Insidious Myth Prevents Peace in Gaza

Media frame violent conflict to reinforce certain biases and myths, emphasizing some facts and omitting others to produce compelling, narratives. Good guys and bad guys are crafted and re-crafted in media discourse, and this is especially the case with the protracted Israel-Palestine conflict. Unfortunately, many of these myths enter the public discourse, on both sides, to the detriment of peace.

What's even worse, well-intentioned authors hoping to dispel these harmful myths also degrade peace efforts by perpetuating harmful assumptions. Chiefly, that violence could be justifiable, depending on who the real victim is. This myth is dangerous, perpetuates violent conflict and seriously hinders peacemaking efforts on both sides.

Nathan Brown, professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, addressed five myths about "militant Islamist organization" Hamas in a July 18^th Washington Post article. Brown argued that although Hamas may have some capacity to provoke fear in Israel leadership, it is "absolutely true that Hamas does not pose an existential threat to Israel." The existential threat of Hamas: myth-busted.

Kim Sengupta and Khan Younis, Belfast Telegraph reporters, exposed the myth of Hamas' human shields in Gaza in a July 21, 2014 article. They wrote, "Some Gazans have admitted that they were afraid of criticizing Hamas, but none have said they had been forced by the organization to stay in places of danger and become unwilling human-shields." The use of human shields by Hamas: myth-busted.

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America published a report July 21^st on the "top nine Gaza media myths" in current circulation. Among them, in a chicken-and-the-egg analysis, that Hamas' rockets are not simply responses to Israel's embargos: "Missiles are not the answer for the embargo, they are the cause for the embargo." Hamas rockets as retaliation for Israeli blockages: myth-busted.

The problem with these and many other myth-busting analyses, from both sides, is that they impose some under-the-radar assumptions on readers that may seriously hinder conflict resolution and peace processes. If Hamas does not pose an existential threat to Israel, as Brown argued, then Israel's actions in Gaza are not justified. In other words, if Hamas did pose an existential threat, Israel's actions would be justified. The Sengupta and Younis argument is similar: If Hamas isn't actually using human shields in Gaza, then Israel's actions aren't justified. Therefore, if Hamas did use human shields, Israel's actions would be justified. Per the Committee, if Hamas is firing rockets as a response to Israel embargos on Palestine, then Hamas may be justified. Get the picture?

There's really only one myth that needs busting around here and it's this: "Violence is justifiable." Violence is never justifiable.

That's the only myth that needs dispelling right now. The philosophical tradition of "Just War," which serves to perpetuate this myth, is an additional fallacy that needs further dispelling. However, what we have to immediately address, if we want to prevent another 666 human deaths and sleepless, fearful nights for children, is the practical limitations of the "violence is justifiable" myth on conflict resolution processes.

If the authors of myth-busting analyses, as well as the original myth-perpetuating journalists, had a foundation in conflict resolution - practical or theoretical - they'd know that arguing over violence justification - who's good, who's bad and who "deserves it" - is devastating to peace. It's the direct violence from both sides, no matter the proportion, that perpetuates the conflict and degrades peace efforts in Gaza, Syria, Ukraine and beyond. Unless the direct violence ends, civil society may not be able to address the actual issues or create a sustainable resolution. Violence only creates additional grievances on all sides and perpetuates a conflict spiral.

Furthermore, what many analysts call "myths" are actually perspectives. These perspectives - such as who the victims and aggressors are and when violence may be justified or legal - are held by people all over the world and, most importantly, by people on the ground coping with the violence on a day-to-day basis.

Myth-busters need to know what conflict scholars already know: Everyone believes their in-group is the real victim, and everyone is correct. Trying to convince someone that their reality is false, that they should adopt the reality of their perceived enemy, is conflict resolution-suicide. In peace processes, accepting multiple realities by listening to one another through sustained, mediated dialogue is a more productive force for resolution than any violence, ever.

We must demand that both Israel and Hamas immediately cease all violence (even if one side isn't very effective in this regard). At the same time, we must reject this assumption that violence can be justifiable. Peacemakers in Gaza need our support in breaking the cycle of violence - listening. Listening leads to dialogue, dialogue leads to transformation, transformation leads to sustainable peace, and it's really, really hard to hear over the sounds of rocket fire.