As Israel announced the results of its prime minister elections Friday, UH faculty and the Muslim Student Association weighed in on how the election may shape the fragile political and religious topography of the Gaza Strip.
The tallies were neck-and-neck with the Kadima party’s candidate Tzipi Livni leading the Likud candidate Benjamin Netanyahu’s 28 seats to 27 seats.
The election of two parties known for conservative policy and military force signaled the country’s willingness to stagnate the ongoing peace process initiated in Egypt after a 22-day long battle between Hamas and Israel.
‘I believe that the only long-term solution for the conflict in Palestine, or the land of Israel, is to end the occupation.’ The fact of the matter is that Israel to this day continues to occupy most of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,’ UH Muslim Student Association president Mohammed Hussein said.’ ‘Israel is not abiding by the 1967 boundaries that the U.N. has set.’
The division of East Jerusalem will be a difficult hurdle in the negotiations. The dispute of the land dates back to the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israel incorporated East and West Jerusalem. In 1980, it officially confirmed the territory as its capital, contrary to U.N. Resolution 242.’
Jerusalem is a historically important land to followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.’ Some of the most religiously significant sites of these religions are in East Jerusalem.
‘The situation in Israel and Palestine is not just a religious question,’ UH director of Religious Studies Lynn Mitchell said. ‘(But) you can’t separate religion from culture and religion from society. That is especially true in parts of the world that have no real experience with what we call secular democracy. So you can never separate peace from dealing with religious issues.’
Mitchell said disputes which are rooted in religious beliefs become political issues when dealing with the law and ownership of the land.
‘Orthodox Jews and Muslims believe that God gave them that land,’ Mitchell said. ‘If God gave two different people the same piece of land, you are going to have to modify a little bit your religious perspectives if those two people are going to live safely and peacefully in that land.’
Other areas of contention are the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and opening of borders in Gaza, which blocks Palestinians from vital natural resources such as arable land and water.’
Israel argues maintaining a presence in the area is critical to national security.
A proposed ‘two-state solution’ moves borders of Israel to pre-1967 demarcation lines and creates a Palestinian state in all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Some conservative Israelis argue this solution was implemented by a 1922 British mandate, which created the Arab state of Jordan.’
‘In a sense, any agreement would bring peace,’ communication associate professor Frederick Schiff said. ‘Given what the Israelis have done on the West Bank, particularly with dividing, taking much of the water resources … I don’t see how you could have a two-state solution.’
A proposed ‘single-state solution’ would integrate Israel, the West Bank and Gaza as a bi-national solution meant to give the population in the three regions equal rights and citizenship, without regard to ethnicity or religion.’
Schiff, who has a doctorate in political sociology from UCLA and has worked asa reporter and foreign correspondent in the Middle East, said the multi-cultural aspect of this solution would obstruct social and political cohesion.
‘Multiple nationalities within one state have often led to internal strife to civil war or minimally discrimination or inequitable distribution of resources,’ he said.’ ‘So, it seems from all kinds of practical points of view, that there are less obstacles to creating a two-state solution.’
Renewed hostilities in January in the Gaza Strip resulted in the deaths of 1,284 – 894 Gaza civilians, of which 280 were women and children, and 13 Israelis 10 soldiers and three civilians, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.’
Palestinian militants launched rockets into Israel from Gaza and Israeli forces retaliated with missile attacks targeting tunnels along the Egyptian-Gaza border, which Israel said are used to smuggle weapons into the region.
This latest conflict created a humanitarian crisis that has compelled leaders of Western European countries to meet in Egypt and try to stabilize the fragile truce in Gaza.
