Ian Black

It is too early to say how the latest clash between Israel and the Palestinians is going to end. Many questions have been asked in the wake of this dangerous escalation. Perhaps the most difficult to answer is how the US will respond. President Joe Biden is keen to differentiate himself from the policies of his disruptive predecessor Donald Trump. But he seems unwilling to apply sufficient pressure on Israel.

Biden wants better relations with the Palestinian Authority under President Mahmoud Abbas. He has pledged to restore aid to UNRWA and reopen the Palestinian mission in Washington. He has dispatched the special envoy Hady Amr to Israel, but the post of US ambassador to Israel remains vacant. Biden has also made clear, however, that he will not reverse Trump’s controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or move the US embassy back to Tel Aviv.

Preoccupied as Biden and the rest of the world is by the devastating human and economic impact of the covid pandemic, this conflagration is simply too important to ignore. The US needs to engage more strongly with both sides and recognize that this may also be an opportunity to relaunch some kind of peace process. It needs to think about the Middle East beyond Iran and the challenge of returning to the 2015 nuclear deal.

Internationally, more EU member states could follow Sweden and recognize the state of Palestine. Regionally, Arab countries need to do more to try to promote reconciliation between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Fatah in the West Bank. Egypt and Jordan, which have their own long-standing peace treaties with IsraeI, could assist too. The UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, which decided last year to normalize relations with Israel, are potentially well-placed to help. Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar, all closer to Israel than in the past, could also promote de-escalation.

The Israel government – and there is only a temporary one following yet another inconclusive election in March – also needs to understand that it must do far more than rely on its unchallenged military superiority over Hamas. The actions of Israeli police during Ramadan on the Haram al-Sharif have been widely condemned globally and also criticized at home. The legal dispute over evictions from the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah must be seen in the wider context of this intractable conflict: Palestinians do not have the right to reclaim property in West Jerusalem or elsewhere in Israel.

Perhaps both sides will tire – in the coming days or weeks - of this asymmetrical, and grimly familiar confrontation over Gaza, and agree on a ceasefire. But Israelis are more alarmed by what President Reuben Rivlin has warned might be “a civil war (that would) be a danger to our existence, more than all the dangers we have from the outside.”

Indeed, a worrying innovation of this round is that communal tensions between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel (21% of the total population) have exploded into riots and attacks. As Gaza was being bombarded, violence was happening from Beersheba in the south, Ramle, Lod and Jerusalem in the centre, and Tiberias and Haifa in the north. Stabbings, arson, home invasions and shootings all took place, some of it captured in detail on social media.

It is not the first time that there has been solidarity between Palestinian-Israelis (the “Arabs of 1948”) and their compatriots across the pre-1967 “Green Line” border. At the beginning of the second intifada in 2000 – ignited by Ariel Sharon’s provocative visit to what Jews call the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif) 13 Palestinian-Israelis were shot dead in protests.

But the scale of what has been happening in recent days is unprecedented. The alarm has been enough to prompt editorials, for example in the Jerusalem Post, which warned that “the delicate and vastly imperfect coexistence that has existed between Jewish and Arab Israelis for the last 73 years now risks fraying beyond recognition”. The timing too was an ironic reminder of the sheer length of this conflict: May 15 is Nakba day, the date in 1948 on which Israel was created, creating a “catastrophe” for the Palestinians. Binyamin Netanyahu, prime minister for the last 12 years, referred ominously to violence by Arabs in Israel as "terror," saying "anyone who acts like a terrorist will be handled like one."

The broader context, as ever, is part of this grim story and necessary to understand its significance. The shift to the right amongst Israeli Jews in recent years witnessed the Nation State law of 2018, which was seen as an act of anti-Palestinian discrimination by defining Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people and downgrading the official status of Arabic.

Hopefully, in the wake of this latest bout, the world will become more aware of the urgency of trying to resolve this most intractable of conflicts in a manner that respects the rights of both Palestinians and Israelis. Neither people – like it or not (and many of course, do not) – is going to go away, nor will they give up their right to justice, freedom and self-determination.

by:IAN BLACK

IAN BLACK

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has announced its sponsorship of the “Innovation and Sustainable Technology Solutions Competition (GU - IST Solutions), hosted by Gulf University at its main campus.
This strategic sponsorship reflects BENEFIT’s active role in advancing technological innovation and fostering sustainable solutions to future challenges. It also seeks to empower Bahraini youth by enhancing their skills, capabilities, and competitiveness in innovation and solution development—contributing meaningfully to the broader goals of sustainable development across all sectors.
As part of BENEFIT’s active involvement in the competition, the company has announced that Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager of Public Relations and Communication, will serve on the competition’s supervisory committee. Her upcoming participation reflects BENEFIT’s forward-looking commitment to championing academic and professional excellence.
Commenting on the occasion, Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager of Public Relations and Communication at BENEFIT, said, “We are privileged to support this pioneering initiative, which aligns seamlessly with BENEFIT’s enduring commitment to fostering innovation and nurturing the potential of Bahrain’s youth. Our participation is rooted in a deep sense of social responsibility and a firm belief in the pivotal role of innovation in shaping a sustainable future. Through such platforms, we seek to empower the next generation with the knowledge, skills, and foresight required to develop impactful solutions that address future challenges, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030.”
Dr. Aseel Al Ayash Dean of the College of Engineering in Gulf University commented, “We extend our sincere gratitude to BENEFIT for their generous sponsorship and support of the Innovation and Sustainable Technology Solutions Competition. This contribution plays an instrumental role in helping us achieve the strategic goals of this initiative, namely, cultivating a culture of innovation and sustainability, encouraging efforts that address the imperatives of sustainable development, and enhancing the practical and professional capabilities of our students and participants.”
The event will bring together a diverse spectrum of participants, including secondary school students, university undergraduates, engineers, industry professionals, entrepreneurs, academic researchers, and subject matter experts representing a wide range of disciplines.
The competition seeks to inspire participants to develop and present innovative, sustainable technologies aimed at addressing pressing environmental, social, and economic challenges. It encourages the formulation of business models that integrate advanced technological solutions with core principles of sustainability. Moreover, it serves as a platform for emerging leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators to contribute to the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals, promote the ethos of responsible technology, and demonstrate its transformative potential across various sectors.
Attendees will have the opportunity to view a series of project presentations submitted by participants, covering diverse areas such as eco-friendly product design, smart and sustainable innovations, renewable energy technologies, water conservation and management, waste minimisation and recycling, green architectural solutions, and sustainable transportation systems. Outstanding projects will be formally recognised and awarded at the conclusion of the event.