JULY 25 — There is a very dispiriting fact about Malaysians that became noticeable over the years. A great many Malaysians engage in an activist culture often regarded as “seasonal activism”. Every two or three years, as an Israeli-Palestinian crisis emerges, Facebook will be rife with shared videos of the Gazan front, pictures of maimed women and children, changed profile pictures and articles condemning Israel.
As the crisis subsides, Malaysians then proceed to forget as they wait for the next cycle. Of course, a dedicated few stay resilient, some profile pictures remain supportive, and some even proceed to get involved in the activism for the issue.
But for the majority that rode the wave, with their #PrayForGaza hashtags and instagram photos, they continue life as usual. This is “seasonal activism” and it doesn’t contribute towards the resolution of the crisis.
But what may come off as controversial is this. Dedicated activists do not contribute towards the resolution either. There is an extreme disconnect between the demands of the activists and the reality of the situation. This is understandable, the Israeli-Palestinian issue is an emotional one for Malaysians as it involves ties to Islam and a large civilian casualty count. But Malaysians have to be enlightened of several key things considering that Malaysians tend to accept a great deal of absolutism in the issue.
First, both Israel and Hamas reside in grey areas of morality. For instance, Hamas engages in controversial tactics that have drawn criticism worldwide. One well-documented tactic includes picking up children to act as human shields as they race across streets from Israeli fire.
It doesn’t stop there, Hamas is notorious for setting up base in civilian-dense areas like hospitals and schools. The motive may prove shocking, but it has the intention of maximizing civilian casualties. This is because high civilian casualty counts provide Hamas with a PR victory, which obviously is successful. Not to mention that rockets launched by Hamas have the clear intent of killing civilians.
But of course, this is not to say that Hamas represents the proverbial “bad guy” of the conflict but there is an extreme disparity between how we Malaysians see Hamas in comparison with what they are. Hamas is so often romanticized. This should stop. Criticism should be levied where it is due.
Then there is the case of Israel, it would be hard to argue that Israel has any moral high ground. Its airstrikes are at best a secondary strategy, conducted to pave the way for a ground offensive. This would mean that the excessive casualties are avoidable. Israel does engage in the deaths of Palestinians but the line stops there. To some extent, Israel has the right to defend themselves since no state can stand idly by and let rockets kill their citizens. It’s unreasonable to expect them not to take military action.
The military conflict aside, the peace process proves to be just as ambiguous with regards to responsibility. In fact, Malaysians skirt a lot of detail, placing the blame entirely onto Israel. This is in fact only partially true. It is true that Israel proves to be uncooperative in the peace process as they insist on the building of settlements in the West Bank. But this isn’t the full picture. What Malaysians should know is that the current Israeli government is fragile and right-wing. A large component of the ruling coalition is the Jewish Home party which could be regarded as uninterested in peace. So, it would be fair to say that the current government is not interested in peace. To this bit, we can delegate blame towards the Israelis.
But there is a more fundamental problem in the peace process. Palestine (especially Gaza) will not recognise the Jewish state of Israel and this is the basic concession to make for peace. Israel has offered a deal before to Yasser Arafat in what is called a “Peace-for-Land” agreement where Israel hands over swaths of land in exchange for recognition at the 2000 Camp David Summit. However, Yasser Arafat notoriously turned it down and declared the Second Intifada.
Of course, at the time, having to accept the existence of Israel is a hard thing to swallow especially considering that there was a time in Yasser Arafat’s life when Israel never existed. But his solution was impractical and damaging.
The crux of the Israeli-Palestinian issue is this. The inability of both sides to make key concessions to achieve peace is the main reason for the conflict. This is where the world community, in our case, namely Malaysia should play a role. We have to realign our priorities on what should be the most important goal of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, save Palestinian lives and livelihood.
This requires us to assess the realities involved and apply pressure objectively. Malaysians should refrain from supporting Hamas purely because they’re Muslims. Malaysians should understand, although begrudgingly, that an Israeli state exists. Finally, we should acknowledge a simple fact. With the building of settlements by the Israelis, key concessions have to be made, otherwise, there will be no Palestinian state, no Palestinian people.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
