A press release by JCall, 7 juillet 2014
Who could have seriously believed that the failure of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations would lead to a statu quo ante? We have said it for many years: this “low-intensity“ conflict (the language used by chancelleries) is a time bomb requiring a continuous attention. Once again, civilian populations pay for the lack of courage of their leaders.
Today we stand besides the Israeli civilian population who has been the target of hundreds of rockets these last three days. So far, no Israeli casualties have been reported, which does credit, not to Hamas, but to chance and above all, to the Israeli antimissile defense system established by the army.
When the Hamas and other groups of Palestinian terrorists send their rockets on Israeli cities and urban centers, their purpose is to kill and to get political credit for it. In that sense, they are the first ones accountable for this new escalation. However, this Palestinian responsibility must not blot out the sufferings endured by the civilian population of Gaza.
We know that Israeli bombings, supposedly aimed at Palestinian military leaders, reach civilians as well. We know that the policy conducted by Israel for years, a policy intent on pursuing the colonisation, offering no political perspective to Palestinians, is also responsible of the actual situation.
Calling for an end to violence and for the renewal of negotiations is hardly audible today in the region. However, we have known for a long time that there is no other way out.
The international community must step in to resume discussion on this issue and to avert the return of stagnation if a cease-fire occurs. As David Grossman has said, paralysis is not a policy but an illness requiring care.
Nothing short of a political action can provide a way out of current and future deadly clashes. The sooner the better.
