Is there hope for Israeli-Palestinian coexistence after two years of war? | DW News

Key Concepts:

• Israel-Gaza War
• Humanitarian Crisis
• Displacement
• Genocide (UN Commission's term)
• Bridge-building
• Trilateral Dialogues
• Peaceful Coexistence
• Common Humanity
• Political Will
• Engineered Trauma
• Palestinian Elections
• Hamas (2006 election context)
• Trump's Peace Plan
• Political Agreement

The Devastating Human Cost of the Gaza War

The ongoing war in Gaza has resulted in immense human suffering and destruction. According to local Hamas-run health authorities, whose figures are generally accepted as accurate, more than 67,000 people have been killed. Many more remain missing, believed to be buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings. A staggering 90% of Gaza's population has been displaced multiple times, facing dire conditions.

Personal Tragedy and Survival: Rosan Al-Matun's Story The transcript highlights the personal impact through the story of Rosan Al-Matun, a pharmacy student in her final year. Her studies and "life altogether in Gaza" were halted by the war. She experienced multiple displacements, living in tents, enduring extreme heat, rain, and famine. Rosan documented the scene in Gaza City as Israeli ground forces advanced. Just before her interview, she was among hundreds of thousands forced to leave, now living in a tent in the central governorate with "no electricity, no water, no privacy and no safety."

In July, an Israeli air strike tragically hit her family's home in Zitun, Gaza City, while she was at work. The strike killed her mother, father, and three sisters. Rosan and her brother, who is in Egypt, are the only surviving members of her immediate family. She expressed her disbelief, stating, "I couldn't imagine that they might have been killed since my family had nothing to do with politics. They had no affiliation. They weren't involved in anything." She had to wait a month for the Israeli military to leave the area before she could recover their bodies, finding her "dad and three siblings, all on one couch" in the only recognizable section of their ruined home. She, her cousin, and two neighbors removed the bodies "with our bare hands without any help or equipment."

Current Living Conditions and Resilience Now displaced in DL Balak, Rosan continues to work as an assistant pharmacist for other displaced people, finding a "semblance of normality" in a coffee shop where she can recharge devices.

Call for a Solution and Gaza's Transformation Rosan emphasizes the urgent need for a resolution: "After two years of negotiations, suffering, displacement, famine, lack of water, and hunger, a solution must be found." She describes Gaza as largely in ruins, with countless lives lost or shattered. An independent United Nations commission has even called the war a "genocide." Despite the profound loss, Rosan's attachment to her homeland remains: "For me, Gaza now is pain, tenderness, and sorrow. It was tranquility and safety, but it has become a graveyard of dreams. Yet, despite all the tragedy and suffering, I still love it. I'm attached to it and hope that we will return to it soon, God willing."

Advocacy for Peaceful Coexistence and Political Solutions

The discussion shifts to efforts for peaceful coexistence, featuring Dan Sovitz, an Israeli European and human rights activist, and Samir Sanjali, a Palestinian political activist. They are described as "bridge builders" between their peoples.

Bridge-Builders and Trilateral Dialogues Dan and Samir are actively involved in trilateral dialogues with Europeans, touring EU capitals (e.g., Berlin, Tallinn, Estonia) with other Israeli and Palestinian peace activists. Their goal is to explore how Europe can maintain an "important role in helping us bring this endless cycle of violence into some kind of a political end."

Identifying the "Common Enemy" Samir, identifying as a "political activist, leader of change," acknowledges that bridge-building sometimes requires saying "hard things" unpopular with the public. He argues that the "common enemy" for both Palestinians and Israelis is not each other, but rather "ignorance," "hard feelings that are conquering our hearts and minds" such as "sadness, like anger, sometimes it's hatred." He admits that both sides have been "very ugly towards each other" and "crossed all the moral red lines."

Overcoming Trauma and Envisioning the Future Both activists recognize the profound shock caused by the October 7th attacks and the subsequent war. Samir urges moving beyond an "artificial engineered trauma," stating, "No more time for this trauma. We need to exit this drama." He advocates for shifting focus from the past to the future: "If we keep looking with our both eyes into the 7th of October and to and into the horrible two years war on Gaza, we will keep imprisoning ourself in the past. It's time for us to shift one eye towards the future and see how we can overcome our wounds and how can we start in a process of cooperation." He highlights the demographic reality that "7 million Jewish Israelis and 7 million Palestinians who are still living in the same piece of land. Nothing changed... Nobody is disappearing from this land. We need to find a way of coexistence."

Samir believes there is a "turning point" with "political will in the White House and in the region and among global leaders" to end the war and release hostages. He mentions a "peace plan now from President Trump" that aims to return hostages and end the war in Gaza, which he hopes will heal wounds on both sides. He calls for imagining peace and becoming "partners in reconciliation," emphasizing that "Before we are Israelis, before we are Palestinians, we have common humanity... This joint humanity will rescue us."

The Need for Palestinian Elections and Leadership Change Samir advocates strongly for elections for the Palestinian people, seeing it as the "only way" for new voices and younger leaders to emerge. He corrects a common misconception, stating that in the 2006 election, "Hamas won by the majority of votes in the West Bank. Gaza voted against Hamas." He asserts that Gazans have been "the victim of a regime of Hamas that controlled them for more than 17 years and took them on the 7th of October 2023 in a collective massive suicide attack against Israel that simply erased Gaza from Israel and stole the life of 2.33 million Palestinians."

Skepticism Towards Current Israeli Leadership Dan expresses skepticism regarding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's commitment to a future of peaceful coexistence, despite his apparent endorsement of Trump's 20-point plan. Dan describes Netanyahu as "the man of spins and manipulations" and believes "once he's not in power, obviously things would be easier."

Paradox of Crisis and Opportunity Despite the current "lowest point in the conflict," Dan notes an ironic paradox: "we're also as close as it gets to reaching some sort of a political agreement." He suggests that this extreme level of "cruelty and such inhumanity" has garnered "world attention and pressure to actually pave the way to some kind of a of a concrete deal." He hopes this agony and misery will ultimately lead to a "better and hopefully political solution," and expresses a desire to see Samir in the political leadership of a future Palestinian state.

Conclusion

The transcript paints a stark picture of the devastating human cost of the Israel-Gaza war through the personal tragedy of Rosan Al-Matun, highlighting mass displacement, loss of life, and the destruction of infrastructure and dreams. Simultaneously, it presents a hopeful counter-narrative through the efforts of activists like Dan Sovitz and Samir Sanjali, who are actively engaged in bridge-building and trilateral dialogues to find a political solution. They emphasize the shared humanity of Israelis and Palestinians, the need to overcome collective trauma, and the importance of political will and leadership change, particularly through Palestinian elections. Despite the current low point in the conflict, there is a cautious optimism that the intense global attention and pressure might finally pave the way for a concrete political agreement and a future of peaceful coexistence.