opinion@dailylobo.com
The people of Gaza took to the streets on Nov. 21 to celebrate the ending of an intense eight-day conflict. During those eight days, more than 160 Palestinians were killed, more than half of whom were civilians, including 37 children. In Israel, six were killed: four civilians and two soldiers. While this conflict was less devastating than the 2009 Operation Cast Lead, the fighting and effects on civilian populations were great. Indeed, Israel’s Minister of Defense Ehud Barak boasted after the cease-fire that Israel had dropped 1,000 times more explosives in Gaza than were fired at Israel.
While the cease-fire is indeed a blessing, there are a few things it is not. Firstly, it does not mean that the lives of Palestinians in Gaza will go back to normal. Secondly, the cease-fire will have no impact in resolving the larger root causes of this conflict.
When reported, the cease-fire is often shown as the ending of the conflict, a return to normalcy — however tension-filled that normalcy may be. But for the people of Gaza, a return to normal is a return to the daily struggles of an Israeli-imposed embargo, occupation and military siege. Since 2006, Israel has imposed a number of crippling restrictions on the Gaza Strip that have made obtaining basic necessities a difficult task. In 2011, the UN Human Rights Council ruled that these restrictions were a form of collective punishment and a “flagrant contravention of international human rights and humanitarian law.”
The daily realities of the blockade mean that one-third of Gaza’s arable land and 85 percent of its fishing area are inaccessible, while at least two-thirds of households in Gaza lack secure access to food. Often families must choose between getting food, water or medicine. Although part of the negotiations of the cease-fire included vague language about easing the blockade, it nonetheless seems this situation will continue. So while the bombs may have stopped dropping, the status quo remains.
The cease-fire and discussions around the ending of the conflict have not addressed the root causes that created this situation.
While negotiations may lead to some easing of the blockade on Gaza, there has been no talk about the larger issues of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, or of stopping the building of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. As the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza reaches its 46th year, talks around Palestinian statehood and sovereignty have been sidelined.
In addition, Israel continues to build settlements on Palestinian land in violation of international law, and maintains a military occupation that restricts the movement and the livelihoods of Palestinians, which worsen and deepen the tensions of this conflict. These issues must be brought back into the debate. While the cease-fire has ended the immediate killing, the conflict will inevitably continue if these deeper issues are not addressed.
