What do Palestinians and Israeli hostage families share? A common enemy
What do Palestinians and Israeli hostage families share? A common enemy
Can a coalition bring about a ceasefire, and bring people home?
Their rallies are becoming larger – and are packing a bigger political punch.
Thousands of Israelis are taking to the streets demanding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ouster because of his inability – or unwillingness – to negotiate a release of the more than 100 mostly civilian hostages taken on October 7, 2023, who are still held by Hamas.
Netanyahu prefers war over peace, has scuttled peace talks and sent troops into the city of Rafah over the objection of Israel’s international allies - including the United States.
A common enemy
The families of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas and the Palestinians being bombed by Israel, share a common enemy: Prime Minister Netanyahu and his far-right coalition government.
Both Palestinians and hostage families want an immediate ceasefire to end their misery and save the lives of family members before it's too late.
Netanyahu prefers war over peace, has scuttled peace talks and sent troops into the city of Rafah over the objection of Israel’s international allies
Can they and their supporters form a coalition to push Netanyahu to bring about a ceasefire, or even undermine his government to precipitate its collapse and force new elections?
The majority of Israelis believe that a deal to release the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza should be prioritized over additional military action in Rafah, a poll from the Israel Democracy Institute found.
How Hamas uses hostage videos
Sensing the Israeli Prime Minister’s vulnerability, Hamas provocatively posts gut-wrenching videos of its captives to drive the anti-Netanyahu protests.
“A direct line runs from the intensity of the protest in Tel Aviv to that held in Jerusalem last week after Hamas released footage of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin,” observed Haaretz columnist Bar Peleg.
Israeli-American Goldberg-Polin’s grainy video showed him missing an arm, blown off by a Hamas grenade when he was captured at the music festival on Oct 7. In the video, he criticizes Netanyahu, and says hostages have been living “under the ground without water, without food, without sun, without the medical care that I have needed so much for a long, long time.”
Hostage families become politicized
Initially non-partisan, the hostage families have become a potent political force in Israel since many shifted tactics and demanded elections to remove Netanyahu.
However, the government’s right-wing supporters who want to continue the war are starting to criticize the families for helping Hamas, and rallies organized by hostage families are being repressed violently by Israeli security forces using arrests and water cannons.
When Hamas fighters crossed the border on October 7, they killed and captured Israelis, many of whom ironically were on the political Left and supported the Palestinian cause.
For instance, Canadian peace activist Vivian Silver, who was killed by Hamas fighters in her kibbutz, was a leader of Women Wage Peace, a large grass-roots movement founded to promote a political resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A colleague of mine in Israel explained to me that Prime Minister Netanyahu doesn’t care about the hostages because they come from the same communities as Silver who have not supported Netanyahu politically. This makes the families targets for the right wing in Israel.
Can an anti-war, anti-Netanyahu coalition be built?
Pro-Palestinian groups and hostage families seem very far apart at the moment, despite sharing an interest in a ceasefire and the removal of Netanyahu.
Looking at the rallies and university protests in North America, the demands mostly target Israel (not just Netanyahu or his government), demanding divestment, arms embargoes, and sanctions against Israeli academics.
In some cases, shouts and chants celebrating the October 7 attacks by Hamas at pro-Palestinian rallies suggest there is little concern for the hostages.
On the other hand, as Haaretz columnist Jack Khoury writes, “The hostage families’ protest concerns only one issue – the return of their relatives from the Gaza Strip at any cost. Nothing else interests them. Not the question of whether Gaza remains a ruin and not the issue of its post-war governance.”
A considerable gulf
There is a long way to go before an alliance for peace can be built.
Back in the post-9/11 days, those of us in the peace movement argued that military action would never solve the underlying issues that precipitated the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by Al Qaeda. For years, we were derided as naive and unpatriotic for advocating a ceasefire and diplomacy with the insurgents and the Taliban.
Predictably, the United States and its allies, including Canada, grossly overreacted, over-extended, and ultimately failed. After tremendous loss of life, the region remains in turmoil. We must avoid repeating the same terrible mistakes.
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“Health for All” by Jane Philpott is #5 bestseller for non-fiction in Canada
Jane Philpott’s “Health for All: A Doctor’s Prescription for a Healthier Canada,” has reached #5 on the Canada non-fiction bestseller list. I have mailed over a dozen free copies to new subscribers in the last few weeks.
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[Toronto] On to Ottawa May 25
Join us to welcome the “On to Ottawa” Peace Caravan to Toronto. Light dinner provided. May 25 6:00-8:30 pm 60 Lowther Ave. Toronto. Learn more
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There will be a protest against the big arms fair CANSEC in the morning of Weds. May 29 and Th. May 30 from 7am-9am+ in Ottawa at the EY Centre. Learn more
[Toronto] Screening of The Vow from Hiroshima on June 15
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[Washington, DC] NATO Counter-Summit and Rally July 6 & 7
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Thank you for everything you do for peace,
Steve
