the militarily and economically superior Israeli opponent has been counterproductive. Direct violence leads to a cycle of hatred, revenge and more violence, with little hope for lasting peace.
A 'separation wall' has been built by the occupying forces in an attempt to secure parts of the West Bank for Israeli civilians. However, the separation wall, labeled the 'apartheid wall' by Palestinians, has been an obstacle to peace building and is perpetuating the conflict for both Israelis and Palestinians. The wall is preventing cooperation and the development of relationships necessary to build peace. It is contributing to the creation of an enemy image of 'the other' by both physically and symbolically dividing Israeli and Palestinian people.
The Palestinians experienced the occupation of their territory as deeply unjust, as they claim to have been the majority living in that area for centuries. A group or population dominated by an environment of hatred as a result of perceived unjust treatment will often have a tendency of explaining the injustice by creating an image of the evil 'other'.
This enemy image is obvious among some Palestinians as they regard Israelis as evil and do not recognize the existence of an Israeli State. Similarly, the Israeli national movement has created an enemy image of Palestinians as terrorists who want to destroy Israel. Some schoolbooks have portrayed Palestinians as evil and some Israelis refuse to recognize a Palestinian entity. Thus they are both justifying the violence against each other.
Palestinian terrorist attacks such as suicide bombings against Israelis have been counter-productive, leading to a dehumanizing of Palestinians among Israelis. Such violent attacks have created a lot of hatred, fear, insecurity and mistrust among Israelis and have negative consequences for the Palestinian resistance movement.
Palestinian suicide bombings result in an increase in the use of Israeli military force. Israeli military operations are seen as legitimized as a result of Palestinian suicide bombings, of which images of dead civilians are reported and broadcasted worldwide, providing the Israelis with sympathy from the International community. Thus, the cycle of violence continues.
Edward Azar (a Lebanese professor of International Relation and Politics) distinguishes between three types of human needs; acceptance needs, access needs and security needs. Acceptance needs include recognition of identity, focusing on cultural values and heritage.
Access needs include participation in political, market and decision- making institutions and Security needs include physical security as well as nutrition and housing.
Grievances resulting from need deprivation are part of the conflict among both Israelis and Palestinians. The deprivation of physical security creates an environment of fear and insecurity which escalates the conflict. Also, for many Palestinian refugees, deprivation of physical security in the form of housing has contributed to the conflict.
Acceptance needs such as recognition of the Palestinian cultural identity has been grossly violated by the Israeli occupation. Israeli soldiers have regularly attacked Palestinian schools, libraries, galleries and cultural centers where they have destroyed symbols and objects of significance to Palestinian culture such as; books, art works, historical objects, films, music instruments and intellectual properties. They have also regularly bombed or bulldozed Palestinian gardens and olive groves.
E. Azar claims that all of these security and identity needs are essential and that denial to these human needs in a society is a source of protracted social conflict. By protracted social conflict Azar refers to "hostile interactions which extend over long periods of time with sporadic outbreaks of open warfare fluctuating in frequency and intensity."
An important way that Palestinians can participate in conflict transformation is through resistance based on nonviolence and civil disobedience. Nonviolence has been defined as a set of attitudes, actions or behaviors intended to persuade the other side to change their opinions, perceptions and actions. It uses peaceful means in order to strive for the goal of peace with justice. Nonviolence has been strongly promoted by Gandhi referring to it as a 'people power' movement.
Such nonviolent methods might include demonstrations, sit-ins in the streets, joint marches and protests with Israeli peace forces at checkpoints, strikes, boycotting Israeli products, withdrawing deposits from Israeli banks, withholding taxes, continuing to harvest olives, educating about the impact and nature of the occupation and publishing leaflets.
Palestinians have had a long history of nonviolent resistance against the Israeli occupation. However, the nonviolent activities have not been internally and externally acknowledged. Instead, there has been a focus on Palestinian violent resistance, both locally, among the leaders and in mainstream and international media.
The purpose of nonviolent action is to force the Israeli occupation to withdraw and to prevent further oppression. Although this method can be challenging, costly and difficult, it might bring the Palestinians closer to achieving their goal over time.
When engaging in nonviolent activity, Palestinians protest against the injustice that they suffer and aim to make this injustice obvious to all parties to the conflict as well as the international community. Due to gradual loss of resources and sympathy, nonviolent action might challenge the sustainability of the Israeli occupation. Nonviolent action is most successful when supporters and participants include people from all levels of society, including grassroots, civil society and the Government/ leaders. A fragmented Palestinian leadership is an obstacle to the peace- process.
Currently, this fragmentation is very obvious within the Palestinian Parliament, where Hamas (an Islamist group), which holds most seats (±76) and Fatah (±43 seats) which has been the ruling party for over 40 years, are struggling with conflicts. The secular Fatah party has lost credibility and legitimacy due to corruption and is facing a decrease in power as a result of the Hamas win in January 2006 elections.
However, vibrant internal consensus, nonviolent action, joint activities and dialogue, enclosing political will, are ways which can bring Palestinians and Israelis closer to achieving peace without violating of human rights. This is an innovative approach to Palestine-Israel conflict!