Even before the war, in a period that was considered 'quiet,' dozens of Palestinians were killed. Now, after two years of unbridled slaughter, the bar has been raised again and has become normal.
The hostages have come home, and for Israelis, the war is over. It appears that routine, the one that stopped abruptly on that accursed morning, is being summoned back. They hastened to declare today to be October 8, since time froze on October 7, 2023.
Now they seek to recover, to rebuild, to thrive and to dream of a future again, to breathe as if they had not deprived other people of air, to rejoin the world.
In Gaza, the death and the intensive bombardments have subsided, for the time being, but now the true counting of the dead begins. The search for the missing and the attempt to rebuild shattered lives begin. Thousands of people are returning to central and northern Gaza from the southern Strip and documenting the destruction and devastation.
The disparity between how the end of the war looks in Tel Aviv and how it looks in Gaza is brutal.
Israeli violence will not stop so long as the foundations of the regime that controls Palestinian lives remain – a regime that is built on religious and racial supremacy and military rule. This rule continues to manifest itself in different ways – if not in the Strip then in the West Bank, and if not there then inside the Green Line.
This will remain the case as long as the injustice is not recognized for what it is and as long as the power that exercises it is not deprived of legitimacy.
It was a mistake to think that the killing in Gaza was exceptional. It might be more accurate to say that it was a particularly extreme _expression_ of what has always been possible here. Israel has never had a moral problem with killing Palestinians.
Even before the war, in a period that was considered "quiet," dozens of Palestinians were killed. I remember one month in which there were dozens of deaths in the West Bank with virtually no repercussions. Now, after two years of unbridled slaughter, the bar has been raised again and has become normal. Israel can kill hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank without it being considered exceptional.
I think about the day when this violence will be turned inward, toward the state's Palestinian citizens. After all, when Israel still wore a mask of innocence and was only an occupying power, it killed 12 Palestinian citizens of the state. What will stop it from killing dozens next time?
Therefore, Israel and Israelis must not be allowed to escape accountability. As in Germany, South Africa and Rwanda, now it's Israel's time. And perhaps this will be a measure of "cosmic justice" for the Palestinians for what has been done since 1948 and what the world allowed and continues to allow.
If Israel isn't held accountable, we will all pay the price. Not only the Palestinians. What happens in Gaza won't stay in Gaza. Israel set a global precedent there: A state can commit genocide, broadcast live, and still return to being part of the free world.
It is permissible to slaughter and starve in the name of "self-defense." This isn't a local question, but a question about the future of the world order in which we live.
Perhaps the genocide itself is over, but the struggle is just beginning: the struggle to prosecute Israel and demand sanctions against it. It's the only possibility for a different future, one in which Israel ceases to be the occupying neighborhood bully.