It is difficult to say when and how the war on
Gaza will end. Even as the UN Security Council passed a resolution on Monday
calling, for the first time since the war started six months ago, for a lasting
ceasefire, Israeli officials were quick to brush it off, saying they will not
stop until Hamas is defeated and the hostages are released. The US
representative at the UN, who abstained, stunned her colleagues when she said
that the resolution was “non-binding.”
اضافة اعلان
Negotiations for a temporary truce between
Israel and Hamas remain bogged down, while the humanitarian catastrophe in
beleaguered Gaza breaks new records every day.
What is
at stake today is not only the fate of 2.2 million Gazans, a just and lasting
settlement to the Palestine Question that is long overdue, and ending Israeli
exceptionalism, but the future of the world order that is tilting and is on the
brink of collapse.
The day
after the war ends will be the most challenging test for Israel, the
Palestinians, the US, and the countries of the region. One thing is clear
today: The Middle East will not return to how things were before October 7. The
same applies to the rest of the world as countries grapple with the fallout of
the war, the unfolding humanitarian crisis, the ensuing political gridlocks,
the veracity of the rule of law, the discredited international order, and
ultimate accountability.
The day after the war ends will be the most challenging test for Israel, the Palestinians, the US, and the countries of the region. One thing is clear today: The Middle East will not return to how things were before October 7. The same applies to the rest of the world as countries grapple with the fallout of the war, the unfolding humanitarian crisis, the ensuing political gridlocks, the veracity of the rule of law, the discredited international order, and ultimate accountability.
There will be a pressing need to examine the
root of the conflict, draw adequate conclusions, and adjust course to contain
blowbacks and prevent recurrence. That will necessitate soul-searching and the
adoption of bold decisions, some of which will be hard and painful.
For the Palestinians, the day after requires
addressing two crucial challenges: ending the political rift that has weakened
and splintered the Palestinian national movement and reviving and reforming the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the only legal body that represents
the will of the Palestinians, under occupation and in the diaspora. That body
must encompass all factions and hold democratic and free elections to choose a
new leadership that decides the future path for national liberation and self-determination,
all while renewing commitment to international law and UN resolutions.
The new leadership will have to tackle tough questions:
the future of the Oslo Accords, which Israel has all but abandoned, the
viability of the two-state solution, redefining the concept of Palestinian
statehood, and holding Israel accountable as an occupying power for its war
crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.
For Israel, there will be public demand to
investigate the events of October 7, but beyond that, pressure will mount to
hold early elections. Israel’s choice at the polls will determine the future of
the new Israel that Benyamin Netanyahu has helped create over the past decade.
The war on Gaza will represent a pyrrhic victory for Israel. It has never been
so isolated, paranoid, and demonized, eliciting feelings of a Masada Complex
and making Israel more dangerous to itself and others than ever before. After
inflicting such pain and horror on the Palestinians, Israel must confront the
ghost of its enduring curse: the occupation.
At that decisive juncture, the Israelis must
decide what path to take: either live in peace with the Palestinians, free of
occupation and subjugation, or relive the recurring nightmares of bloodletting,
abomination, and eternal guilt. Israel must also decide whether it will
continue to be a fortress, just like Masada, living by the sword only to perish
by it, or choose to become a normal state in the region.
The choices Israel will make will determine
its fate and that of the region as a whole. Its allies in the West must help it
make the right decision. Netanyahu’s Israel is unhinged, locked in delusions of
grandeur, and eventually bent on self-destruction.
Israel has become a liability for the US, not only in the region but across the world. That is for the American people to address and examine. For the Middle East, with its over 400 million citizens, the question is, can the US ever forge a regional policy that is independent of the narrow interests of Israeli expansionists and delusional religious warmongers?
For the larger Middle East, the day after the
war will require a comprehensive revision of the region’s collective security
imperatives. There is a genuine sense of urgency in resolving the Palestine
Question. A new security paradigm is needed to ensure that a repetition of the
Gaza debacle does not re-occur. The fundamentals of a peaceful resolution and
sustainable security for all must be redefined, and Israel will have to make a
choice that it had evaded for decades: end the occupation and be accepted in
the region.
Regional security means that the politics of
war, pursued by regional powers and their proxies, must end. That mantra must
apply to the entire region: Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.
Failing states must be supported and revived. Non-state actors must finally be
incorporated into central states. A new approach to resolving conflicts must be
discussed and considered through a regional association that aims at cushioning
the region against geopolitical upheavals and superpower polarization.
These are tall orders, but they are needed if
the region is to break the cycle of violence that has squandered the region’s
wealth, weakened national states, propped up non-state actors, triggered civil
and sectarian wars, and delivered famine and poverty.
Unless a bold initiative is proposed that
delivers a clear perception of the region post-Gaza war and beyond, the deep
fissures that threaten its future will run even deeper.
For the US, a new and fresh perception is
required away from the radical partisan politics of the past few decades that
have delivered a cynical, simplistic, and insulting view of the region, its
people, and its culture. The US must address the question of why it has become
so hated and reviled by the overwhelming majority of the people in this region.
At the heart of all of this is America’s controversial tie to Israel, one that
has stripped the US of any meaningful leverage during the Gaza war and made it
directly complicit in the genocide of the century.
Israel has become a liability for the US, not
only in the region but across the world. That is for the American people to
address and examine. For the Middle East, with its over 400 million citizens,
the question is, can the US ever forge a regional policy that is independent of
the narrow interests of Israeli expansionists and delusional religious
warmongers?
Beyond all this lies the fate of the
international world order, the rule of law, and the concept of justice and
impartiality under the law. Israel’s long-tolerated exceptionalism has ended,
and the world must inform Israel of this new reality. It must be held
accountable for its actions if the legitimacy of the world institutions is to
be upheld and respected. Israel cannot be the exception anymore.
Osama Al
Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.
Disclaimer:
Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Jordan News' point of view.
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