International Attorney from East Jerusalem Challenges Assumptions at Woolman Peace Forum
Reported By: Sophia Lumsdaine
Photographed By: Allison Martinet
On the evening of Feb. 13, the George Fox University (GFU) Center for Peace & Justice hosted its annual Woolman Peacemaking Forum. This year, the featured speaker was Jonathan Kuttab, a Palestinian Christian based in East Jerusalem. The event was attended by GFU students, faculty, and community members from the Newberg area.
With decades of experience as an international human rights attorney, Kuttab is co-founder of several human rights organizations, and he sits on the board of the Bethlehem Bible College. In 1994, he served as head of the legal committee in charge of negotiating the Cairo Agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
Kuttab discussed the title of his presentation, “Is there a Balm in Gilead? Prospects for an Israeli Palestinian Peace,” by examining the historical context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, addressing the current crisis sparked by the events of Oct. 7, and providing commentary on the possibility for a solution to ongoing strife in the Holy Land.
Although Kuttab acknowledged the terrible trauma that Jews experienced, the validity of their need for security, and elements of idealism within Zionist movement, he also stated his belief that it was colonial, domineering, and racist in much of its practice.
“This paradox at the heart of Israel and the Zionist movement meant that they needed to project an image to the outside world, and to themselves also, that they were good people, decent people who loved peace, who wanted to just survive,” Kuttab said. “Many people in the West bought into that, and continue to buy into that, while at the same time what was happening on the ground was totally different.”
The narrative that has developed surrounding the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, is that Hamas was “totally unprovoked [and] out of a clear blue sky, Hamas […] attacked and carried out barbaric actions against the state of Israel, and therefore Hamas needs to be destroyed–eliminated,” Kuttab stated. “Not defeated, not negotiated with, not cut down to size, not made peace with–needs to be eliminated, utterly destroyed.”
“I want to make it clear,” Kuttab said, “Hamas, as a movement, is not something I either like or support.” Nevertheless he said, “Once you create this narrative, everything else flows from it, everything becomes permissible. The rules of war and international law are all by the wayside, because the other is so utterly evil and despicable that you can do whatever you want.”
“Israelis will never feel secure as long as Palestinians feel that they are unjustly treated and they seek to resist,” Kuttab said. He continued, “The question is: can these two groups live together, or must they forever be locked in a zero sum situation?”
“There is a balm in Gilead, but it's based on the principle of equality, based on the principle of human relations, based on the principle that you cannot dominate somebody else,” Kuttab said.
Having worked on a two-state solution for decades, Kuttab stated that he has ultimately come to the conclusion that a two-state solution is no longer possible due to the fragmentation of Palestinian land and the Israeli government’s efforts to block such a scenario. Instead Kuttab envisions a one-state solution, where Israelis and Palestinians share an equal balance of power and are collectively and individually protected in the country’s constitution. As impossible as this vision may sound to some, Kuttab believes that it is the only viable option to bring lasting peace and security to both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.
“Neither Palestinians nor Israelis can survive without support from the outside world,” Kuttab said. “You are involved with what is happening in Palestine and Israel [….] I wish you weren’t, but you are,” he told his audience. “It can only take place with your complicity.”
“The outside world can be part of the solution,” Kuttab said, “[but] right now, it’s part of the problem.”