The Comment Factory

The war on Gaza has been the dominant topic in the media, in our classes, between people and anyone who was in the mood to discuss politics. How many people were killed, and how many were made homeless? How much is it going to cost to rebuild Gaza? Should we blame Hamas, or should we blame Israel? Should we blame the Arabs, or should we blame everybody else? Which channels covered the war best?

These are all questions that we could answer today. Yes, we might have conflicting views over who to blame, for example. Yet, the questions that were “under asked” relate to the implications of the war on the future. Not the political ones, but the implications of the war on Palestinians in general.

The target of Israel’s war was not just Hamas, or rocket-launching bases. The war destroyed Gaza’s infrastructure, and development-wise, it took Gaza back decades in time. My family in Gaza tell me how when they drive down the street, they smell destruction, and notice many of the landmarks they were used to seeing replaced by piles of rubble and wreckage. The school I went to in Gaza, the American International School in Gaza, was also bombed during the first few days of the war, and its guard was killed. It was surprising to many; why Israel would bomb an “American” school. While some would — mistakenly — recite the usual argument that “Hamas was hiding in the school”, the hidden incentive behind bombing the school is that Israel wants Gaza, and Palestine, to go back instead of going forward. Simply put, it is not in Israel’s interest to have educated Palestinians roaming around the country and outside it. Educated Palestinians are more of a threat to Israel that those who launch rockets, in terms of the long term implications of the conflict. The war aimed at making Palestinians struggle for the “Rafah Border Cause” and the “Hamas-Fatah Cause”, as opposed to the real Palestinian Cause.

Thus, it’s easy to agree on the fact that the war was not just a war on rockets, let alone a war on Hamas. The countless factories, farms, schools, hospitals and various non-governmental institutions that were destroyed during the war did not end the rule of Hamas or stop the rockets from being launched. What the war did end, however, is any realistic hope for the end of violence. One of the few things that were created, as opposed to destroyed, by Israel in this war, is a sense of deep anger and frustration among the Palestinians. The families that were killed, the kids who were orphaned and the spouses who were widowed will not forget – or forgive — easily. Money can easily rebuild Gaza’s infrastructure, but who, if anyone, will be able to reinstate a sense of peace and hope (one that rarely ever existed in the first place) among the Palestinians?