‘The conflict is stirring fierce emotions’
What makes the current conflict stand out from previous conflicts?
What happened on the 7th of October was no real surprise. It's been simmering for a long time. Yes, there have been wars, small wars, but it has been simmering and it has been coming to a boiling point… But the scale, scope and complexity of the operation – in which Hamas demolished Israel’s communication systems through the use of drones dropping improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and thousands of militants streaming into an area that stretched all around Gaza, killing 1400 individuals and kidnapping 140 civilians – is something that we have not seen before.
Why is the conflict stirring such emotion among people in Europe?
It is difficult for the public not to be emotionally caught up in the conflict. But there are several things that they have to keep in mind. The first is that Israel has a right to defend itself against terrorism and the ongoing indiscriminate rocket fire, several thousands of rockets. The second issue is that you have to protect civilians, and civilian infrastructure must not be targeted. However, the difficulty is that Hamas is placing rocket systems within highly condensed civilian areas… You also must have humanitarian assistance. It's a terrible humanitarian situation. At the same time, that provision of humanitarian assistance may be used by Hamas, too. But humanitarian access is absolutely essential. Most of the people living there are hostage to this situation. And most of the civilian casualties are children.
How is the conflict impacting European countries and communities?
We are seeing the impact of the conflict boomeranging back into Europe. We are seeing mass protests, the scale of which we have never seen. First of all, anti-Semitism is skyrocketing. It's also becoming normalised. The threats against the Jewish Synagogues and Jewish communities have never really been higher. Secondly, we are seeing large numbers of people are turning out for the pro-Palestinian protests. In terms of what they are chanting, some of it is problematic. And it's leading to huge polarisation in society, all across Europe. How do you handle extreme emotion and extreme polarisation, in a conflict where there doesn't seem to be a middle ground? Either you are on one side or the other. And minority groups are in the middle of this.
Why are people taking sides and what are they saying?
It's easy to sympathise with Palestinians of course, because they are suffering. Some 2.3 million people are living in an area 40 kilometres long and just 16 kilometres wide, many of whom have been displaced. The narrative for some around the conflict is one of justice and injustice, a David and Goliath situation – the Palestinian people against the Israeli military that control these territories, while it is of course more complex than that – and young people will not remember the history and will not fully understand the conflict – I think everyone is against the war. Everyone is against conflict. Everyone is against human suffering.
What can we expect to see happen in the coming weeks and months?
This conflict is not going to be resolved in the near future. I fear that there will be much more suffering and much more death and destruction. And the interesting thing is that the regional situation can still get out of control. In the middle of this, you have extremist groups like Hezbollah and others who are stoking the fires by calling for Sharia law… Meanwhile, Western capitals will have to try to deal with the massive polarisation that we're seeing. Protest may get more violent. We might see more attacks against Jewish Synagogues and Jewish schools. We might also see increased Islamophobia, because it's now ramped up into Islamism and Hamas, and attacks against Mosques.