Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace | Page 6

Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace
removing such obvious restrictions would allow the West Bank GDP to expand by at
least a third. Problems with governance and rule of law by Palestinian authorities
also hinder development; reducing externally imposed constraints would increase
the incentive and capacity of Palestinians to address their own problems. A Rand
Corporation study argued that a two-state solution would benefit Israel as well as
Palestine, partly by lessening security expenditures (although US aid covers a
substantial share of this for Israel).xv
9. Problems in Gaza have always been the most severe, due to the economic and fiscal
blockade and the periodic attacks by Israel. The most recent air and land attack in
summer 2014 made the misery far worse. Over 2100 were killed in Gaza, including
at least 521 children and 962 other civilians. Israeli losses were 71, reflecting their
overwhelming military dominance. Around 500,000 households in Gaza became
homeless and displaced, unemployment and food insecurity are high, and few
households have piped water due to deliberate bombing and shelling of
infrastructure. Hamas has arguably offered long-term truces to Israel in the past,
but it also promotes an antagonistic ideology, which mirrors the extremist Israeli
settler parties. The population of Gaza, 45% under 15 years of age, is being
punished collectively, ostensibly for this ideology; such actions violate the
international law prohibiting collective punishment. Among others, David Cameron,
Prime Minister of Great Britain, has described Gaza as “an open-air prison or even
concentration camp.”xvi

The study report accompanying this resolution describes these trends further,
noting the growth of Israeli power and resources and the weakening of Palestinian
economic capacity, institutions and culture, and even family life. It builds on our 2010
statement, Breaking down the Walls, and similarly draws upon resources from across civil
society and religious traditions. The Palestinian Christian Kairos document (December
2009) was a key source for ecumenical guidance, with its call for nonviolent resistance based
in faith, hope, and love. We are indebted to the many Jews, Muslims, and Christians who
are similarly committed to nonviolence as they seek peace with justice in that land all three
faiths consider holy.
While lack of progress on the Oslo agenda does not condemn diplomacy or peace talks,
advocating for the “two-state solution” or any other particular political arrangement has
often distracted people from on-going events and suffering. Affirming the “two-state”
solution ideally means maintaining Israel as a demographically and democratically Jewish
state along side, one hopes, a democratic and peaceful Palestine. Less attractive political
possibilities abound, including two extremes in the one-state category: either a Jewishdominated state that further oppresses the Palestinians, or a potential Arab/Muslim
majority state that could conceivably subject Jewish Israelis to expulsion or subjugation.
Rather than sort through the increasingly complex contingencies needed to reach any
political solution, which has been attempted repeatedly by negotiators, this report focuses
on how to support human rights and democratic values for Israelis and Palestinians in the
present interim and as a contribution to a better long-term solution.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders and organizations need to take responsibility for
protecting human rights and eventually reaching a just peace. Although both sides take
outside funds, often from the United States, sometimes with strings attached, the Israelis
and Palestinians are in no sense equal negotiating partners. We reject any false equivalence
between the capacity of a prosperous nuclear-armed state and that of a poor, divided, and

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