John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Folk Rocker in his Concord home, Minds Crossing. He can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com. 

 

The reports of Israeli military raids on cities in the Israeli-occupied West Bank invoke personal memories for me. I remember living for three months in 2010 with Palestinians in their village of Jayyous in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Surrounding the village were many Israeli checkpoints, restricting movement. There was an Israeli checkpoint between Jayyous and their farmland. With the war, the policy of the Israeli military would be to close access to the farmland.

I remember traveling to worship at a Palestinian Christian church in the city of Nablus. Now that Nablus has been raided by the Israeli military, Palestinians and I would no longer be able to travel to the church. Nor would I be able to visit friends in Jenin, Tulkarem or the Al-Faraa refugee camp, cities that have been raided by Israeli soldiers.

Also, whereas in 2010 I witnessed military raids on individual Palestinian homes to arrest a teenager for rock throwing, today whole villages are being bombed, the people fired upon, and infrastructure demolished by Israeli bulldozers. And whereas I stood in Palestinian olive groves in view of Israeli settlements, now civilian settlers are attacking villages and farms with the sanction of the Israel military. I grieve for the plight of Palestinians living in the West Bank today.

Because of the catastrophic conflict in Gaza, we do not hear much about the war in the West Bank. In this Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory, Israel has gone rogue. My friends are not safe anywhere in the West Bank. Israeli forces have surged into the area with columns of armored vehicles, bulldozers, fleets of armed drones and hundreds of troops. The Associated Press reports in the Concord Monitor, “Large forces had entered Jenin … as well as Tulkarem and the Al-Faraa refugee camp… The raids were the first stage of an even larger operation.”

The New York Times reports that there have been “more than 600 Palestinians killed in the West Bank in clashes with Israeli soldiers and civilians, according to the United Nations.”

A Palestinian friend reports that more and more Palestinian youth are being radicalized and tempted to join terrorist groups because in their whole lives they have known nothing but oppression from the Israeli military.

United States policymakers are troubled over the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians during these conflicts. The United States is adamant about maintaining friendship and a special relationship with Israel, unequivocally supporting the existence of the State of Israel. At the same time, many empathize with the plight of the Palestinians seeking to maintain a homeland.

However, some argue that attention should be on other wars that flagrantly flaunt justice for the people. Caritas Czech Republic Humanitarian Aid and Development Cooperation reports, “The world is currently experiencing a record number of conflicts and crises since the end of World War II.”

Here are some examples. Gaza is currently the deadliest place for civilians in the world. Over 40,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip and more than 90,000 others have been injured.  Some 1.9 million people have been forced to leave their homes, almost the entire population of Gaza. In Sudan, more than 15,000 people have lost their lives and more than 30,000 others have been injured as a result of the fighting. Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, attacks on civilians and infrastructure have intensified in the country, leaving 14.6 million in Ukraine in need of humanitarian assistance. In March this year, the war in Syria entered its 14th year. The situation in the country remains dire, with up to 70 percent of all Syrians in need of humanitarian aid. And The Democratic Republic of Congo is facing a renewed offensive by the M23 rebel group, increasing humanitarian needs to an estimate of 25.4 million people, the highest of any country globally.

The news about the wars in Israel / Palestine may remind us that no one should glibly tolerate aggression among human beings. Because of the special relationship between Israel and the United States, perhaps there is the possibility of exploring alternatives to war. They maintain that part of the glue that holds them together are their “shared values.” One of those values is front and center in daily reporting on the war in Gaza. The operative word is “humanitarian.” Every day there are speculations and predictions about humanitarian assistance for the 1.9 million people in Gaza who have been forced out of their homes. Every war and crisis event in our world are followed by the offering of “humanitarian” assistance.

Imagine Israel and the United States abandoning the choice of war and instead agreeing on a primary value of developing humanitarian relationships. Imagine humanitarian assistance becoming the default response to troubled people and nations, including Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank. Imagine humanitarian organizations demonstrating that it is obsolete to solve conflict through war or rebellion: humanitarianism becoming the ethic and the law of the land.

Then perhaps the oppressed young Palestinians would no longer turn to terrorist organizations to solve their plight. Together, we could begin to build a new vision of dignity, hope and plausible peace.