Photo by XVIIIZZ on Unsplash

1.9 Billion Muslims Say That Escalation Isn’t Going to Work With the Palestinians This Time

Freedom of expression gets a raise.

ScottCDunn
6 min readNov 1, 2023

--

It is possible to be a pacifist and not be anti-Israeli or anti-Palestinian. I am pro-peace, anti-war. I do not support terrorism or guilt by association. I believe that there are a billion other ways to settle the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians without violence. War isn’t the only answer. Escalation only begets more escalation.

I found a good example of someone who works in the public sphere, someone who knows what he’s talking about, and who can be pro-peace without impugning either side. In remarks to the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had this to say on October 26, 2023:

I have condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7 October acts of terror by Hamas in Israel.

Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians — or the launching of rockets against civilian targets.

And in the same speech, he continued…

It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum.

The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.

--

--

Responses (13)