Israel-Palestine ceasefire: Lessons for South Asia

There are two ways to reflect on the impact of  Israeli-Palestine conflict that escalated  to a  war. One, how the countries were able or  failed in asserting their role in bringing about the ceasefire on  May 21, and that what are the lessons for  countries in the region  struggling to come out of their own complexities. Most importantly, it has spotlighted that ignoring the trouble spots for long reignite the conflict tempering the population and place.

On the face of it, Pakistan appeared to be  very active, at least in its own eyes and words, in highlighting the violence that erupted in Jerusalem after Israelis forced eviction of the Palestinian families who had been living there for decades. Islamabad was quite vocal and made itself heard at several places about its concerns over the issue and tried to mobilize the support at OIC to take a stand. That’s fair enough.

   

Pakistan had to do it. The compulsions were obvious. The OIC had been immune to its pleas to call a special session on Kashmir following August 5, 2019, changes that snapped the special status of  Jammu and Kashmir and its statehood  in the Indian union. The OIC turned its back to Pakistan. It was a resounding rebuff to Pakistan, and its attempts to censure Saudi  Arabia and other important countries in the grouping for not doing so backfired. Saudi Arabia was not amused. The relations between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had deteriorated to an extent that the two were seen on two sides of the fence within the Islamic world.

The Palestinian issue came as an opportunity to Pakistan and it utilized to regain its credibility in Saudi Arabia led Islamic bloc. It needs Saudi Arabia because Pakistani expatriates in the Kingdom remit billions of dollars to Pakistan. That’s its main source of economy, cannot ignore its interests over there. It had also seen that any confrontation with the Kingdom results in isolation. So, it flagged off Palestine issue to rehabilitate itself in the Islamic world.

It became clearer when Pakistani  Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed the nation on the evening of May 21, hours after the cease-fire brokered by the US, Egypt and host of other countries, had come into effect. His emphasis was that Pakistan had made strenuous efforts to bring about the ceasefire between the Israel and Palestinians without admitting that it was just on the one side of the fence, and had no goodwill to cash on with Israelis. There, however, was nothing else for Imran Khan to claim because he did not touched upon as to what the real-time solution demands. He failed to utter the two-state solution. Even though the term is dead  as the international community has recognized the fact that Israeli government and the Palestinians had a different idea of two-states living side by side. The most contentious was the claim on Jerusalem, where the holy sites of  Jews and Muslims are located. There was a massive jolt during the Trump era who   recognized Jerusalem  as the capital of Israel in December 2017, giving a free hand to Israel to go ahead with its larger plans  on the place. That there were anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian protests in the streets of cities across the US and also in London, the British capital, should not be seen as something that would be a permanent feature. So many issues were at stake – the killing of children in Israeli bombardment  in Gaza, the area that militant group Hamas  controls, and the overall legitimacy that guns, bombs and rockets were gaining in the Middle-East. The protests need not to be over emphasized .

India, the most important country in the South Asian region, had to confront with different realities; it had a traditional stand where it had always supported Palestinians for domestic reasons and also because of its pre-dominant role in Non-Aligned Movement, now a forgotten thing in the  modern international history. Something  changed in 2014 after the ascendancy of the BJP to power. BJP always had soft corner for Israel and it was all out for strengthening of India’s relations with Israel. Narendra Modi became the first ever  Indian Prime Minister to pay visit to Israel in July 2017. The defence cooperation increased between the two during all these years .

In fact, Israelis shared their techniques, technology and weaponry to deal with the armed militancy and fencing of the army cantonments that had started much before the BJP came to power at the Centre. But the Modi government’s stand was not a balancing act. It took a principled stand that status quo should be maintained, that was not to the liking of the Israeli government that perhaps had hoped for  a stronger tilt in its favour.

Now comes the real lessons that South Asia can draw. The international community is guided by its interests. It doesn’t take sides, therefore, it is imperative for Afghanistan to settle its issues without hoping much, except for some financial aid from the US and other countries. India and Pakistan should address their own issues bilaterally and build on the ceasefire on the Line of Control through direct talks. There is no point in walking away from the festering issues, and Pakistan should also understand that unless the Kashmir territory under its control doesn’t come into discussion at the table, nothing can be discussed fairly. There is no alternative available.

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