Calls to Action:

1. Immediate ceasefire and end of hostilities in Gaza, Israel and the West Bank - release of hostages, opening of Gaza borders and delivering humanitarian aid;

2. The United Nations Security Council authorizes the immediate deployment of a multinational peacekeeping presence in Gaza including forces from Arab states with a mandate to govern Gaza and oversee the rebuilding of critical civilian infrastructure and homes;

3. The United Nations Security Council forms an international consortium operating under clear, established terms of reference to advance a just, comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as part of a wider regional framework that also fully normalizes relations between all Arab states and Israel; 

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With violence so extreme, our primal instincts take over. Our bodies stiffen, our voices crack, we feel overwhelmed. We lose the will and capacity to hear or listen to the perspectives of those who do not think as we do or who we believe cannot share our pain. Our hearts harden. As witnesses of violence, we are also its victims.

The recent atrocities and enormous loss of life in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank have shaken us. The scale and raw violence has no recent precedent in the conflict, and the dehumanization of Palestinians and Israelis in various media since then has only fueled more hate and mistrust.

Context matters. These events reflect shifts in dynamics and relationships within and between Israeli and Palestinian communities in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank that have played out over years and decades. Radicalized, reactionary voices have grown louder, caught in cycles of self-referential thinking, and above all, powered by a loss of hope or belief in the possibility of a just, comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement supported by large portions of the Palestinian and Israeli public. In Gaza, an entire generation of Palestinians have lived in extreme poverty, under siege and in constant fear of violence. It doesn't help that past attempts to resolve the conflict and advocate for justice and human rights through non-violent means have repeatedly failed.

As we enter an increasingly multi-polar world with advanced technology, weapons systems, military capabilities and misinformation tools, the potential for more intense violence and division only grows. As long as the core issues of the conflict remain unaddressed, darker forces in Israel, Palestine and elsewhere will take steps to capitalize on lost hope, desperation, indignity and suffering as the fundamental human rights of Palestinians and Israelis are disregarded. Here in the United States, it is time we also take stock of the damage we’ve done and the mistakes we’ve made in our attempts to mediate and manage the conflict first as Israel’s ally, at the expense of Palestinian rights and interests, but also, as we witnessed on October 7, of Israelis.

We have to work with international partners to create the right structure through which a just, comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement can be negotiated.  An end-of-conflict agreement remains possible, if the international community can muster the political will for it.  There can be an opportunity now to shape a Middle East where, in a few short years, Israelis and Palestinians can travel and trade safely, freely, without fear or a nagging sense of shame for what happened between them in the past. It is a future where Palestinians and Israelis fully exercise their right to self-determination. Where both sides enjoy their basic internationally recognized human rights, enshrined and protected by rule of law. Where both sides enjoy security from external threats. It is a future where people in the region can focus on shared cross-boundary threats – climate change, public health challenges and epidemics, water scarcity, arms control and nuclear proliferation, imbalances in regional trade, and equitable, sustainable economic growth...

This is not dreaming. It is possible. 

To get there, the international community, working through the United Nations, must act with resolve – assembling and organizing a diverse coalition of international and regional powers, reaffirming the basic terms of reference for an end-of-conflict agreement and immediately introducing an international peacekeeping presence in Gaza (and possibly the West Bank) with Arab state participation to govern and rebuild Gaza’s infrastructure and economy transitionally. This will also require leadership in Israel and in Palestine. Under an international umbrella, Palestinian and Israeli negotiators can find just, fair and viable solutions to all permanent status issues to the conflict consistent with established, internationally-recognized terms of reference.

This is no longer the time for short-termism. Majorities in Israel and in Palestine could support a credible, viable approach to achieving a just, comprehensive peace if the international community showed credible, principled leadership and seized the initiative. Naturally, we would also be looking for real leadership on the part of Israeli and Palestinian decision-makers.

Blind hope can be a dangerous thing.  Having none is even more so. As concerned citizens, we’re committed to doing all that is in our power to ensure that humanism and a real commitment to justice prevails – for our children, and their children. And we strive to maintain hope even in the darkest of days.