The Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire affects Butler students too

Israeli citizens react to news about the Gaza ceasefire. Photo courtesy of the Council on Foreign Relations.

OLLIE FITZGERALD | STAFF REPORTER | ofitzgerald@butler.edu

On Jan. 15, a ceasefire agreement was announced after months of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The deal was negotiated with help from the United States, Qatar and Egypt based on a proposal set out by former President Biden. 

In early October 2023, an armed conflict began between the state of Israel and Hamas. Since the start of the fighting, over 50,000 people have died with 48,000 Palestinian deaths. The conflict sparked worldwide protests with hundreds at college campuses, including Butler, throughout the United States. 

According to the BBC, the ceasefire will be carried out in three stages. In stage one, currently in progress, there will be a complete ceasefire while both sides release hostages with an Israeli presence still in Gaza. In stage two a permanent ceasefire will be established, the remaining hostages will be exchanged and Israel’s military presence will withdraw. The final stage is supposed to contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza, which is expected to take years. 

Members from Butler’s Students Supporting Israel club, a self-proclaimed Zionist community on campus, could not be reached for comment prior to publication regarding the ceasefire agreements.

Sophomore public health major Amanda Darwish is on the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) executive board and originally got involved with the club because of her Palestinian heritage.

Darwish thinks the ceasefire negotiations are an important step in SJP’s goal as they give an answer to the recent conflict and that the ceasefire is a step towards the overall goal of a free Palestinian state.

“The people [in Gaza] deserve peace,” Darwish said. “For the past year and a half, it’s just been constant stress [for the people there] and I feel [the ceasefire] is really helpful to get that jump-started and also it kind of shows all the progress that SJP has made.”

Darwish hopes that going forward with the steps of the ceasefire there will be more communication with the public so there is less misinformation spread on the internet.

Multiple news sources like Al Jazeera, CNN and the Council on Foreign Relations have been releasing live updates on the ceasefire process as it happens. However, Al Jazeera has reported of Israeli raids on Jenin, a city in the West Bank, the other part of Palestinian territory following the ceasefire. 

Siobhan McEvoy-Levy is a professor at Butler teaching a course called “Understanding the Israel-Palestine Conflict.” The course aims to teach students about the historical context of the conflict and the complexity around it. 

McEvoy-Levy is concerned that the ceasefire agreement will end up moving the violent conflict somewhere else.

“The next steps [after the ceasefire] are complicated negotiations, finding ways to provide the Palestinians with the statehood that they need,” McEvoy-Levy said. “If the ceasefire is not an actual ceasefire, and [instead] involves moving the violence somewhere else, [like how we’re seeing it in] the West Bank, [that’s incredibly concerning].”

McEvoy-Levy addressed that in national conflicts, it is important for outsiders to try and accommodate information that doesn’t fit within the established models people were taught by attempting to stay open-minded. 

She also emphasized that a ceasefire is just a step towards a sustainable peace.

“The big question is, do the parties [that are a part of] this agreement, Israel, Hamas and the United States, really want a sustainable peace,” McEvoy-Levy said.

The Butler Collegian will continue to report on this story as it develops.

Correction: A prior version of this story stated that Students Supporting Israel (SSI) declined to comment. SSI could not be reached for comment prior to the time of publication of this article.

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