The war in Gaza must end. A cease-fire is the last hope for limiting what is already an unspeakable humanitarian catastrophe. A cease-fire is also the only chance to forestall the spread of a regional war in which United States forces are already enmeshed. More war will produce only more deaths.
The brutal Hamas terror attacks in Israel on Oct. 7 triggered a relentless Israeli assault on Gaza and increased violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. The desire for vengeance is understandable.
But vengeance cannot lead to Peace–only to increased fear and hatred.
The assault on Gaza has produced an unimaginable human calamity. More than 22,000 Gazans have been killed, nearly half of them women and children. More than 50,000 have been wounded. Eighty-five percent of Gazans have been forced from their homes. Sixty percent of the housing stock in Gaza has been destroyed. Between Oct. 9 and Oct. 21, Israel imposed a complete siege on Gaza – cutting off access to electricity, food, water, and fuel. Under international pressure, some humanitarian aid has been allowed since Oct. 21 but nowhere near what is needed to forestall the spreading of starvation and disease. Now, UN officials are warning that literally hundreds of thousands are on the verge of death.
On Dec. 28, the South African government filed an application with the International Court of Justice to begin hearings against Israel for genocide in Gaza. Its detailed application described both the horrendous conditions of Gaza before Oct. 7, as well as the staggering destruction since. It also arrayed the statements of Israeli leaders indicating their intention to eliminate Gaza. Israel has denounced the application, but its leaders will have a hard time refuting the evidence.
Now, the war threatens to ignite a regional conflagration. Israel is already skirmishing with Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, with thousands of Israelis evacuated from their homes on the border. Shipping in the Red Sea has come under attack from the Houthis from Lebanon, acting in solidarity with Hamas. U.S. forces have been under fire in Syria and Iraq. U.S. ships are engaged in the Red Sea. Terrorist attacks in Iran have elicited warnings to Israel. The ominous possibility of an Israeli-Iran war will ignite the entire region.
To date, President Biden has committed the United States to Israel’s defense, shipping weapons, vetoing resolutions in the Security Council, standing virtually alone at Israel’s side. Despite this support, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, has scorned Biden’s call for adhering to the laws of war, dismissed Biden’s pledge that Gazans shall be allowed to return to their homes (or what’s left of them), and mocked Biden’s statement that Palestinians must govern Gaza after the war ends. Netanyahu’s leadership is particularly troublesome because he will surely be booted from office when the war ends and face criminal charges for corruption and more. He has every personal incentive to continue and expand the war.
This weekend, RainbowPush will host a conference of religious, political, and citizen leaders coming together to call for a ceasefire and to plan how to augment the already growing citizen demand for the U.S. to act to end the violence.
There are 7 million Jews in Israel and Palestine and nearly as many Palestinians. No matter how powerful the Israeli military or how violent the various Palestinian groups, military force offers no road to Peace or to security. In the end, Israeli security and Palestinian freedom are two sides of the same coin. There is more than enough pain and blame on both sides. In the end, they will either learn to live together, or they will surely destroy one another. Wars, as Dr. Martin Luther King taught us, are “poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” The chain reaction of violence generating more violence must be broken.
That can only begin with a ceasefire and immediate, massive humanitarian aid to avoid a human catastrophe that will never be forgotten. And that must begin now. With the administration unwilling to act, the Congress frozen, and the dogs of war unleashed, it is up to citizens of conscience to make their voices heard and to demand action now before it is too late.
We celebrate war heroes. But as Thomas Merton, the great Catholic philosopher, taught us, “Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth…”
Now, it is time for heroic efforts for Peace.
You can write to the Rev. Jesse Jackson in care of this newspaper or by email at jjackson@rainbowpush.org. Follow him on Twitter @RevJJackson.
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