Professor emeritus of the Catholic University of Leuven, Bichara Khader (Zababdeh, Palestine, 1944) maintains that the Palestinians have “a just cause, the liberation of their lands, and the worst lawyers: Hamas and the Palestinian Authority”. Author of more than thirty books and collaborator of the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), Khader condemns in an interview with La Vanguardia both the “terrorist character” of the “horrific” attack by Hamas, and the martyrdom in what Israel is subjecting the 2.2 million inhabitants of Gaza.

What did you feel when you learned of the slaughter caused by Hamas?

I was plunged into great perplexity, consternation, astonishment and concern. Dismay at the terrorist nature of the attack, with dead civilians and hostages of all ages. Astonishment at the ease with which it took place in the most protected area in the world. And concern, bewilderment and restlessness for the tragic consequences for our people, already too much martyred; for the region, due to the risk of an extension of the conflict and social turbulence, and for security in the Mediterranean area, due to the possible involvement of external actors, the overflow of violence in Palestine and in other scenarios or the instrumentalization of the Palestinian problem by regional or international actors, or by political parties in Europe.

He speaks of tragic consequences for his people…

Israel is martyring Gaza and its 2.2 million inhabitants, 75% of whom are the children of refugees expelled from their land in 1947 and 1948 when the State of Israel was created. Today there are more than 6,500 dead, 50% women and children, and more than 22,000 injured. The images of hundreds of children hanging under the rubble of their homes breaks my heart. How is it possible that the army that pretends to be a “moral army” is killing entire families, including children and women. How is it possible for the Western community to authorize Israel to commit war crimes, in which they punish the entire population of Gaza, resort to ethnic cleansing methods and behave like those it aims to combat. Israel has become the sacred territory of the guilty conscience of the West for the Holocaust.

Why has Hamas carried out this slaughter knowing that the consequences would be dire?

I think that the radicalization of Hamas has become more visible after four military offensives by Israel since 2007, which have caused much destruction and death. But the constitution of the current Israeli Government was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The repression in the West Bank has killed more than 200 young people in 2023. The settlers have multiplied their acts of vandalism with the approval of the army and the ultra-orthodox have redoubled their raids on the esplanade of the Mosques. Gaza under siege and the West Bank closed under lock and bolt. While Netanyahu and his extremist ministers denied the existence of the Palestinian people, rejected the two-state formula and buried the Oslo process. Hamas has not only wanted to show that Palestine cannot be put under a glass bell, but also that it is an inescapable actor on the Middle East board. Other triggers are the normalization project between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which Hamas wanted to derail, the weakness of the Palestinian Authority, which Hamas wanted to denounce with the prospect of a generational relief, and the complicity of the West with Israel , which turns a blind eye to its violations of international law. Now, with this heinous attack, Hamas may have signed its death warrant as the ruling institution in Gaza.

What can happen now?

I see three hypotheses: apocalyptic, pessimistic and optimistic. The apocalyptic hypothesis would be a second nakba with the transfer and expulsion of the Palestinian population from Gaza to Egypt. The pessimistic hypothesis is plausible: after the destruction of Gaza and the dismantling of Hamas institutions, Israel concentrates its army in the West Bank, intensifies its repression, consolidates its colonization and subjects the West Bank to a tight control. This hypothesis entails an existential danger for the Palestinians, who could lose all hope of a dignified life and become radicalized.

And the optimistic hypothesis?

It is based on an ethical awakening of Israeli society, a conviction that there will be security when the Palestinians can live with dignity, an awareness in the West that Israel cannot benefit from automatic impunity and a conviction, on the part of the EU, that Israel’s colonial policy endangers its Mediterranean policies. A return to the negotiation processes on the parameters of the peace process would be proposed with the aim of launching a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital.

75 years after the Nakba, what future do you think awaits the Palestinian people?

The Palestinians have a bitter sense of great loneliness: they have a just cause, the liberation of their land, and the worst lawyers: Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. Even worse, Arab countries normalized their relations with the Israeli occupier while the West turned a blind eye and looked to Ukraine or China, leaving Israel to manage the status quo in the Palestinian Territories. At this time, I do not see a quick way out of the impasse without a new generation of Palestinian leaders capable of thinking the unthinkable: resuming the strategic initiative, winning the trust of the Palestinian people, strengthening the peace camp in Israel, reviving the flame of solidarity of Arab and Western civil societies, and appeal to respect international law.

And the Arab countries?

The Gaza tragedy reveals the divisions between the Arab states, the fallacy and ineffectiveness of the Arab League and its lack of influence in the international system. However, tragedy can provide an opportunity for peace. So, the Arab countries could take advantage of the crisis to promote a new strategy led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt and based on the Saudi initiative of 2002 with the support of the United States, Europe, China and Russia; Israel must be integrated into the Arab regional system because it cannot live with its back to the region.

There is a danger of escalation…

The contagion potential of the Israeli offensive in Gaza is enormous. A regional escalation may take place if Hezbollah, Iran’s franchise in Lebanon, considers that the Gaza genocide has been too much and decides to open a new front. This hypothesis is plausible. The response from Israel and the United States would be overwhelming. That is why I think that the devastating and destabilizing power of the conflict in Gaza is greater than the Russian invasion of Ukraine. If Israel and the United States decide to attack Iran, how would Russia and China, allies of the Tehran regime, react? What would happen to the Gulf countries, Iraq and Syria? It’s an uncomfortable and worrying unknown.