Donald Trump’s 20-point proposal to bring peace in Gaza covers some essential points for reaching a long-awaited ceasefire. But the release of Israeli hostages and the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza are only the first steps. Some vital factors that will be needed if Israelis and Palestinians are to build a lasting peace are still missing.
The US president’s plan calls for a “dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence”. But there are significant stumbling blocks to this.
First is the hatred and lack of trust on both sides. The Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity signed by world leaders on October 13 noted their “determination to dismantle extremism and radicalisation in all its forms”. It went on to say that: “No society can flourish when violence and racism are normalised, or when radical ideologies threaten the fabric of civil life.”
Read more: The 5 big problems with Trump's Gaza peace plan
There can be no denying that extremism and racism have profoundly affected both Palestinian and Israeli societies, and are deeply ingrained in the education system on both sides. Palestinians criticise the Israeli school curriculum for failing to acknowledge the Nakba, the disastrous consequences of the mass displacement of Palestinian people during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the lasting trauma it caused. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities point out that Palestinian textbooks often omit any reference to the Holocaust and to Israel as a legitimate state.
This lack of acknowledgement of each other’s suffering has become deeply entrenched over time, leading to mutual dehumanisation which has created the atmosphere in which violence can flourish. There is plenty of evidence that Palestinian antisemitism has become what Itamar Marcus, the director of Palestinian Media Watch, told the US Congress in June 2023: “A systematically disseminated ideology that is by now deeply ingrained in the Palestinian national and political identity.”
In Israel, the growing rhetoric of dehumanisation towards Palestinians has taken shape through violence and a troubling fusion of religion and politics. A recent United Nations report, which concluded that Israeli troops were committing genocide in Gaza, highlighted the former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, referring to Palestinians as “human animals”.
The same report quoted the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, using a biblical story to justify the killing of Palestinians. In a letter to Israeli troops on the eve of the assault on Gaza, he wrote: “Remember what Amalek did to you.” This is a reference to the story from the book of Samuel in which God tells the Israelites to destroy their mortal enemies, the Amelekites: “Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”
This sort of rhetoric is all the more concerning given that it comes from official voices of a recognised state based, at least formally, on democratic principles.
Unequal partners
Another massive stumbling block that Trump’s plan fails to acknowledge is the lack of equivalence between the two peoples. The plan insists that “lasting peace will be one in which both Palestinians and Israelis can prosper with their fundamental human rights protected, their security guaranteed, and their dignity upheld”.
But Israel exists as a sovereign state, with all that entails. It has a powerful military. It is deeply embedded in global financial and diplomatic systems. In contrast, despite their statehood being recognised by 157 out of 193 UN members, Palestinians enjoy little of the rights that statehood should confer.
For a start, much of Palestine’s territory remains under Israeli occupation. Neither the Trump’s declaration nor the 20-point ceasefire plan include any practical action to dismantle Israeli military occupation in the West Bank. Nor do they attempt to formulate any realistic programme for Palestinian self-determination.
As it stands, the US president’s plan envisions a fragmented, non-independent Palestine to be administered under the supervision of an external “Board of Peace”, with himself as the chair and former UK prime minister Tony Blair in some sort of executive role.
‘Othering’ the enemy
Netanyahu has said he will resist any moves towards a two-state solution. In September, he told the UN general assembly: “Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after October 7th is like giving Al-Qaeda a state one mile from New York City after September 11th.”
This “othering” of Palestinians is a thread through Israeli politics which makes mutual empathy impossible. Under these conditions, the well-intentioned international goals of fostering interfaith dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, full recognition of human rights and security for both sides remains a pipe dream which one side strenuously opposes.
A lasting peace should first lead both peoples to recognise each others’ basic human rights. Only then can traumas be healed, ideologies deradicalised and bridges built. Until then, all the declarations and peace plans of a well-meaning world will come to nothing.
Ambra Suriano receives funding from the European Union, through the Horizon program.
