Veterans For Peace joins the people of Gaza in rejoicing at the Ceasefire that has brought a halt to Israel’s bombardment of Palestinian children, women and men, and their churches, their mosques, their schools and hospitals. At least 50,000 have been killed in a cold-blooded massacre and over 100,000 injured, many losing their limbs. But the huge smiles on the faces of the children of Gaza and their shouts of joy since the ceasefire went into effect were a deeply profound thing to witness.
But just how real is the Gaza ceasefire? How enduring will it be? Many close observers of Israel are skeptical. In his recent article, The Ceasefire Charade, Chris Hedges, renowned war correspondent and VFP Advisory Board member writes:
“Israel, going back decades, has played a duplicitous game. It signs a deal with the Palestinians that is to be implemented in phases. The first phase gives Israel what it wants – in this case the release of the Israeli hostages in Gaza – but Israel habitually fails to implement subsequent phases that would lead to a just and equitable peace. It eventually provokes the Palestinians with indiscriminate armed assaults to retaliate, defines a Palestinian response as a provocation and abrogates the ceasefire deal to reignite the slaughter. If this latest three-phase ceasefire deal is ratified it will, I expect, be little more than a presidential inauguration bombing pause. Israel has no intention of halting its merry-go-round of death.”
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