The last Israeli-Palestinian war

People of courage on both sides must stand up now and say: I am sorry, we have crossed moral red lines that should never be crossed

Since October 7, 2023, two peoples in the Middle East have been living in the deepest trauma they have experienced in 76 years. On October 7, more Jews were killed in one place at one time than at any time since the Holocaust. Israeli Jews and Jewish people all around the world are frozen in time, reliving the horrors of the Hamas atrocities every day. These people have not yet moved on to October 8.The Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, along with Palestinians all around the world, are living in trauma that takes them back 76 years to the Nakba, the catastrophe they experienced in 1948 with the birth of Israel and the dispersion of the Palestinian people. 

Palestinians have been experiencing this trauma every day since October 7, as the war in Gaza continues, tens of thousands of people killed, some two million people homeless. These traumas will not end until the war in Gaza ends, the fighting stops, Israel withdraws from Gaza and all of the Israeli hostages in Gaza – alive and dead are returned home. Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs will most certainly be post-traumatic when this occurs.When the war is over, there will hopefully be a new temporary Palestinian administration in Gaza that is acceptable to the Palestinian people and to the world. The Palestinians will invite a credible peacekeeping force to Gaza. 

Eventually, when there is stability, Palestinians will go to the polls and elect a new leadership that has the legitimacy and the ability to govern with a vision and a commitment that this war must be the last Israeli-Palestinian war. When the war is over, hopefully, the people of Israel will also go to the polls and elect a new government that has legitimacy and the commitment and vision for a new beginning which will do everything possible to ensure that this is the last Israeli-Palestinian war.With the heightened fear, pain, suffering, and trauma, it is hard to imagine Israelis and Palestinians being capable of entering into a new genuine peace process. But there is no other way. Public opinion research is beginning to note that Israelis and Palestinians in growing numbers realize from the suffering that there is no military solution to this conflict. The only way to move forward is through a political, negotiated process. 

However, the majority of Israelis and Palestinians believe that it is not possible, because there are no trusted people on the other side.So now, in recognizing that even after the horrible war there will remain seven million Israeli Jews and seven million Palestinian Arabs living on the same land between the River and the Sea, it is time for people of courage on both sides to stand up and say: I am sorry. We have crossed moral red lines that should never be crossed and what was done, was done in my name. I will not allow this to happen again. Believing that there are partners for genuine peace on the other side will begin with voices of remorse and sorrow.

I, Gershon Baskin, as an Israeli Jew, stand up and say: I am sorry. I am sorry for all of the killing and destruction of my Palestinian neighbors. We should never again allow ourselves to dehumanize our neighbors. We must all make sure that this will be the last Israeli-Palestinian war.