With the death toll in Gaza touching 35,000, college campuses around the world have become hubs of protests against Israel’s war on Gaza.
While there have been continuous protests against Israel’s war since last October, this latest wave of student-led mass protests in support of Palestine has flared up beyond anything seen over the past seven months.
It’s a reflection of how much the war is upsetting students, and the idea that the US should be more cautious with what it does with its military aid.
The protests, which started in mid-April, have now spread across the globe to the UK, France, Australia, and other countries.
Despite crackdowns on the protesting students, they are unrelenting and their voice of dissent has become shriller, much to the discomfort of the US and its allies across the world. Instead of quelling protests with an iron hand, the Biden administration should heed to these students and prevail upon Iran to end the massacre of Palestinians.
Other countries like China, Russia and India, which are having friendly relations with Israel, should prevail upon Iran to stop supporting Hamas against Israel as more attacks are undertaken against Israel, it will attack Palestinians with even more aggression.
The long-drawn conflict with massive casualties and destruction is already causing simmering unrest in other parts of West Asia.
Looking at the past and present, it is clear that the two-State solution, which would involve the establishment of an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, is the only way forward to end this conflict. Countries friendly with Israel, like the US, UK and India should convince Benjamin Netanyahu to accept it.
The first proposal for a separate Jewish and Arab states in the territory was made by the British Peel Commission report in 1937. In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a partition plan for Palestine, leading to the 1948 Palestine war.
As a result, Israel was established on the area the UN had proposed for the Jewish state, as well as almost 60 per cent of the area proposed for the Arab state. Israel took control of West Jerusalem, which was meant to be part of an international zone.
Transjordan took control of East Jerusalem and what became known as the West Bank, annexing it the following year. The territory which became the Gaza Strip was occupied by Egypt but never annexed.
In the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, both the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza Strip were militarily occupied by Israel, becoming known as the Palestinian territories.
The leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization has accepted in principle the concept of a two-state solution since the 1982 Arab Summit in Fez. In 2017, Hamas announced their revised charter, which claims to accept the idea of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, but without recognising the statehood of Israel.
Diplomatic efforts have centred around realising a two-State solution, starting from the failed 2000 Camp David Summit. But all efforts have failed till now.
The prolonged Israel-Palestine conflict has hit a dead-end. It has no way ahead. The problem is for Israel, it is an existential issue. The Arab world have to shed their aggression against the latter, otherwise Israel will continue to react violently to slightest provocation.
Everyone has to strive for peace. Enough lives have been lost. Whatever concerns are there regarding the implementation of two-State solution, can be easily ironed out. Every new cycle of violence brings more destruction. This is a zero-sum game.
