Israel’s war of aggression right under our nose

The EUs foreign policy direction has justifiably been focussed on the war in Ukraine as the ongoing Russian aggression threatens peace and security on the continent.

The bloc has valiantly, even if with hiccups, stood up for Ukraine and imposed economic and trade sanctions against Russia.

Top EU officials and leaders of the member states have rushed to Ukraine for photo ops with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, signalling support to Kyiv and defiance to Russian aggression.

But just as the EU’s eyes, and indeed of the rest of the world, are focussed on the war in Ukraine, Israel has been conducting its own war of aggression against the Palestinian people right under our nose.

Israel’s hard-line government, which includes religious fanatics, is expanding illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank in breach of international law. Its ministers have carried out acts of provocation at the Al Aqsa Mosque/Temple Mount complex and taken steps to displace Palestinians from areas of east Jerusalem. Increasingly, the idea of a two-state solution has vanished from public discourse in what appears to be a concerted effort to expand Israeli territory and make any notion of a future Palestinian state unviable.

Israel’s heavy-handed approach has been overlooked by the EU, which seems to have lost all interest in the region.

And Malta, which has traditionally championed a foreign policy in support of the Palestinian cause for an independent and viable state alongside Israel, has lost its voice.

Palestinians remain desperate and unable to craft out a decent and prosperous living in Gaza and the West Bank. The dream of statehood has long faded into a sea of suffering.

And while Palestinians have their leaders to blame for the divisions that render them weak and voiceless – West Bank president Mahmoud Abbas is today an ineffective relic and Hamas in Gaza a band of pistoleros with no effective political leadership – the culprit remains Israel and its unrelenting efforts to suppress a whole nation to the point of despair.

Israel has a right to peace and security. Ordinary Israelis have a right to live in safe cities without the fear of being knifed, gunned or attacked by makeshift rockets coming from Palestinian areas. Israel has a right to exist.

But the very same rights Israel justifiably claims for itself are also rights that Palestinians should benefit from.

Palestinians also have a right to earn a decent living without the threat of restrictions imposed by Israel. Ordinary Palestinians have a right to live in decent houses without the fear of having an Israeli military operation come to bulldoze their neighbourhood. Palestine also has a right to exist.

The UN has long pushed for a two-state solution but without concerted backing from the US and the EU, it remains just a plan with no targets that Israel can flaunt at ease.

Meanwhile, using the excuse of carrying out anti-terrorist operations, Israel bombs Palestinian territories at will in military operations that erode the social and economic fabric of Palestinian cities and towns.

Israel blames Palestinians for terrorist attacks on its territory and against its civilians. These attacks are not justified but Israel fails to see that its very own actions are pushing Palestinian youths who have lost all hope into the clutches of extremists, who only know the language of violence.

It is crucial that this cycle of violence and retribution is broken and much of that onus lies on Israel, which is the stronger player in the equation.

Indeed, the international community cannot remain blind to the plight of the Palestinian people. A renewed effort must be made first and foremost to bring unity among Palestinians, including the holding of free and fair elections across all territories to give future leaders political legitimacy.

Sanctions against Israel, if it continues to flaunt international law and shun negotiations, must be contemplated.

But more importantly a fresh attempt must be made to create a two-state solution with adequate security guarantees for Israel.

A clear timeframe leading to a two-state solution is necessary because simply talking about it would not make it happen. Someone must step up as a guarantor and the EU, which is trusted by Israel but not as close to it as the US, can fulfil this role.

A lasting solution may require both sides compromising on several issues, including Israel moving its settlements out of Palestinian territories (it already did this in Gaza years ago) and the Palestinians giving up the right of return for refugees displaced when the state of Israel was created.

But just as Ukraine rightfully does not accept any loss in territory under occupation, Palestinians have a right to establish a viable state within pre-1967 borders. But crucially both states need to co-exist not just with each other but also by ensuring full rights for all their citizens irrespective of their faith and ethnic background.