If the ceasefire in Gaza holds, world leaders will quickly pivot to the question of Gaza’s future. If they are serious about preventing the next instalment of Gaza’s wars, it’s essential that they don’t repeat the mistakes of the past.
Already, a conference on Gaza’s future has been held in Egypt. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was not invited despite Labor’s laughable assertion that its actions played a major role in securing the war’s end.
One thing is certain: there will be plenty of Australian taxpayer dollars heading to Gaza. The Albanese Government has already provided $150 million since October 7, and the end of the war is likely to see the spigots open further.
Providing aid without a change in attitude and behaviour in Gaza would be a monumental mistake and lay the groundwork for the next Gaza war.
Since Israel withdrew every Jew from Gaza in 2005, the small strip has launched five major wars against the Jewish State. After each war, generous Western leaders showed up with their chequebooks, shielding Gazans from the consequences of their actions and setting the stage for the next round.
It’s true that after the defeat of the Germans and Japanese in the second world war, the victorious West (mainly America) provided vast sums to rebuild these nations. Both were transformed from aggressive nations bent on domination to thriving democracies.
But for that to happen, the people of Germany and Japan needed to internalise that they and their supremacist ideologies were totally defeated. Both nations were required to surrender unconditionally. America ensured that there was no fantasy of a resurrected German Reich or Imperial Japan. Those responsible for the war were put on trial or purged and both countries endured a lengthy occupation.
Gaza was not required to surrender unconditionally. Instead, Hamas was allowed to negotiate where Israel would withdraw to. Hundreds of murderers were released to secure the freedom of the Israeli hostages. Instead of being put on trial, the remaining leadership of Hamas is hosted in luxury hotels in Qatar and Turkey. None of this helps Gazans internalise their defeat and makes future conflict more likely.
After the second world war, the Allies recognised that the younger generations were crucial to preventing the return of war. Both Germany and Japan had their school textbooks rewritten and teachers with Nazi ties were removed.
Without significant changes to the education system in Gaza, no amount of Western money will bring peace. Schools are named after suicide bombers and young children are taught to hate Jews and worship violence.
If students once again learn maths problems asking them to calculate how many ‘martyrs’ were killed, what hope is there for the future?
A chief contributor to radicalising Gazan children and prolonging the conflict is UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. No other people have a dedicated UN refugee agency, and no UN agency has failed as badly in its mission. Every other refugee crisis from the 1940s has long been solved. UNRWA textbooks have educated generations of Arab children to hate and imbued them with a false promise that they will ‘return’ to Israel, a place most have never set foot in.
UNRWA should be disbanded. Despite revelations that numerous UNRWA employees took part in atrocities on October 7, the Albanese government restored funding after just a short pause.
The Allies did a phenomenal job and both Japan and Germany are among the leaders of the free world today. Unfortunately, history is littered with less successful examples where societies emerge from war only to find themselves in the same position after a short period.
The world must not repeat past mistakes in Gaza.
Australia’s actions to date have not been encouraging, except to Hamas, which has praised Labor’s recognition of a so-called Palestinian State. While this ‘state’ doesn’t have borders, a central government, or meet the requirements of a state, thanks to a few foolish Western leaders, it now has an Independence Day – October 7, 2023.
Rather than rushing to give away taxpayer funds, the Albanese government should pay heed to a few important lessons and not make the same mistakes in Gaza. Australia should demand meaningful changes to Gaza’s education system and insist that countries like Qatar and Turkey stop sheltering Hamas.
The most meaningful contribution Australia could make toward peace in the Middle East would be to make it clear that we will not continue rebuilding Gaza after every war it initiates. Taking that stance would ultimately save lives on both sides and relieve pressure on our own budget, thereby freeing funds to address Australia’s cost-of-living challenges.
