As I write, there are hopeful noises coming from Washington DC, where Trump is meeting Netanyahu, and Qatar, where Egyptian and Qatari negotiators (along with Trump’s emissary Steve Witkoff) are talking with Hamas, that a ceasefire deal may be being made. Trump on one hand and the Egyptians and Qataris on the other are making it clear to the people they are meeting that there is a deal to be made and that they must make it to end the killing in Gaza.
According to the Substack post by Gershon Baskin, the outlines of the deal include an Israeli withdrawal, increase in aid, release of all the hostages, release of Palestinians prisoners held by Israel, and transfer of the governance of Gaza to Palestinian civilian professional technocrats. Hamas may also withdraw or at least disarm but that is not yet clear.
There have been too many false dawns since October 7th 2023 for me to be overly optimistic that, this time, the proposed deal will be agreed and, just as importantly, stuck to by both Hamas and Israel. There are too many on both sides who know that the end of the war with both Hamas and the IDF out of Gaza will mean that they will be out of power and, possible, facing criminal charges. Much can still happen to block or scupper any agreement.
For all that, I live in hope that we may soon see the end to the suffering of those in Gaza, that the remaining hostages, both those still alive & those already dead, will come home and that the Palestinian detainees held by Israel can also go home.
I also hope that the end of the war in Gaza will also see the beginning of serious peace talks involving Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia as well as Palestine and Israel in the creation of a Palestinian State alongside Israel. I know there are still many obstacles to overcome before this can happen, but we must not lose hope.
Last weekend, I was honoured to give the Introduction at the weekly Peace Vigil help by Notts Friends of Standing Together. You can read what I said on our website Another Week. These vigils, held by UK Friends of Standing Together groups around the country (you can find details of where they are held here), are important ways of showing how we can stand up against the slaughter in Gaza, stand up for a just peace for all, and stand up to the extremists on both sides without the need to risk being arrested for supporting what is now a banned group under Terrorism Law.
While I have no time for such groups, who do more harm than good for the cause of a free Palestinian State, I personally think the proscribing of Palestine Action was a stupid action by our Labour Government. It has made martyrs out of vandals, given them far more publicity than they deserve and is stopping a sensible debate on achieving a two-state solution in the Palestine Israel conflict, thereby helping the Netanyahu Government and Hamas.
We have an event coming up on Monday 21st July. We will be hosting (on Zoom) a discussion with Professor Mohammed Dajani Daoudi. Professor Dajani is a former professor of Al-Quds University and a long time campaigner for peace and improving inter-religious understanding, and co-founder of the Wasitia Movement to promote moderation within the Islamic tradition. If you follow me on Facebook or are in our Facebook Group, you will see I often share posts from him. This promises to be a fascinating discussion, and I hope you can join us. I have already sent out an invitation email but details are also on our Facebook Group and on our website
A couple of other items I need to mention. We are going to be moving our mailing list to Mailchimp soon. While this isn’t an approved party supplier, until we are an AO, we can’t access the features in Lighthouse & Fleet for mailing out to members. So please join us so we can get to become an AO as soon as possible and move to a better solution.
Also, we will have a presence at Conference in Bournemouth. Final details are being worked out for a Fringe event so look out for it in the Directory.