Rebuild Gaza and Establish True Peace in the Region
- von: Care2.com
- empfänger: George J. Mitchell, U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace
There is relative peace in Gaza in the aftermath of Israel's war with Hamas earlier this year. With thousands of homes destroyed, people there have a new concern: rebuilding.
It's a daunting task with approximately 4,000 homes destroyed and 17,000 damaged during the bombardment. And the process is complicated by the fact that even cement is political in Gaza. Israel fears that construction supplies will be appropriated by Hamas and strengthen the group's hold over Gazan society. But if the border remains closed, Hamas has no incentive to continue the ceasefire.
The current situation is a symptom of a larger vicious cycle. Israel won't let goods freely enter Gaza because of Hamas' rocket attacks, but Hamas won't stop the attacks while Israel continues its stranglehold over Gaza's border.
The United States needs to fundamentally change its approach to encouraging peace in the Middle East in order to recognize the reality of this cycle. Urge the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace to go outside of the views expressed by their political leaders; to ask how we can get everyone access to school, health care, jobs, security and opportunities to provide for their families. By providing these basic human rights, we can help rebuild Gaza and establish true peace in the region.
How do we rebuild Gaza? It's an urgent and daunting task with approximately 4,000 homes destroyed and 17,000 damaged during the Israeli bombardment early this year. And the process is complicated by the fact that even cement is political in Gaza. Israeli officials fear that construction supplies will be appropriated by Hamas and strengthen the group's hold over Gazan society. But if the border remains closed, Hamas has no incentive to continue the ceasefire.
The current situation is a symptom of a larger vicious cycle. Israel won't let goods freely enter Gaza because of Hamas' rocket attacks, but Hamas won't stop the attacks while Israel continues its stranglehold over Gaza's border.
Or more generally, neither side trusts the other, and neither will give up dearly held positions; Israel's settlements and Hamas' failure to recognize the state of Israel.
In 2001, the fact-finding committee on Mideast violence, which you chaired, released a report calling on Israel to freeze settlements in the West Bank and on Palestinians to prevent gunmen in Palestinian-populated areas from firing on Israeli towns and cities. Clearly these same issues (and their outgrowths) continue to be obstacles to peace.
You've said that "Conflicts are created, conducted and sustained by human beings. They can be ended by human beings." That's just the approach that's needed to rebuild Gaza and to establish peace in the region. As a result, the United States needs to fundamentally change its approach in the Middle East in order to recognize the reality of these vicious cycles at work.
I urge you to please consider the lives of all people living in the Middle East and go outside of the views expressed by their political leaders; to ask how can we get everyone access to school, health care, jobs, security and opportunities to provide for their families. Rebuilding Gaza and establishing true peace in the region depend on being able to provide these basic human rights. And that means that the United States needs to be a truly honest broker looking out for the interests of all the people involved, Israeli and Palestinian.
