[It’s distressing to see this nightmare unfolding precisely
because we’ve been down this same road so many times before and, by
now, should know exactly where it leads. It takes us back to where we
began. ]
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NO LESSONS LEARNED  
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Dr. James J. Zogby, President American Arab Institute
October 10, 2023
Washington Watch [[link removed]]

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_ It’s distressing to see this nightmare unfolding precisely
because we’ve been down this same road so many times before and, by
now, should know exactly where it leads. It takes us back to where we
began. _

In Ashkalon, Israel , Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times

 

It has been horrifying to watch this most recent iteration of wanton
violence in the Israeli-Palestinian arena. But it should not have been
unexpected. What can also now be expected is that the horrific murders
carried out by Hamas on day one will be more than matched by Israel as
it proceeds to use its massive military power to massacre thousands of
captive Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip. 

What is also par for the course is that the US, instead of playing the
role of the adult in the room, has once again reduced itself to being
a cheerleader and coat-holder for one side, enabling and supporting
Israel’s escalation of violence. In this regard, it was shocking to
note that the State Department deleted two of its initial statements
calling for restraint and protection of civilians, changing them to
statements offering Israel our full support. 

It’s distressing to see this nightmare unfolding precisely because
we’ve been down this same road so many times before and, by now,
should know exactly where it leads. It takes us back to where we
began. 

After the dust has settled and the tears have dried, other than having
thousands of dead to mourn and bury, we’ll be right back to where we
were when it started. The one change will be that hardliners on all
sides will have gained support - with no lessons learned - thus sowing
the seeds for another round of violence, at some indeterminate point
in the future. 

The lessons we should have learned are many. To begin with: just as
violence will not end the occupation, neither will violence end the
resistance to the occupation. Suicide bombers or Hamas rockets
didn’t bring peace, they only hardened Israeli attitudes against
Palestinians and peace. And Israel’s violent occupation, massive
retaliations, its strangulation of Gaza, and its brutal repression of
the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem hasn’t
squashed the Palestinian will to be free. It has only fueled more
resistance. 

Occupation and oppression are cruel and inhumane - and the
consequences of occupation can not be ignored. As a corollary of
this, efforts by the US and Israeli leaders, going back to Shimon
Peres, to build a New Middle East while failing to resolve the
injustices of the Old Middle East are doomed. Herein lies a critical
failure of this and past US Administrations. 

Instead of seeing the possibility that the Abrahamic Accords could
provide the US leverage to alter Israel’s behavior, the
administration ignored the extremist policies and practices of the
Netanyahu government by offering it more unearned benefits, further
imperiling the prospects for Palestinian rights and regional peace.
While the Israelis doubled down on apartheid, expanded settlements
increasing the de facto annexation of the West Bank, conducted nightly
undercover raids into Palestinian cities, allowed settlers to conduct
violent raids into Palestinian areas, and accelerated provocative
assaults into Jerusalem’s holiest sites - the US either acquiesced
or made do with expressions of “concern.”  At the same time, we
rewarded Israel with admission into the US Visa Waiver Program -
despite Israel’s failure to meet the program’s statutory
requirements - and issued frequent pronouncements of “unwavering,
unbreakable, unshakable” support.

The results of this US failure are clear. Hardliners in Israel have
been emboldened to behave like a spoiled child knowing that there are
no restraints on their behaviors. They therefore act with impunity.
Meanwhile, Palestinians believing that there is no recognition of
their humanity or their rights to freedom and security have come to
feel like the abused child. They therefore feel no hesitation to
strike out wildly to make their point. 

The bottom line is that it was, to be sure, unpredictable that Hamas
would engineer a surprise invasion of Israel, accompanied by the
killing of hundreds of innocents and taking hundreds more hostage. But
Israel should have known, and was warned, that the Palestinian
pressure cooker was bound to explode. At the same time, Hamas should
have known that Israel would respond with massive force that would
result in the devastation of Gaza and the killing of thousands of
innocent Palestinians. And they should have known that the US would do
nothing to restrain Israel’s massive and deadly assaults. 

While all parties share some degree of blame, I mainly fault
successive US administrations for failing to play its self-proclaimed
role of the promoter of human rights and peace. It has abdicated its
responsibility diminishing itself to become Israel’s partner in the
oppression of Palestinians. For shame.

***

_Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are
those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the
Arab American Institute. The Arab American Institute is a non-profit,
nonpartisan national leadership organization that does not endorse
candidates._

* Oct 7
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* 2023 Hamas Invasion; Israeli Attack;
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