The Current Crisis between Israel and Hamas
The violence since the
first week of October 2023 has been heart-wrenching and breathtaking. More than
a thousand Israelis and guests of Israel (mostly non-combatant civilians) were
killed, and more than 200 were taken hostage in the Hamas attack on October 7,
2023. Immediately following that attack,
more than 11,000 Palestinians, the vast majority civilian - including more than
6,000 children - have been killed by Israeli military airstrikes and attacks. Tens of thousands more have been injured. Water sources have been destroyed and
hospitals and other critical infrastructure in Gaza have been rendered
unusable. Attacks by armed settlers and
Israeli military forces in the West Bank are on the rise. Both the Hamas and Israeli
attacks have shown a brazen disregard for international law and norms of human
decency. The Israeli military has killed
more journalists and United Nations workers than any other recorded conflict. The Israeli/Palestinian conflict has long
been a spiral of violence, which was accelerating before October 7, 2023 and
now threatens to engulf the Middle East region.
As a peace and justice organization, we call for an end to the violence,
and call for the processes that
encourage all people in the region to recognize their shared humanity and the
right to peace with justice.
DATA UPDATE – Oct. 3, 2024
Meta Peace Team’s
Perspective on the Conflict in Palestine/Israel
- We recognize the right of
both Palestinians and Israelis to live in justice, peace, and security.
- We do not advocate any
particular solution to the crisis but support a just solution agreed upon by
both Palestinians and Israelis.
- We support an end to
violence by all parties in all forms so that peace can take root.
- We recognize the right of
self-determination of the Palestinian people.
- We reject all forms of religious hatred and racism
that may manifest themselves in this crisis, whether the source is an ally or
an opponent.
- We recognize the Occupation
of Palestine as an act of ongoing violence that must end for peace to come to
fruition in the region.
- We recognize the daily
humiliations and restrictions that Palestinians experience at the hands of
armed settlers and the Israeli Military (IDF) as a form of violence.
- We recognize the pain,
terror, and long-term psychological distress that the attacks on innocent
civilians inflict on the Israeli people as their own form of violence.
- We recognize the pain,
terror, and long-term psychological distress that home demolitions, land
confiscation, and attacks on innocent civilians inflict on the Palestinian
people as their own form of violence.
- We recognize the pain -
emotional and physical - caused by military service in the Occupied Territories
by Israeli soldiers as a form of violence.
- We support international
law and the United Nation Resolutions regarding the right of return, opposing
the existence of Israel’s “security wall”, and opposing Israeli settlements in
Palestine.
- We recognize the role of
the US government in perpetuating and shoring up this violence through economic
and military support.
- We recognize that our own
(U.S.) history of colonialism and genocide of the indigenous peoples of the
Americas impacts the way we view the realities of Palestine and Israel.
- We recognize the
generational trauma experienced by the people in the region has implications
for generations to come, and needs to be addressed if there is to be healing.
- We recognize the anguish of
parents raising children in the midst of this conflict and the need to instill
hope for the future.
- We recognize and affirm
nonviolence as a way of life and as a powerful, strategic tactic that can serve
a central role in the resolution of the conflict over the occupation of
Palestine and security for Israel.
