Peace is more than the cessation of fire

We welcome the cessation of firing with so many emotions. We are relieved for each Palestinian family who knows that their relatives can sleep in safety, even as we are horrified by the devastation around them. We are indignant that Palestinians have been forced to choose between such a neocolonial plan—a plan to give Israel what it wants at the expense of law and justice—and ongoing starvation and annihilation.

Israel’s onslaughts have never really ended in Gaza. There have been cessations of bombing, and plans which were not meaningful beyond their first few bullet points. Bombing has been suspended, and Gaza has lived in the interim between attacks. But peace? Peace is built upon justice, and Gazans have enjoyed none of that.

We know all of the reasons for cynicism and rejection, but we will not give in to them. Our role is to support Palestinians in their choices, to share in their best hopes and stand by them while they begin to feel everything that had been postponed by the hourly desperation of 732 days of genocide.

Even in these very first days, we also know that an urgent task lands on all of our shoulders. Donor states have historically delivered only a small fraction of their grand pledges for Gaza’s recovery. In the twelve months after the bombardment of 2014, donors sent just 6% of their recovery pledges. They said that they wanted to see if the quiet would last. Their stance ensured that Gaza’s deprivation continued.

That absolutely must not happen again. Winter is approaching. Gazan Palestinians need warm shelter and blankets, food and water, medications and baby supplies. They need machinery to search for their loved ones who lie beneath the rubble of their homes. They need functioning health, education and food distribution infrastructure to replace what Israel has so mercilessly destroyed. Experts must be granted entry to Gaza to document Israel’s crimes and begin the essential work of holding Israel to account.

Gaza needs all this, and they need it now. Winter is coming. Securing actual donor-state contributions to deliver essential supplies, in sufficient quantities: this is an immediate task for our advocacy.

Alternative Jewish Voices