AMES, Iowa – Ending the violence between Israel and Hamas is an important step, but Iowa State University associate professor of anthropology and political science Nell Gabiam says maintaining peace and moving forward will not be possible without addressing the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, the longstanding and recurring Israeli policies of displacement of Palestinians from their homes and systematic Israeli discrimination against Palestinians.
Gabiam says the latest violence has overshadowed weeks of protest over the looming eviction of six Palestinian families in the Sheikh jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem and ongoing resistance to Israeli policies that discriminate against Palestinians. Gabiam studies forced migration, humanitarianism and Palestinian refugees.
“It’s important to recognize, the extent of displacement and expropriation that Palestinians have suffered since the creation of the state of Israel. There are legitimate claims, outrage and a sense of injustice that people don’t realize, because they don’t understand that history.
“It’s great that there’s a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, but the heart of the issue is not about the clashes between the two, it goes much deeper. Unless those underlying issues of occupation, expropriation and discrimination are addressed, I don’t expect the ceasefire to hold for very long.”
Gabiam pointed to a recent Human Rights Watch report that found Israel has committed the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians.
“When it comes down to it, it’s really about people’s ability to live in peace, to live stable lives, to have the same rights as everybody else in that area.”
Through her fieldwork in Germany, Sweden, Lebanon and Turkey, Gabiam has met with Palestinians who were displaced from their homes during the 1948 Arab Israeli war and their descendants. Israel has consistently prevented them from returning to their homes, which are located in present-day Israel, despite a U.N. resolution that recognizes their right to do so.
“From my own experience with refugees, who are primarily Palestinians living outside Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, the majority of people talk about one state with equal rights. I do not hear as much support for a two-state solution anymore.”
