New approaches needed to end the vicious cycle of violence in the Middle East

Anyone seeking an answer will find much hostility within a debate as bitter as it is long-running. Questioners of the status quo and preconceived notions can face angry pushback.

That can discourage serious attempts to find a way out of this seemingly intractable problem. But the need to do so is clear.

The ongoing problems have not only hindered economic prosperity in the region. They have also kept Arab societies stuck in the past, contributing to political and cultural stagnation.

Some ways to scale back the pervasive and mutual hostility between Arabs and Israelis are dispelling myths, understanding why some stakeholders choose to exploit the conflict, how to get out of the current impasse of political stagnation, and trying to look for new ways to resolve the conflict that transcends the status-quo attempts that have not brought the Palestinians any closer to their dream of statehood.

Narrative shift

In long-standing conflicts, narratives are often adopted to fuel the conflict, regardless of their historical accuracy. Certainly, Israel plays a huge role in fueling hatred. The images of Israeli brutality against Gaza civilians in its current war and the daily oppression Palestinians face in the West Bank under Israeli occupation help fuel hatred of Israel.

However, Arabs must also be cognizant of attempts to portray all Israelis and Jews as inherently evil. This frame of mind makes it impossible to see the other party as human and start genuine talks to reach an accord.

Some regional forces promote this demonisation — including religious-political movements that have inherited the hatred perpetuated by Arab nationalists, some of whom were influenced by European anti-Semitic movements — for their own political gain.

But this approach has not yielded any tangible results for the Palestinian cause.

The current stagnant status quo impedes regional prosperity and may lead to undesirable consequences.

It opens the door for external forces, whose interests do not align with those of Palestinians or Arabs, to use the Palestinian cause to impose their own agenda. The most radical nationalist or religious factions have been able to exploit the impasse in resolving the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.

Stagnation is fuelled by the myth that mutual hostility between Israelis and Arabs is inevitable. Promoting a rosy picture of tolerance and coexistence of Jews and Arabs in the past will also not help. Here, it is important to take a realistic approach.

There have been peace agreements between Arab countries and Israel over the decades. Some were signed over 40 years ago, and their anniversaries have always prompted renewed debate surrounding how they were reached and whether they reflect the people's will.

Popular political currents in Egypt do not favour engagement with Israel. Many Egyptian groups insist Israel is their sworn enemy and do not want their country to develop closer ties with it. 

But it is unlikely that Egypt will harden its position on Israel despite the popular chants of its people who believe in the Palestinian struggle for human rights. Pro-Palestinian chants can be heard at football matches across the Middle East, from Morocco to Jordan. However, emotional stances are not grounded in a realistic understanding of the complicated politics surrounding the issue.

Pushback against normalisation is rooted in the ongoing injustices Palestinians suffer living under Israeli military occupation and Israel's refusal to address it. Arabs, even pragmatists, understand that flowery slogans cannot address Arab-Israeli tensions alone.

What is needed is a genuine shift in Israeli policies that grant Palestinians "their rightful place under the sun", as emphasised in Benjamin Netanyahu's book. 

Israelis must also recognise that they cannot simply erase Palestinians' existence. Intellectuals like Martin Popper, Ahad Ha'am (Asher Ginsburg), and others who have acknowledged this should be listened to. Drifting toward extremist right-wing ideologies will only harden stances, making resolution even more impossible. 

The collapse of the Camp David Accords and the death of Yasser Arafat, the president of the Palestinian Authority, further diminished the prospects of viable political solutions.

Separate normalisation tracks

The connection between the Palestinian territories and the Arab world is essential. The dispute with Israel, which is at the region's heart and a vital global issue, has been the subject of numerous initiatives and developments. Years of negotiations have produced various peace agreements.

They have involved Egypt, Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organisation. There have been draft peace agreements with Syria during the tenure of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad senior and his son Bashar. The Abraham Accords have recently involved the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.

Significant negotiations exist between the United States and Saudi Arabia on broader peace initiatives. Discussions span security agreements, support for a peaceful nuclear programme, and progress on the Palestinian-Israeli front.

These discussions come with certain expectations from Washington regarding normalisation with Israel, military relations with China, and oil policies with Russia.

Iran has also entered Palestinian politics, via parties affiliated with Tehran, which wants to position the issue within a broader regional and international context. Over the past two decades, Tehran has intervened at crucial moments to derail concrete peace agreements and chart a different course in the Middle East.

Regional and international shifts

For many Arab countries, their top priority is ensuring economic prosperity and stability and securing jobs for their young populations. 

This comes against the backdrop of an emerging new world order and a shift in global power balances. Recently, at the G20 Summit in India, an economic corridor was announced that would connect India to Europe via the Middle East, which would pass through Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan and Israel.

This has fresh geopolitical implications, shaping what is already being called the "New Middle East". As the region modernises its connections with a fast-changing world, this project comes with American support amid greater competition with China.

The corridor will run through a part of the world with well-known political problems, but this different form of progress could help reshape narratives and overcome the impasse on the Palestine/Israel conflict.