The ongoing
Israeli-Palestinian conflict is quite simple to outline yet it is one
of the most complex, divisive and enduring battles of our time. This
political and warlike crisis has killed thousands of people on both
sides, and so far has resulted in 5 million Palestine refugees1.
To put that into perspective, the biggest football stadium in Europe:
the Camp Nou
in Barcelona has a total capacity of around 100,0002;
thus meaning we would need 50 more Camp
Nou stadiums to house the entire
Palestinian refugee population!
The United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the near
east (UNRWA) defines Palestinian Refugees as: “persons whose normal
place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15
May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result
of the 1948 conflict”3.
It is
inevitable to wonder in hindsight what were the true motivations of
the policy-makers during that time, and how could they expect a
smooth, peaceful process following such an aggressive land allocation
initiative? The time machine does not exist (yet) but there is always
a solution for the present and future. Contrary to what others might
think, the complexity does not lie in the solution itself, the
difficult part is to accept the past, confront its mistakes and to be
capable of opening a channel of communication in order to move
forward. As Susan Abulhawa wrote in Morning
in Jenin (2010), “For if life had
taught her anything, it was that healing and peace can begin only
with acknowledgment of wrongs committed.”4
In last summer’s Israeli
Operations Protective Edge offensive more than 2,100 Palestinians
were killed in the Gaza Strip (of which 1,462 civilians, of whom 495
were children and 253 women), along with 66 Israeli soldiers and
seven civilians in Israel5.
Following this escalation of violence, in December
2014 the members of the European Parliament (MEPs) adopted a new
resolution supporting in principle recognition of the Palestinian
statehood and the two-state solution.
The two-state
solution is based on “the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as the
capital of both states, with the secure State of Israel and an
independent, democratic, contiguous and viable Palestinian State
living side by side in peace and security on the basis of the right
of self-determination and full respect of international law"6.
Interestingly
enough, in order to support the Middle East peace process and to
complement EU diplomatic efforts, the European Parliament has decided
to launch a “Parliamentarians for Peace” initiative to bring
together MEPs and MPs from the Israeli and Palestinian parliaments7.
This project reminded me of an inspiring and powerful documentary I
once saw called Promises (2001).
Directed by the Israeli-American filmmaker B.Z.
Goldberg, this documentary looks at the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict through the eyes of seven children living in or near
Jerusalem. Despite the surrounding, political propaganda and their
families prejudices, the children are able to develop natural bonds
by playing with each other even if they belong to opposite sides of
the conflict.
At times
traumatic episodes in history become taboos; unfortunately taboos do
not encourage debates nor solutions. Hopefully, future generations
will learn that an injustice, like the Jewish massacre in WWII,
cannot be solved with another injustice since this will inevitably
lead to an another horrific crisis with incalculable consequences.
As one of the
kids in ‘Promises’ says: “In war both sides suffer. Maybe
there's a winner, but what is a winner?”8
Palestine, Israel and all the international
actors involved in this conflict (external countries, Organisations
like the EU and the UN, lobbies and key economic players) will win
the moment they focus their power on a solution for their children’s
and grandchildren’s future. The pain and anger will not disappear
anytime soon, but these feelings are part of the answer if they are
transformed into energy to make a combined effort towards the
two-state solution dialogue.
1
Facts from the UNRWA website -
http://www.unrwa.org/palestine-refugees
2
FC Barcelona Club website -
http://www.fcbarcelona.es/club/instalaciones-y-servicios/camp_nou
3
UNRWA website - http://www.unrwa.org/palestine-refugees
4
Susan Abulhawa (Palestinian-American writer and human rights
activist) Morning in Jenin (2010)
5
BBC World News - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28439404
6
and 7 European Parliament News -
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/20141212IPR01105/html/European-Parliament-resolution-on-recognition-of-Palestine-statehood
8
Promises Project – Documentary (2001) -
http://www.promisesproject.org/nyt.html
