Yet again Israel and Palestine have been involved in a violent conflict. A ceasefire was agreed after 11 days of bombings this time round, but after at least 248 Palestinians, including 66 children, were killed in the conflict, and at least 12 Israelis; and after countless homes were destroyed and the process of rebuilding has begun.
It is incredible to think how the conflict between factions in such a small area of the Middle East can have such global repercussions. Four Gazas would fit inside London and one hundred Israels would not completely fill Argentina; indeed Israel and Palestine together is less than 12,000 square miles.
Quite by chance, when the conflict started, I had been reading Apeirogon, a novel by Colum McCann—well, more a true story—of two fathers, one Israeli and one Palestinian; they are both struggling to live through the trauma of losing their pre-teenage daughters, beautiful young and vivacious. The Israeli girl was the victim of a suicide bomber from Palestine while the Palestinian girl was hit in the head by a ‘rubber bullet’ fired by an Israeli soldier, bouncing off the road. The story is about the bond formed between them and their quest for peace. It brings home the human suffering behind each statistic and how urgent the need is, for both sides, to be able to live in peace.
The tragedy of the situation is that nobody believes that this latest ceasefire brings anything but a temporary pause in hostilities. Sadly, there is no political solution in view even on the horizon.
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