The current approach to the conflict in the Middle East has not produced any useful results. It is time for other approaches.
October 7th marks a turning point in the 75-year history of the State of Israel. This day is seen not only by Jewish citizens in Israel, but throughout the world as the second “Shoa”, as 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were savagely murdered by Hamas terrorists and more than 200 hostages were kidnapped to the Strip. of Gaza.
This event, as well as subsequent events in Gaza, mark the beginning of a new chapter that will affect the lives of millions of people, both in the Middle East and in other parts of the world.
The massacre, especially of young people participating in a music festival, is also a bitter defeat for Israeli citizens who want coexistence with the Palestinian population and support a two-state solution. After this cruel act, it will take years for the wounds to heal in order to establish good neighborly relations between Jews and Palestinians.
New crisis management
Hamas' attacks on Israel also mark a significant turning point in Western policy towards the Middle East. Because they showed that the previous policy failed. This applies equally to the approach of the US, the EU and Germany. It is obvious that the spiral of violence still does not allow for solutions. It is therefore necessary to find new ways and create confidence-building measures to resolve the conflict, which has been going on for decades, in the long term, in accordance with the United Nations Charter. The West needs a new management of the crisis in the Middle East.
The October 7 massacre is likely to prompt the current US administration of President Joe Biden to consider that long-standing US policy towards Israel needs to change. The fact is that the USA is the protective power of the State of Israel because, since its founding, the country has been faced with the threat of existential annihilation from its neighbors given its relative smallness and due to its positioning as a democracy in an environment of autocratic regimes.
The question of whether the US will change its current policy toward Israel is difficult to answer, especially since Israel is considered a success story in the eyes of many Americans. Indeed, despite external existential threats and its current internal fragmentation, the Jewish State has achieved enormous cultural, economic and technical successes.
However, the US government must be prepared to exert greater pressure on the current government of Benjamin Netanyahu, not only to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a reversal of Israel's occupation and settlement policies, but also to halt the spiral of violence in the region. to break through in the long term.
Military and economic aid to Israel should be linked to measures to end Israeli military dominance over the Palestinian territories, especially since Israel no longer even claims to follow liberal principles or moderate political concepts in the West Bank. A policy of moderation would also be in the interests of Israel's long-term survival.
The Biden administration's clearest overall vision has been its vocal defense of international laws and norms in response to Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine. The same norms and values should apply to the Palestinian issue, as the global south loudly demands.
International presence
The US and EU must also find new ways to confront the weak and corrupt Palestinian Authority system in the West Bank. They would have to link the granting of financial aid to compliance with democratic principles and human rights, as well as the holding of regular elections in the autonomous areas.
To this end, an international supervisory authority should be created, composed of representatives from the United Nations, the EU and the Arab League, to monitor compliance with democratic principles and standards within the scope of the autonomous authorities. The presence of international actors in the autonomous areas should also ensure that organizations such as Hamas and other extremist forces are not able to impose their will on the Palestinian population.
The October 7 attack and the resulting military counterattack by the Israeli armed forces in the Gaza Strip, with many civilian casualties, should also be an opportunity to relaunch the political process to secure a two-state solution, which has been neglected for years. In accordance with the conclusions of the European Council on the Middle East of 26 October, an international peace conference involving all parties to the conflict, as well as the UN, the EU and the Arab League, should be convened as soon as possible.
No military solution
Such a conference should not only define the objectives of a new Middle East policy, but also create the conditions for an independent Palestinian state with simultaneous security guarantees for Israel, in order to resolve the decades-old conflict.
October 7th is a sad turning point, but at the same time it is also an opportunity to resolve the most protracted conflict in the Middle East. It has been proven that terrorist organizations cannot be defeated by military means. Military means increase the risk of creating new experiences of violence and injustice. With a solution to the Palestinian conflict, Hamas and other extremist forces in the region would fade into insignificance.
A change in US foreign policy in the region would not only lay the foundation for lasting peace in the Middle East, but also strengthen moderate and democratic forces in Israel and among Palestinians who support Jewish-Arab coexistence.
Hope for millions
An international peace conference should define the conditions for breaking the cycle of violence in order to achieve long-term conflict resolution. Arab states could benefit not only from Israel's enormous economic, industrial and technical progress, but also from the experience of a democratic system.
A peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would give millions of people, not only in the region but also around the world, hope that humanism, universalism and respect for human rights have a chance to come to fruition, even in violent times.
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The author
Dr. Homayoun Alizadeh (* 1952 in Zurich) is of Iranian descent. He studied politics and law at the University of Vienna and graduated from the Vienna Diplomatic Academy. He worked at the Ministry of the Interior for several years.
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